Good question. I will be looking to see if you get any information from anyone. I too never know what I should be doing. Do coffee grounds and eggshells help? I thought the eggshells will take years to decompose and help. What do you find that the grounds do to help? I can save them everyday too but I was not completely sure they do anything to help. I have coffee grounds as mulch now on peppers in a grow bag. I read some lady said the peppers love them. How is she sure. Too many questions....

I toss my eggshells and coffee grounds into the compost. I augment it with chicken manure and let it sit for a year before using, then I add a shovel full to the planting hole when I plant veggies. Before I had my own chicken manure compost, I used Tomato Tone in the planting hole.

Linda

Uncomposted vegetative matter - coffee grounds, kitchen waste, eggshells, etc. - are really not any kind of fertilizer. In fact, they probably consume more nutrients in the process of breaking down than they contribute to the soil and eventually, to any plants. And they are not fast in releasing any nutes as well. It takes time for the biological activity necessary to convert them into plant usable nutrients.....weeks to months in most cases.

It never hurts to mulch a veggie garden with compost or work some into the soil each season before planting but you cannot rely on it to provide all the nutrients fast growing, annual vegetable crops require. It just doesn't carry enough punch, regardless of source or ingredients.

Any kind of fertilizer recommended for vegetables or fruiting plants will work. Most synthetics are fast acting and a moderate application (according to label directions) as the plants start putting on serious growth should suffice. I prefer a liquid or water soluble fert - Miracle Gro, Dyna Gro products, even fish or seaweed emulsion or alfalfa or comfrey tea all work well. Liquids and water solubles tend to get diluted with application so can (and probably should) be applied more frequently than any dry or granular fertilizer product with the exception of CRF's.

btw, eggshells are very hard to decompose - they are more or less a form of rock/mineral - and they are not a reliable source of any calcium. Coffee grounds when used as a mulch or topdressing are prone to drying and then become hydrophobic so repel water. These types of products are really best used after composting or decomposition, not in their primary intact state.

I use horse and mushroom manure and nothing else. However I do make a little compost and add in some coffee grounds and egg shells. The latter 2 usually over the winter. I don't side dress during the growing season as well composted manure is slow acting; so self side dresses. I'd recommend any vegetable eating animals manure, but the horse brand is the easiest for me to find free.

After your growing season is over you can amend your soil with even fresh manure. And in spots where I'm going to grow root crops and leafy crops only the season before I plant that crop. I think I over do my rule as mushroom manure has already been used to grow two commercial crops of mushrooms.

I don’t make my own compost. I live in the city of rats and no where to make it. I have small raised bed and a few grow bags. I have flowers in containers. I used mushroom compost when I planted and I just added a bit more last week working it into the soil around my tomato plants in the raised bed. I do not use any compost in the grow bags. Reading here on gardenweb has taught me not to. I do use dynagrow and miracle grow liquid fertilizer. I won’t be saving my coffee grounds anymore. Thanks for the information.