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Vegetable Gardening

Slugs: How to repel, perhaps kill, slugs with coffee (caffeine)

14 years ago

I've read several posts lately about slugs. A fellow gardener (ppod) posted the thread below over on the beans, peas, legumes forum. I found it quite interesting. Perhaps some of you will also.

Thanks ppod.

Rick

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Posted by ppod 6 SE NY (My Page) on Wed, Jun 10, 09 at 21:58

Easy to do, inexpensive, and safe. ....almost too good to be true....

Scroll down to "Do the java-jive against slugs," more than halfway down the page.

Now, instead of pouring left-over coffee down the sink, save it and pour it over the soil around plants that need protection. Slugs will avoid the area (according to Owen, whose source is the USDA, Hawaii).

Or put down used coffee grounds for similar results. (Used coffee grounds can be had for free at many Starbucks. Suggestion: Keep heavy-duty garbage bags in your car, or a tub, 'cause sometimes there's seepage from the grounds.)

http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: By Marion Owen: Learn how coffee can help you fight the war on slime

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Comments (7)

mikerino
14 years ago
How about putting some coffee or some diluted coffee in a spray bottle and spraying it right on the slug covered lettuce and soil around it?
susaneden
14 years ago
Mike--I spray my lettuce, chard, and basil with diluted coffee, and it works!
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I agree with Paul, the most worry free approach is to go out with a flashlight at night and collect slugs, snails and earwigs while they are doing their dastardly deads. If you are not squemish a pair of old scissors works good to curtail slimy crawlers careers. A pair of thin vinyl or rubber gloves works good for picking earwigs off of tender leaves. I give my earwigs a firm pinch and they no longer devour my dalhias. No worry about poisons effecting benaficial bugs you get the offender in the act. I notice a reduction by 75% the next night. A miners light strapped to your head makes two hands free for "de bugging".
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i'll still spread them around worms love them" Greenguy My only point is this little experiment is to learn if "spent" coffee grounds repel slugs and the coffee grounds in pots as a weed barrier. They have a small charge of N and are an excellent source of organic matter and usually free. The fact that worms seem to like them proves the organic process is working and when it is we have little to do except water and figure out how to kill the slugs.
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Easy to do, inexpensive, and safe. ....almost too good to be true.... Scroll down to "Do the java-jive against slugs," more than halfway down the page. Now, instead of pouring left-over coffee down the sink, save it and pour it over the soil around plants that need protection. Slugs will avoid the area (according to Owen, whose source is the USDA, Hawaii). Or put down used coffee grounds for similar results. (Used coffee grounds can be had for free at many Starbucks. Suggestion: Keep heavy-duty garbage bags in your car, or a tub, 'cause sometimes there's seepage from the grounds.) http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm Here is a link that might be useful: By Marion Owen: Learn how coffee can help you fight the war on slime
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exactly how do you deal with slugs?
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Comments (5)
I pick them out too. My bins are outside and I noticed a huge increase in slugs when we had those really warm spring days. I was pulling them out of the bins and stepping on them left and right until my conscious started to bother me. Now I don't want to sound like a tree-hugging fanatic, but I figure most things in nature have a positive purpose EVEN when I might find it difficult to figure out what that POSITIVE purpose might be - so I stopped squashing the slugs and began tossing them into a small wooded area that borders my property. (Wish I knew someone with chickens :-) If I could find a way to keep the slugs on the poison ivy that doesn't want to die no matter how many times it's dug up and cut down, I'd be happy. If you didn't find the slugs in your worm bedding, I'm wondering how they got inside your house??? I don't think slugs would want to come inside and would find it difficult to do so even if they had joined together and made a plan to invade. I'm thinking you must have brought them inside on some plant material. Perhaps the two you found were an isolated incident? FYI: I've found that if I store my leaves up off the ground there are fewer slugs to deal with. Once I picked out all the baby and adult slugs in early spring, I haven't had any to deal with since. (I am curious about the coffee grounds as a slug repellant. Hopefully someone will explain this.)
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digdirt2
14 years ago
There was a discussion on coffee and slugs over on the Compost forum not too long back but it focused on using the dry grounds around the plants to repel and kill the slugs - sharp edges on the grounds apparently irritates their bodies and the smell repels them too.

They sure can't hurt the plants and many say it works. Only complaint I have read was if you lay them on too thickly they crust over and repel water.

Good luck with the slugs!

Dave
three6nine
14 years ago
Hi susaneden (or anyone),

Do you have a dilution ratio of some sort? Or, can you give me some kind of idea / guess-ta-ment?

Also, you spray directly on the plant, not just around it on the ground, correct?

Lastly, do you use it on any other plants besides the ones your listed - like tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc?

TIA
digdirt2
14 years ago
Dilution, as mentioned above is "whatever is left in the coffee pot" so the dilution would be however you make your coffee. ;)

And a definite no, it should NOT be sprayed on the leaves. I haven't seen that as tested or recommended anywhere in the many discussions on it. If it were to be used as a foliar spray it would have to be severely diluted in order to not harm the plants.

It's generally recommended as a soil treatment only. This is for slug control - slugs are ground dwellers.

Liquid coffee or used coffee grounds can be used in moderate amounts around most any plant except perhaps legumes as they don't tolerate extra nitrogen well.

Dave
John A
14 years ago
This sounds like something I need to try. I have slugs that are very selective. They eat lettuces, basil and the marigolds I planted around tomatoes to keep the insects away. The marigolds are totally destroyed. They haven't touched tomatoes, peppers or beans.
John A
susaneden
14 years ago
Dave--I have done this every year, with no ill effects (except to the slugs), but it is a very weak thing, like 1 T to a quart.

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