THE EFFECT OF USING COFFE GROUNDS, EGGSHELLS AND

VEGETABLE SCRAPS AS ORGANIC FERTILIZER TO SPEED UP THE

Alexander Winston Anggono 9G/01

Eugene Jesslyn Muljana 9G/09

Stephanie Felicia 9G/26

SMP SANTA LAURENSIA

JL. SUTERA UTAMA NO.1,

SERPONG TANGERANG SELATAN 2018

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background:

As human beings, we have basic needs and requirements to stay alive. One of those basic
needs are food. Food is a very important for the human body because it is what gives us
nutrients and energy. There are lots of types of food that give certain nutrients. Vegetables
and leafy greens are a very important part of food, since they contain vitamins, minerals and
fibers.

Since humans have a growing population of 7.8 billion, agriculture and farming is going
to be very important to feed all those mouths. If we don’t use agricultural enhancers, we
won’t be able to produce vegetables effectively. A tool that we’re already using is fertilizer
but there are 2 types of fertilizer, non-organic and organic fertilizer. Both can be used for
growing plants and vegetables although non-organic fertilizer is used the most for farming.

As I’ve said, non-organic fertilizer is the type of fertilizer that’s mainly being used for
farming and agriculture because the price for non-organic fertilizer is cheaper. Non-organic
fertilizer is made of chemicals and because of that, some of those chemicals could be harmful
to the people who are eating those vegetables and to the environment since Indonesian
farmers usually plant farms around mountains that are close to the forests and water sources
that can be polluted by the chemicals in non-organic fertilizer.

There are plenty of solutions for non-organic fertilizer but we believe that organic fertilizer
should be considered the best solution since it can function the same as non-organic fertilizer
and be environmentally friendly and since the organic fertilizers (compost) are going to be
made of vegetable scraps from the kitchen and coffee grounds, we can recycle trash into
something useful rather than just throwing it away to the garbage dump.

1.2 Research of Problem

As I’ve said, non-organic fertilizer has plenty of negative and harmful effects to humans
and the environment. Non-organic fertilizers have long-term negative effects. Non-organic
fertilizers kill beneficial microorganisms in the soil that convert dead human and plant
remains into nutrient-rich organic matter. Nitrogen- and phosphate-based Non-organic

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fertilizers leach into groundwater and increase its toxicity, causing water pollution. Fertilizers
that leach into streams, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water disrupt aquatic ecosystems.
Non-organic fertilizers increase the nitrate levels of soil. Plants produced from such soil,
upon consumption, convert to toxic nitrites in the intestines. These harmful nitrites react with
the hemoglobin in the blood stream to cause methaeglobinaemia, which damages the vascular
and respiratory systems, causing suffocation and even death in extreme cases (when blood
methaemoglobin level is 80 percent or more).
Non-organic fertilizers damage the natural makeup of soil in the long term. Plants that
grow in overly fertilized soil are deficient in iron, zinc, carotene, vitamin C, copper and
protein.
1.3 Purpose of Research

The research that has we’ve found should be used to show that organic fertilizer can be as
effective as non-organic fertilizer so it can be used as a substitute for non-organic fertilizer
and recycle the trash at our homes for something useful.

1.4 Significance of Research

This research could be environmentally impacting since it doesn’t use chemicals and uses
organic waste instead that could easily decompose and pass on its nutrients. It can also be
agricultural impacting since it can work as a substitute for non-organic fertilizer.

1.5 Boundaries of Research

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 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Literature review

In this experiment, you might start to question why organic fertilizer is important. As
you’ve read in the background inorganic fertilizer can have harmful effects on humans and
the environment and to tackle that problem, we gave a solution to substitute inorganic
fertilizer by using a type of organic fertilizer which is compost. We chose compost because
the addition of compost adds nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium as well as micro-nutrients
such as manganese, copper, iron and zinc. While these micro-nutrients are only needed in
small amounts, they are important contributors to a plant’s overall health. Commercial
fertilizers are often lacking in micro-nutrients, so compost is an added boon to the health of
your plants. As compost rots, some materials break down more rapidly than others, in effect
becoming a sort of slow release fertilizer. The greater variety of ingredients in the compost,
the greater variety of nutrients will be released. Amending the soil with compost will also
neutralize both acidic and alkaline soils, bringing the bringing the pH levels to an ideal range
levels to an ideal range for nutrient absorption by plants. A compost-amended plantations
also attracts earthworms, centipedes, sow bugs, redworms and others. Their presence proves
that there is still organic material breaking down as it passes through their digestive systems
and represents a balanced ecology. The existence of these animals burrowing through the
earth also aerates the soil. Compost-amended gardens also tend to have fewer pest problems
without the use of pesticides and are more resistant to disease as well. Compost that is
predominantly leaf based has been shown to be effective against nematodes, and compost
application to grass suppresses a multitude of fungal diseases. Lastly, composting is cost
effective, decreasing the amount of cash outlay for garbage pickup, pesticides, herbicides,
fertilizers and the like. Basically, using compost in plantations is a win-win situation all the
way around.

For our compost we chose 3 raw materials which are coffee grounds, eggshells and
vegetables to create an ideal mix. The eggshells are going to be used in the mix to give

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calcium to help the growth of the cell walls of plants. Coffee grounds can give nitrogen and
aerate the soil. Vegetable scraps can add phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur and
magnesium.

We chose bok choy because it fits the problem we are having because it is relatively a fast
growing vegetable. The also contain these nutrients :

 9 calories
 1.05 g of protein
 1.53 g of carbohydrates
 0.7 g of dietary fiber
 0 g of cholesterol
 0.067 g of polyunsaturated fat
 74 mg of calcium
 0.56 mg of iron
 13 mg of magnesium
 26 mg of phosphorus
 176 mg of potassium
 46 mg of sodium
 0.13 mg of zinc
 31.5 mg of vitamin C
 46 micrograms (mcg) of folate
 156 mcg of vitamin A (RAE)

 31.9 mcg of vitamin K

Bok choy grown indoors tends to sprout rather quickly. Once you have a few true leaves
forming and all danger of frost has passed, harden the seedlings off for a week and then put in
the garden. Bok choy enjoys full sun, but you can also grow it in partial shade. Because
summers are so hot where I’m located, I plant greens in an area that doesn’t receive direct
sunlight to prevent early bolting. If this isn’t possible, I use a shade cloth to introduce dappled
light to the area. Bok choy likes soil with a pH of between 6 and 7.5. While the roots of this
plant are shallow, it’s a heavy feeder and requires fertile ground to thrive. It also needs soil
that drains well. Space plants according to the size you intend to harvest at. For harvesting
baby plants, space them closer together. I like to space my choy plants at 9 per square for
square foot gardening. I plant full-size plants at 4 per square. Water evenly without soaking
to prevent excess moisture, which may attract pests. Keep plants moist in hot weather. Bok
Choy prefers cooler weather. Keep this in mind when working out your planting schedule for

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this plant. There are 4 stages which are germination, early growth, head formation and
bolting. We chose the head formation because it is an important stage for harvesting which
takes 50-60 days

2.2 Hypothesis
With the given information, we believe that these materials can create a fertilizer that can
substitute inorganic fertilizer.