Take a look at this BBC archive article assessing the viability of using coffee, well caffeine, as a control for slugs, you can always rely upon the Radio 4 listener to provide just the right amount of constructive feedback.
| The War on Slugs – Listeners’ Emails |
| We spoke to Dr Robert Hollingsworth about his research into caffeine being used to kill garden slugs. The study found that a 1-2% caffeine solution kills slugs and snails and concentrations as low as 0.01% were enough to put them off their food. Bearing in mind that a cup of instant coffee contains about about 0.05% caffeine, and brewed coffee is generally stronger, here are a selection of emails we received from our listening gardeners. The researchers involved in your programme, and those who have brought this to your attention, are obviously not aware that caffeine was patented for this use as long ago as 1984, as shown in the attached patent by James Nathanson, WO8601724, which discusses the likely biochemical reason for the effect (caffeine is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor). I note that the concentrations of caffeine required are high (~2%, as correctly reported on Today). This means that caffeine is about 100-1000 fold less potent than many modern pesticides and hence not an attractive commercial proposition. However, I don’t suppose this will deter your listeners from giving it a try. Dr Mike Turnbull, Syngenta. |
Original article (and the reader feedback) on the BBC – https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/science_nature/slug_caffeine_mail.shtml
Eaten by Slugs 
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