I don't know about coffee grounds but I do know pie pans with about 1 inch of beer in them have proven to be a non-toxic slug getter in my garden. The slug crawls in to get the beer and drowns! I have trapped dozens using this method!

nova

table salt if you catch them out

I tried the beer and it never worked for me. The only thing that works is Bug (or Slug) Getta by Ortho. That's the pellets. They work, just keep the pets away.

Julie

saintpfla,

Interesting you're having a snail/slug problem. We are 15 inches behind in rain this year and have once weekly watering restrictions so snails have not been prominent this year. Or maybe it's the coffee grounds that I use? In any case, when I have had problems with snails, I've found the iron phosphate, which is considered organic and non-toxic to creatures, to be very effective and for long periods. It comes under the name sluggo and escar-go!

Anna

Last year my Swiss Chard and Zuchinni leaves were about destroyed by those slimy creatures. I bought some Diatomaceous Earth from a local garden store and it worked. After a rain though you must reapply the powder. It is made from a microscopic animal called a DIATOM, non poisonous and an easy to apply powder. I took a used container from those potato chips that come layered in a round container(Can't think of the name)and punched several holes in the bottom and with the plastic lid on top and another plastic lid on the bottom for storing it held up good.PRINGLES, memory working once more.

my brand new addition to garden has many leaves eaten by I don't know what.

I have three papaya trees and all have these teeth marks in some of the leaves.

Could it be slugs? Haven't seen any signs of them,though.

teeka

I have a 3/4 bag of Slug Getta. (Blushing.) Bought it and applied it once. Had a massive slug kill in the backyard. My dog was sick the next day.

If you walk around the yard early in the morning, those slugs are visible and salt works (kosher rocks!), or squishing (yuck!) is highly effective. I feel guilty about endangering my pet and the groundwater from using that stuff. If you want the rest of mine, let me know.

Probably the most effective and cheapest way, altho the most labor intensive, is to go out in the early morning for 10-15 minutes each day, and stomp them. If you can do that on a regular basis, you really will get ahead of them. You don't have to worry about safety either!

Well, I'm trying the coffee grounds to see if that works. I'm encouraged that the USDA says it repels and kills slugs. I also caught a few early evening tonight and tossed them in the ol'corn can full of water. Guess what? They can't swim.

I'm tired of my plants chewed to the nub. They seem to love bean plants and the crushed egg shells DO NOT WORK.

If the coffee grounds don't work, I'll try the iron phosphate stuff. My main reason for going organic is HD was out of slug bait. I did put a few pieces of coral around the beans to see if that might help as well.

If coffee grounds work, I'll report back. And, I drink a pot a day, so there will be plenty of grounds to use!

Thanks for the advice everyone (and the offer of slug bait Imatallun!) :)

Ok, I can't stand slugs or snails either. I will sometimes pick up a rock and squish them, but that is just too messy and brutal for me. I confess that my favored method of removal is to hand pick them and throw them as far as possible. I figure that since they move so slow, it will take them days if not weeks to crawl back (that is if they survive the landing). Once I talked DH, son & their friends into teeing snails up in the front yard and driving them down the street with their golf clubs. It was a little bit odd as far as the neighbors were concerned, but no one complained.

I wasn't ready to confess to the sling method, great post cat. I try to aim at a big tree. I will say the coffee grounds keep those really huge ugly slugs out of my broms. (Big, big bonus: fewer CTF's and Cuban Bufo's too.)

What about a sunk frisbee or plastic pot holder with beer to invite, egg shells to slice, and UCG combined with kosher salt? I think I'll start an experiment this weekend.

Have you tried Kirk's Castile Soap for aphids, mealy bugs, scale, spider mites and fungus yet? Great article in "Florida Gardening's" Feb/Mar 2007 issue. I don't have any interest in either of the formerly mentioned, btw, just appreciate alternative methods for gardening and have learned so much on this forum.

I learned about Kirk's Castile Soap out here actually. I do use it..it works great.

I just read that article in Florida Gardening also. It was very informative. I just planted a sprouting onion from my fridge because of what that article said.

So, I've dropped the slugs into a can (corn can) filled half way with water. Does that not kill them? I went out this evening to dump the can -- I didn't see the slugs. Do they disintegrate in the water or did they crawl out?

I know it sounds like a dumb question (..at least to me), but the slugs were gone...???