On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:49:52 GMT, "K Barrett"
wrote:

Thanks deg! Yes, I was going to try them for snail control. Any idea how
I'd create the experiment? Isolate a bunch of bush snails, dunk them in
caffeine water vs plain water, time how long they take to die? Isolate a
bunch of bush snails, place them on filter paper laced with caffeine vs
plain filter paper, time how fast they crawl away? Trust me, I got a ton of
bush snails to try this with.

Or forget the science, and just water the orchds with caffeine water and
report the results, *G*

K Barrett

Here's an article that suggest a 2% solution. That would be 20 grams
per liter of water - an entire bottle of 100 200mg tablets - or about
400 tablets per gallon of water. Sure sounds like a lot to me.

http://www.greennature.com/article1343.html

I'm sure powdered caffeine is available commercially much cheaper, but
not generally available to individuals due to liability issues. FYI,
I had pretty good luck using an iron based snail / slug treatment even
on mounted plants. I'd take damp mounts, hold them horizontally and
sprinkle on the pellets. Enough would get stuck in crevices to work.
It took a while and the pellets get moldy, but the snails seem to be
gone. I've wondered if the pellets could be dissolved and sprayed, but
haven't tried that.

deg