It’s been a nightmare summer for gardeners up and down the UK, with long periods of soaking rain making it difficult to grow anything – before slugs and snails chew it up. The voracious molluscs will stop at literally nothing to strip your garden of everything you have lovingly planted, chewing through strawberries, raspberries, tomato plants, potato leaves, and every type of flower in their quest to satisfy their seemingly insatiable hunger.
Coffee Grounds: A Secret Weapon Against Slugs and Snails
Gardeners share a top tip that can help control and repel slug populations – instant coffee. Cheap coffee grounds aren’t just a way to perk up your morning routine, they can also give a boost to everything growing in your garden.
Caffeine is toxic to slugs and snails, so some gardening experts swear by it as a pest control. A word of caution, though: coffee is a very painful way for slugs to die, worse than salt, so don’t apply coffee grounds directly to any slugs or snails (stomping on them would be much quicker and less cruel).
How to Use Coffee Grounds
Instead, simply sprinkle the grounds on the soil and around raised beds or pots during dry, clear weather, and when it rains, the slugs won’t cross the coffee, protecting your precious flowers and crops. Studies have shown that coffee grounds can reduce slugs and snails by 50 to 90 percent.
Benefits for Your Plants
Coffee won’t harm your plants either; in fact, some studies have found that caffeine actually stimulates plant growth. According to the gardening blog Tea and Coffee, “Coffee grounds contain a chemical called alkaloid, which is toxic to slugs. When slugs ingest coffee grounds, they suffer severe dehydration and eventually die.”
For these reasons, slugs will avoid areas where coffee grounds have been spread. While coffee grounds may not be the most effective way to keep slugs out of your garden, they can be a helpful tool in deterring these pests.
