News: Caffeine = Pesticide

Meant to post this earlier, but according to Reuters it looks like they might have come to the determination that garden pests don't seem to like "caffeine." Personally, I think the carbonic acid and similiar in soda's a whole lot worse for them (slugs, etc), but... *shrug*

Quote:

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Caffeine Could Be New Environment Safe Pesticide
Reuters
Jun 26 2002 2:06PM

LONDON (Reuters) - Farmers and gardeners determined to protect their plants from slugs and snails may not have to look any further than their morning cup of coffee for an environmentally friendly pesticide.
The menacing molluscs hate caffeine.

Even very small concentrations can be deadly for the garden pests, scientists from the US Pacific Basin Agriculture Research Center in Hilo, Hawaii said on Wednesday.

[...]

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hi

it sounds like a pretty good discovery.

but why waste precious caffeine on garden pests?

* goes and drinks some caffeine, wondering if he will meet a fate like that of the test slugs *

regards,
mark.

Well being from where I am we got slugs so big you can make them pets, so a bit o beer in a lid the slow moving wonders get drunk pass out before they hit the other side and drown. Hey see the chicken VRS human thread LOL such a sad thing.

Coffee grounds have been used as a compost for years.

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Originally posted here by TechieChick
Coffee grounds have been used as a compost for years.

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Aye. But I think that's with the same "conventional wisdom" (or whatever the right phrase is) that was using eggshells to "block unwanted pests" in the same mixture. Still... it's always funny to see science come back and "justify" things that people have been doing for years, anyway.

Almost makes you wonder if there isn't a division of scientists somewhere studying old wifes tails and back issues of mother earth magazine to see if any of that stuff holds water. :D

Naw is not that complicated it is simply new researchers finding out something new to them only to find later it's been around like fore ever. :)

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Originally posted here by Palemoon
Naw is not that complicated it is simply new researchers finding out something new to them only to find later it's been around like fore ever. :)

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or in otherwords, some evil bastard spilt his coffee on an innocent slug... What pain and torment that poor thing must have endured..... Down With Slug Testing!!!!

sorry... I'm still laughing at the stupidity of the CvH thing...

Gotta say, I can just imagine watching slugs speeding around on caffiene highs...

"We found that large slugs placed on loose soil and sprayed with a one or two percent solution of caffeine responded with uncoordinated writhing; the only survivors were the few that were able to burrow into the soil soon after treatment"

I think Matty is onto something here. It's like a cocaine overdose with slugs....they seizure and then pass out. Hey, I guess even slugs need pick-me-ups too.

this is the strangest thread I've ever seen lmao... just so freakin' strange lol....

I still find myself wondering how these people managed to get funding for the idea of spraying bugs with caffeine. I won't start on where an idea like that would come from (late nights coding have given all of us some pretty bizarre maxims) ...but convincing someone else to pay for an idea like that is truely an impressive feat!