Keep Bugs at Bay Use spent grounds to keep ants out of the house by laying down a 2 inch wide line around the foundation and entrances. It also works for many kinds of worms, snails, slugs and other insects. Put the same kind of line around plants, or mix grounds with hot water, and pour over anthills.
Repel insects and pests:Coffee grounds contain compounds that are toxic to many insects. You can use your coffee grounds to repel mosquitos, fruit flies, beetles and other pests. To use coffee grounds as an insect and pest repellent, simply set out bowls of grounds or sprinkle them around outdoor seating areas.
Sprinkling coffee grounds among your plants may help to ward off rabbits and other small mammals due to coffee's powerful scent. Plus, it composts naturally over time, giving your plants some extra nutrients!
Avoid using coffee grounds on alkaline-loving trees, such as linden, ironwood, red chestnut and arborvitae. Coffee grounds used as mulch or compost inhibit plant growth on geranium, asparagus fern, Chinese mustard and Italian ryegrass. Definitely don't use coffee grounds with these plants.
Coffee grounds can repel mice effectively in a home environment to some extent. While they may not be a foolproof solution, the strong scent can mask the smell of food and other attractants, reducing the likelihood of mice entering the treated areas.
Coffee grounds are great for a morning pick-me-up, but they also serve a few useful purposes in your garden. In fact, they can repel snakes!
While rats can be difficult to get rid of, there are some effective and natural ways to deter them from your garden. Some of the most effective natural rat deterrents include crushed pepper, peppermint oil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cloves, citronella, eucalyptus, and chilli flakes.
Coffee grounds are an excellent compost ingredient and are fine to apply directly onto the soil around most garden plants if used with care and moderation. Coffee grounds contain nutrients that plants use for growth.
Both Vaseline and coffee grounds can be used to repel squirrels, but they're harmful to birds.
Tomatoes thrive in loamy soils with good drainage and high organic matter content. Adding composted coffee grounds to planting beds is a great way to build healthy soil for tomato planting but won't provide all the required nutrients.
Coffee grounds have many nutrients that make them attractive to the earthworms in your garden as well as the red wigglers and nightcrawlers in your worm bin. It has been observed that earthworms carry the coffee grounds particles deep into the soil.
Drywood termite droppings (drywood termite pellets) look a lot like coffee grounds mixed with sand.
The taste and smell of coffee is pleasing for many, but squirrels disagree. Coffee grounds are a natural repellent for squirrels, and they're easy to mix in with your soil. Instead of discarding your leftover coffee grounds, sprinkle them around the surface soil in your potted plant.
Remove Unwanted Odors
Coffee grounds contain nitrogen and carbon compounds, which have the power to remove unwanted smells. In other words, coffee grounds could become your best friend in fighting odors in your home.
You may love your morning coffee, but ants could do without it. Another natural way to deter ants, sprinkle coffee grounds outside and around your garden. The smell repels them and they'll be looking for a less caffeinated place to hang out.
You may have heard that leftover food and strong-smelling organic items have a tendency to attract rats and mice, and that might have led you to ask if the smell of used coffee grounds lures rodents. While rats and mice are attracted to food odors, they aren't interested in the smell or taste of coffee grounds.
Why coffee grounds? Since the bears have a strong sense of smell, such a pungent treat is extremely attractive and stimulating to them. The bears roll around in coffee grounds like a cat in catnip!
The scent of the coffee is unpleasant for these critters, and the rough texture irritates their paws. It's no wonder why rabbits avoid areas where there are coffee grounds, but what else causes them to stay away?
For example, avoid adding any caffeine to plants that are germinating. Freshly seeded areas should be avoided as well. Fresh grounds, and caffeine in general, have allelopathic properties. This can stunt plant growth and do more harm than good.
Fast-growing plants deplete the soil of calcium very quickly so egg shells are an ideal supplement and feed for outdoor flowers, vegetables and fruit trees in your garden.
Like most kitchen waste, it is a fine amendment for the garden, but like anything else, coffee grounds can be overdone.” Contrary to popular belief, it's a myth that coffee grounds are acidic and will lower the pH of the soil. After brewing, the grounds are close to pH neutral, between 6.5 and 6.8.
The strong scent of peppermint is overwhelming to mice. Similarly, essential oils such as eucalyptus oil, bergamot oil, clove oil, and cinnamon oil are potent in keeping mice at bay. One study noted that eucalyptus oil applied once a day was more effective as a rat repellant than once a week.
Irish Spring soap is not likely to keep mice away from your house– and the strong fragrances could even be attractive to them. Rats & mice might initially be deterred by the overwhelming odor, but after a while they'll get used to it, and may even take a nibble to test it as food.
Rodents do not like the sharp scent of vinegar, so it's believed that it can be an effective rodent repellent. Common advice is to soak cotton balls with vinegar and place them near areas where you think rodents are entering your home and to use vinegar as a cleaning solution.