Leftovers for the garden?

[schatz]

Is anyone adding their leftover root material to the compost or directly to the soil of your garden or potted plants? I just started kava in January and have been adding it the coffee grounds before I throw it directly on my garden, I figure it might balance out the acidity of the coffee grounds out. So far it seems to be beneficial, just curious if anyone else has had experience with this.

 

[kilakila]

Coincidence! I've been putting my kava grinds in the garden. Haven't noticed anything blooming any better. Not even a kava plant in sight.

I did try mixing some up with potting soil for my plumeria seedlings. They all died.

 

[schatz]

I think the kava grounds are alkyline and arent so good for certain plants, but I thought if mixed in with the acidic coffee grounds it would equal out the ph and you would get the organic benefits from the mixture. Maybe I am wrong here, I havent checked the exact ph of kava grounds to see, just blindly experimenting. I have been wanting to ask this question here because I havent seen it mentioned. It sounds like its not working so good for flowers, but I wonder if others have had experience with it on their vegatable or pepper plants. It seems to be doing good on my small patch of grass that I rinse my strainer on daily. It just seems like kind of a waste to throw in trash.

 

[currentbun]

Maybe some experiments are in order. I've never left my "remains" out to dry. Do they become more pliable as they begin to dry?

If so, maybe they can be sculpted into something. If no, would they eventually harden to at least form a surface?

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Yeah please check pH and let us know ! I'm curious. I too have been just tossing my kava into the grass or where I'm starting a garden just because I feel like it's a waste not too

 

[schatz]

I leave mine out on the counter to dry with my coffee and tea grounds, and yes they do harden up into little kava turds. I have to break them up to sprinkle on garden and grass. I will do a Ph test when I resume my kava sessions, I dont have any to test right now. I have been told to quit kava by my body for a while, my wife says I am starting to look like her grandpa. This sucks too,i just finally received my Cactus sampler and have only been able to get to the Lawena. The Lawena is awesome the three times I used it. I think I may have anew favorite.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Hahaha yeah always listen to your body. For me dermo fluctuates so I just don't really mind. It doesn't seem to follow a pattern of worse unless I go ham one night and don't drink enough water but recently it's getting pretty wicked and I definitley haven't been keeping up on my water haha

 

[schatz]

Hahaha yeah always listen to your body. For me dermo fluctuates so I just don't really mind. It doesn't seem to follow a pattern of worse unless I go ham one night and don't drink enough water but recently it's getting pretty wicked and I definitley haven't been keeping up on my water haha

Its not really dermo, its more like a wrinkly face and neck. Usually when I have a slight itchy back I will back off for a couple days and I can resume my kava without ever getting to the point of dermo. This time I just noticed the other morning while shaving how wrinkled up my face was. I kind of saw into the future like the old Star Trek episode, kind of scary.I drink a quart of coconut water and 20 glasses of water every night. We even developed our own lotion to combat the dry skin so I dont really get the itchy back any more. But if I could only figure out how to look a little less wrinkled I would be a happy man.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Astringents.
Rub matcha on your face like a girl would cucumber stuff . The astringent nature will tighten the muscles .
My hands get wrinkly like that when I over do the kava .. usually coincides with dermo for me . My hands litterally look like grandpa hands . I do look at them and think the same thing hmmm this is what my hands will probrably look like when I'm old haha.

You may want to do one rinse of it first to get the caffiene out but I doubt it will kill ya if you stick with consumable amounts

 

[schatz]

I have not heard of matcha, I will have another research project today on that. Thanks for the info.

 

[violet]

I think the kava grounds are alkyline and arent so good for certain plants, but I thought if mixed in with the acidic coffee grounds it would equal out the ph and you would get the organic benefits from the mixture. Maybe I am wrong here, I havent checked the exact ph of kava grounds to see, just blindly experimenting. I have been wanting to ask this question here because I havent seen it mentioned. It sounds like its not working so good for flowers, but I wonder if others have had experience with it on their vegatable or pepper plants. It seems to be doing good on my small patch of grass that I rinse my strainer on daily. It just seems like kind of a waste to throw in trash.

@Mrbinx69

I asked Chris @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava what was the pH of kava. He tested it and it was 6.5.

Acid or Alkaline?

 

[schatz]

Thank you Violet, I suspected it was alkaline based on drinking and effects on my body gave me the feeling it was alkaline. So I guess mixing with coffee grounds will prove beneficial to give to potting soil and gardens for the organic matter that it needs. Will update this thread when I have noticed positive or negative effects if anyone is interested. Thanks again.

 

[kastom_lif]

Alkaloids does not necessarily mean the solution is alkaline. Language is weird like that.

If you're worried about throwing makas straight in your garden you could always compost it with other kitchen scraps.

 

[schatz]

I have been rinsing my nut milk bag and my french presses with yerba and coffee grounds out in one spot on my lawn as a test. It does seem to make my grass grow better in that area.