Anonymous said:

On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 04:32:38 +0000, McQualude wrote:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...6F5-48B2-1D1A-
8B07809EC588EEDF&catID=1

According to the article a cup of instant coffee contains about 0.5%
caffeine, brewed coffee has more but as little as 0.1% will deter
1/4 slugs from feeding.

If you'll search the archives of this newsgroup you'll see that I've
been advocating / vigorously defending this for quite some time.

I'll let you do the research if you think it's worth reading.

My technique has been to sprinkle FRESH grounds on the soil surface
after signs of slugs

I thought of doing the same after reading the article.

My study did
not care what the precise dose was, only what the practical
application parameters might be.

You use the word 'study', do you mean under controlled circumstances with
reproducable results? Why don't you post it on your website? Then it's
handy for anyone to take a quick look.

I only have to do this once a year. I never see signs of slugs
afterward ... not in the same season, anyway. I use about 1 pound, or
slightly more, per 100 sq. ft. evenly broadcast on the soil surface
(do not work into the soil) in the evening. After nightfall, the
slugs come out to feed and are never seen again.

My wife and I decided to try this after I mentioned the SCIAM article,
especially around our deck which hosts battalions of slugs. We have had
some success beating them back by sprinkling salt around the house and
under the deck but that won't work in the garden since the salt would kill
the vegetables.

I believe I am getting about 100% kill off and that the following
seasons slugs are immigrants from the public alley behind my garden.

That would be awesome. We have a serious slug problem.

If I were getting less kill off than that, I would expect a
resurgence in growth in the same year. Moreover, I would expect the
technique to quit working as caffeine-tolerant slugs bred with each
other. So far, it continues to be reliable. This is my third year of
using this technique.

I am anxious to try it. We are already saving our coffee grounds. I'm not
sure though that slugs/caffeine are analogous to bacteria/antibiotics, but
that would be an interesting part of the study.

I have taken a lot of vary public flack about this and most certainly
DID publish my findings -- right here -- so I am not getting a warm
fuzzy feeling right now at seeing this gussied up report.

That link is about two years behind this newsgroup and nearly three
years behind ME.

You get a gold star.
--
McQualude