Influence of fresh coffee grounds on the germination of arugula seeds as an alternative fertilizer in urban agriculture

Abstract

The use of fresh coffee grounds as fertilizer in urban agriculture experiments is already a known practice. In this way, the present work analyzed its application as substrate in the germination of arugula seeds. These were sown in trays containing 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of coffee grounds in the substrate. At the end of the emergency test, the percentage and first emergence count, length and fresh and dry mass of the seedlings were analyzed. There was a decreasing variation for all the evaluated characteristics in relation to the percentage of coffee grounds contained in the substrates, which indicated a negative result in its use for the proposed purposes. Fresh coffee grounds applied directly to the substrate as fertilizer proved to be inefficient for arugula in the quantities tested, thus suggesting the need for research with other concentrations and with other species important for urban agriculture.