My grandma's tip about plant soil ruined my peace lily

My grandma swore by adding coffee grounds to houseplant soil for extra nutrients. I tried it on my peace lily about 3 weeks ago and the leaves started turning brown at the edges. Turns out she was half right - it works for acid-loving plants outdoors (like azaleas) but not for indoor potted plants. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a well-meaning relative about plant care?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam171mo ago

Oof yeah coffee grounds can mold in pots. Rinse the soil really good.

tarag2829d agoMost Upvoted

Scrape the moldy part off the top first, then flush the pot with water a few times. @sam17 is right, letting it dry out between waterings helps too. I had a basil plant that got fuzzy from coffee grounds, and that stuff clings like glue. Switched to just rinsing the grounds before adding them, and it stopped happening.

vera_murphy29d ago

Wait are we really this worried about a little mold on coffee grounds? Its just fungus breaking down organic stuff, that's what it does. Unless you're seeing green or black fuzz and its spreading everywhere, scraping off the top layer is probably overkill. Plants have been dealing with mold in soil since forever, they dont need sterile conditions. Ive left used grounds sitting in pots for weeks before and the plants were fine, the mold just dried up and went away on its own. Maybe if you live in a humid climate it gets worse but for most people this seems like something thatll solve itself.

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