Share your morning coffee with the slugs

This is kinda funny. We can kill slugs with beer or coffee, just depends on if you want them drunk or jazzed when they die, I guess. ;)

Reuters News Service
LONDON JUNE 26 http://www.msnbc.com/news/772738.asp?0si=-

EVEN VERY SMALL concentrations can be deadly for the garden pests, scientists from the US Pacific Basin Agriculture Research Center in Hilo, Hawaii said on Wednesday.

The stimulant that helps million of people wake up and face the day becomes a deadly neurotoxin when it is sprayed on the slimy creatures.

“It has potential as an environmentally acceptable alternative toxicant for the control of slugs and snails on food crops,” Richard Hollingsworth said in a report in the science journal Nature.

The scientists at the US Department of Agriculture’s research center were testing the effects of caffeine on other pests in Hawaii when they discovered that slugs and snails could not tolerate it.

“We found that large slugs placed on loose soil and sprayed with a one or two percent solution of caffeine responded with uncoordinated writhing; the only survivors were the few that were able to burrow into the soil soon after treatment,” Hollingsworth added.

The weak solution of caffeine didn’t damage the foliage of palms or orchids and any yellowing of leaves could be avoided by mixing caffeine with an appropriate agricultural polymer, he added.

My lord, a slug on a caffeine rush! Bet he be slimin' along at about an inch an hour!

Yeah....Look at that escargot! NOT!

now i can throw my leftover coffee into the garden and feel good about it. :) now all those grandma's who put coffee grounds in the soil probably didn't have any grubs or slugs either. hmmmmmm?

hmmmm. so, how would we do this? would we put some cofee in the attachement that goes on the hose and just spray?, but they hide under things dont they? and did the article say you have to spray them directly? or maybe fill a spray bottle, and go around at night with a flashlight and spray.....that way you dont have to touch them.....
I guess it's worth a try!
Let's all try it, and see how it goes...

Oh, Gardenwife. Everytime I make a funny, you top me! I'd suggest we give the slugs that coffee that cooks for an hour or two and is unpalletable to humans. That should fix 'em!

what about coffee grounds?

I'd imagine the grounds would be good to sprinkle around the plants which like acid, but it might be too strong for those which don't.

Well, this is good news for me! Our soil is so alkaline that I don't think an application of coffee grounds around every plant would hurt. I think I'll try it. Thanks for the tip, GW!

Weez, if GW topped you every time you make a funny, she'd be too busy to do anything else. You've got one of the best senses of humor here.

This message was edited Monday, Jul 1st 5:34 PM

Thanks, Wingnut. Being an old fat, stove up gardener takes a good sense of humor! Dennis & I keep the ibuprofen on the table with the salt and pepper. Maybe I've been to busy to really notice, but I've only seen a couple young slugs so far this summer! I've finally taken the time to do some weeding in my beds, and even the most moist areas where the soaker hose is on do not have evidence of slugs... not that I am complaining, mind you. That's probably a good thing, since I'd rather drink my coffee than kill slugs with it! What if they build up an immunity to coffee toxins and begin craving it. Can you imagine getting up in the morning and finding slugs in your coffee!

Should you use hot or cold coffee????
Lol
Becky

I have been using coffee grounds as a mulch on some of my acid-lovers for years. Hate to disappoint y'all, but the slugs around here love the stuff! I have more slug slime trails in the coffee grounds than almost anywhere else :( Never tried spraing the liquid on them, but maybe...

I found a mostly mature banana slug the other day under my thyme; threw him (he weighed about 6 oz) into the middle of the street where he fried, then got squished by a passing car.

Kathy

well SLuggo seems to be good. I just tried it the other day.

Kathy, you almost sound like you enjoyed throwing that poor little old banana slug out into the road! Man, I'm glad we don't have those up here. I guess they're in Southeastern Alaska, but not here.

Kelly, Yes, the Sluggo is a good product. Wish I could convince more people to try it.

Kelly, Weezin, I haven't heard of this before. What is it?

Sluggo is a new product out. It is supposed to be safe. Unlike the older products which I didnt think were safe. I also believe that rain will not hurt this product. Check it out on google....you may want to try it too.

I too have read that coffee grounds spread around certain plants such as hostas, keeps them from being chewed up by the slugs. It sounds like Lupinelover disputes that it works. I haven't tried it myself, actually I thought of buying "Sluggo" or diatemaceous granules. I definitely do not eat enough eggs (shells) to make an impact on the slug population in my area. My philosophy is, if it works, keep doing it and if it doesn't, switch to something else.

Any acid loving plants, such as rhodos & azaleas, would love the extra coffee grinds amended into their soil. You should find that the earthworm activity will also be better in that area too.

Shirley, We don't use that many eggs here either; I mostly save them and scatter them around the veggie garden to protect the food crops. I nuke em for a few seconds to kill any bacteria (salmonella, etc) before scattering them. It really makes my brother "walk on egg shells" LOL

I will check out the sluggo, though; sounds like it might be OK. Thanks!

lol at lupine "middle of the street where he fried, then got squished by a passing car." rotfl the building next to me garden area has an old slate roof
i give alot of slugs flying lessons they land pretty good but don't seen go get the take off part again once they land

Good thing we don't outfit them with parachutes first, isn't it :)