A snail infestation in the garden can be a real horror for amateur gardeners. You happily eat your way through the salads in the vegetable patch and also find some of the flowers in the flower bed very tasty and that drives you crazy. Luckily, there are some remedies for snails in the garden that can help you get rid of them. After we have already introduced you to eggshells and oatmeal as home remedies, we would now like to explain to you whether coffee grounds can also work against snails.
Do coffee grounds help against snails and if so, how?
Do coffee grounds repel snails or is this one of the many myths that many gardening tips ultimately turn out to be?
As you know, coffee contains caffeine, which is nothing but a neurotoxin. While it does not cause any further damage to humans when consumed normally, it has a stronger effect on small animals such as snails, for example. And you can use these for yourself or to protect your garden plants. But in order to have success using coffee grounds against snails, you have to use it correctly. There are two ways to use it as plant protection:
- Dry coffee grounds
- Cold coffee
And which of these helps against snails?
Fight the molluscs with the powder
Many people use dry coffee grounds as a home remedy for snails. If you've tried this before without success, it's not because you did something wrong. It's just that the concentration of caffeine in this case is hardly enough to deter the molluscs. Sometimes the bed actually seems to be free of snails after the application, but usually this is simply because the pests have already eaten their fill or found another place.
Find out hereHow to identify and eliminate snail eggs.
Alternatively, you can use unused coffee powder, as the caffeine content is higher there. In order not to damage the soil with its microorganisms and beneficial insects, it is only applied at most twice a year. Not to be forgotten is the fact that this method is not particularly cheap in comparisonto other meansis.
Brew coffee instead of coffee grounds to prevent snails in the garden
In contrast to coffee grounds, brewed coffee, preferably as strong as possible, is particularly effective against snails. If you let it cool down, you can then water the soil near the plant or even spray the plant itself with it.But what you should definitely keep in mind is::
- The highly concentrated caffeine in the coffee drink can also kill important microorganisms in the soil.
- Beneficial insects are also deterred or even killed. Its use is therefore not recommended, especially on flowering specimens.
- Too much caffeine can also harm the plant.
Protect strawberries from slug infestation byfollow these tips.
Conclusion: Can you fight slugs in the garden with the help of coffee?
Coffee grounds are not effective against snails. In order for the stimulant to really help against snails, the caffeine content, i.e. the ingredient that actually has a deterrent effect, must be present in a high concentration, which is not the case with used coffee powder. On the other hand, fresh coffee powder and brewed coffee are more effective as pouring or spraying agents, but they have the disadvantage that should not be underestimated: useful creatures are driven away (including useful snails and earthworms), suffer damage or even die.
For this reason, it is better to choose more environmentally friendly or effective methods to combat snails. How about itwith oat flakes?
Also read:Coffee grounds against grubs: Fight the annoying pests with this natural remedy!
