The earthworms and everything else seemed to carry on as before. Not only
were the results organically correct, they were dramatic.

I would like to encourage others to try a heavy sprinkling of fresh
(un-brewed) grounds to deal with slugs. I have a 300 sq ft garden and only
used about 2# of coffee (from a 5# can of "the cheap stuff"), so the
expense is not unbearable.

Apparently their nervous systems can not deal with that much caffeine.

Bill




----
So, Bill, do the ground coffe have to be unbrewed? I was thinking of giving
the slugs brewed creme-brulee coffee grounds :-) The aroma will attract them
and then kapow! :-)

Anyway, I will try your method.

/z.

Haaa!

"Zphysics1" wrote in message
...

The earthworms and everything else seemed to carry on as before. Not only
were the results organically correct, they were dramatic.

I would like to encourage others to try a heavy sprinkling of fresh
(un-brewed) grounds to deal with slugs. I have a 300 sq ft garden and only
used about 2# of coffee (from a 5# can of "the cheap stuff"), so the
expense is not unbearable.

Apparently their nervous systems can not deal with that much caffeine.

Bill




----
So, Bill, do the ground coffe have to be unbrewed? I was thinking of
giving
the slugs brewed creme-brulee coffee grounds :-) The aroma will attract
them
and then kapow! :-)

Anyway, I will try your method.

/z.

On Sat, 22 Feb 2003 14:25:48 +0000, Zphysics1 wrote:


The earthworms and everything else seemed to carry on as before. Not
only were the results organically correct, they were dramatic.

I would like to encourage others to try a heavy sprinkling of fresh
(un-brewed) grounds to deal with slugs. I have a 300 sq ft garden and
only used about 2# of coffee (from a 5# can of "the cheap stuff"), so
the expense is not unbearable.

Apparently their nervous systems can not deal with that much caffeine.

Bill




----
So, Bill, do the ground coffe have to be unbrewed? I was thinking of
giving the slugs brewed creme-brulee coffee grounds :-) The aroma will
attract them and then kapow! :-)

Anyway, I will try your method.

/z.

Actually, yes, in this case 'fresh' appears to be a requirement. There is
a minimum level of caffeine (which fresh grounds only just-barely meet)
and, as one of the chemists on this list noted last year, used grounds are
no longer potent enough. I DO put the used grounds to work ... the worms
love 'em as a mulch and they fit just fine in the compost pile ... just
not as a slugicide (that's the wrong word, but I like it better than
molluscide, so I'm going to use it instead) :-)

I realize you were being humorous ... the 'creme brule' phrase got a
chuckle out of me ... but some on the list are humor-impaired and I didn't
want them to go off on a half-dozen tangents.

Bill

On Sat, 22 Feb 2003 14:25:48 +0000, Zphysics1 wrote:


The earthworms and everything else seemed to carry on as before. Not
only were the results organically correct, they were dramatic.

I would like to encourage others to try a heavy sprinkling of fresh
(un-brewed) grounds to deal with slugs. I have a 300 sq ft garden and
only used about 2# of coffee (from a 5# can of "the cheap stuff"), so
the expense is not unbearable.

Apparently their nervous systems can not deal with that much caffeine.

Bill




----
So, Bill, do the ground coffe have to be unbrewed? I was thinking of
giving the slugs brewed creme-brulee coffee grounds :-) The aroma will
attract them and then kapow! :-)

Anyway, I will try your method.

/z.

Actually, yes, in this case 'fresh' appears to be a requirement. There is
a minimum level of caffeine (which fresh grounds only just-barely meet)
and, as one of the chemists on this list noted last year, used grounds are
no longer potent enough. I DO put the used grounds to work ... the worms
love 'em as a mulch and they fit just fine in the compost pile ... just
not as a slugicide (that's the wrong word, but I like it better than
molluscide, so I'm going to use it instead) :-)

I realize you were being humorous ... the 'creme brule' phrase got a
chuckle out of me ... but some on the list are humor-impaired and I didn't
want them to go off on a half-dozen tangents.

Bill


----

Would fresh mean freshly ground from whole coffee beans? I was thinking to
popping into the nearest 99 cent store and get several cans of ground (
unbrewed -- naturally) coffee. Would that work? OR does it have to be Kona
Coffee ( you know Hawaii an all :-)

OR will freeze-dried coffee work? No grounds but it does have the "ground
coffee" consistency That would be pretty much concentrated caffiene. I have a
bottle of freeze-dried Yuban I cannot stand. Will that work? ( Seriously.)

* grin*
/z.

By the way, I tried the beer approach. There were two slugs floating on a full
can of Coors I poured on a flat plastic container.

/z.

In article, says...
By the way, I tried the beer approach. There were two slugs floating on a full
can of Coors I poured on a flat plastic container.

Is two slugs for a full can of Coors a wise trade?....is the the beer
really that bad?
kelvyn.

In article, says...
By the way, I tried the beer approach. There were two slugs floating on a full
can of Coors I poured on a flat plastic container.

Is two slugs for a full can of Coors a wise trade?....is the the beer
really that bad?
kelvyn.



Not a wise trade. I do not drink so I do not know if the beer is good or not.
Still, I find the beer method sort of unwieldy.

/z.

Kelvyn wondered at zphysics1 wisdom:
By the way, I tried the beer approach. There were two slugs
floating on a full can of Coors I poured on a flat plastic container.

Is two slugs for a full can of Coors a wise trade?....is the the beer
really that bad?

Yes and yes. The fact that slugs turned their collective "noses" up at it
should be clue enough. Coors is a tasteless carbonated water with a yellow
added for coloring. G

My neighbor uses the "beer trap" and swears by Burgie or Colt. Says he, "If
it's skunked, they're fighting each other to get in the hole."

The Ranger

Bill wrote:

Last year I followed up on some University of
Hawaii research by sprinkling fresh coffee
grounds on my soil when the slugs got bad.

I read that they used a 2% caffeine solution, not coffee. Caffeine is a
powerful neurotoxin and at this dose would probably kill beneficials as well
as slugs. If coffee (a much lower dose of caffeine) could be used, that
might be worth considering. Where did you find your info?

Brina