I'm going to try using used coffee grounds with a few potted trees to see if it reduces or stops the plant eating / sucking bugs.

This has been shown to work wonder in FL on cycads infested with scale.

Let me know if anyone else has tried this, as it may help with leafminors and other insects.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-03-23/news/orcoffee23_1_cycads-coffee-grounds-sago

http://www.cycad.org/documents/Broome-Coffee-2007.pdf

It,s interesting that you mentioned this,i was thinking about it this morning,to put it on the forum.
I use it for several year,s now,with all my plants,not alone with citrus.
Have a professional espresso machine ,i crumble the puck,s over the soil.
It is a very old way ,my grandfather did this by his crop , carrot,s ,cabbage and so.

grad do the plants have any pest problems ?

No, i use it more as a fertilizer, and as a barrier for snales.
I also use tobacco,spread some over the soil or put the lids in a bucket with water,leave it over night and spray the plants with it.
Watt,s dangerous for us ,is shorely dangerous for those suckers

That's what I wanted to hear... I'm going to try it with a bunch of my container citrus & see how it works with grasshoppers & leafminors.

Interesting... I have been adding coffee grounds & the coffee from the bottom of the pot for the last three weeks. Adding it about twice a week to the surface of the soil.

The three Moro blood oranges I have been using it on, have no leafminer or other insect damage on new growth. Other citrus right next to them have leafminer & grasshopper damage.

I'm going to see if I can get large quantities of used coffee grounds from the local coffee shops to use on all of my container trees. So far it looks very promising. I just have to watch the PH levels.

You can get all the free coffee grounds you want from any Starbucks. Most stores, place bags of their used grounds on a table in the store, free for the taking. - Millet.

OK, after using coffee grounds for two months I'm impressed. My pink lemon was infested with mealybug & leaf miners. It was to the point I though I would lose it. Two months later & it is completely bug free. Not a single miner at all. Seems the coffee is working better than the Bayer advance. The new flushes are perfect, not a bug in sight!

Any noticed effect on spider mite reduction?

No spider mites, no insect damage at all. Give it a try, I'm amazed as this year has been very bad for leaf miners & this tree has none at all.

That coffee ground use is a very old european horti trick.

In first place it is the BEST fertilizer at all, you could even plant in it only.
Then it turns into best soil and third the remaining coffeine kills or keeps away all kinds of pests ...

How much have you used on a container , do you replace it every month ?

thanks

I just use all I get.
You cannot use too much.

But if like, you can dry it and keep it for laters.

so I just place it on top of the container , one inch maybe will do the trick

yes, it is wahed into the soil by watering, but you also can mix it in.
Just as you like.
Also mixing it into the soil at potting is great.