Most discussions about compost and pests are concerned with keeping pests out of compost bins. Lots of insects and other pests like to live in a compost bin and I’ll discuss this issue in a future post. But does compost, when added to the garden, reduce the number of pests affecting plants? It is a claimed benefit of compost.
In the two previous posts I looked at ways to use Coffee Grounds in the Garden and the effect of coffee grounds on ants. There was one outstanding question that did not get resolved. Do coffee grounds deter slugs from eating your plants? Since I could not find any scientific work on this topic I decided to run some tests myself.
Photo Source: All About Slugs
How do you get rid of ants? I have found that people use 3 common home remedies to get rid of ants; diatomaceous earth, Borax and coffee grounds. Borax does work and it is the main ingredient in many commercial products designed to get rid of ants. In this post I will look at the effectiveness of coffee grounds.
Coffee Grounds have a reputation for solving all kinds of garden problems. It is claimed that they reduce the number of diseases, ward off insects, fertilize the soil, and even keep slugs from eating your plants. Let’s have a look at the truth behind coffee grounds.
This post, Fungi in Wood Chips, was prompted by a picture and discussion on a Facebook group called Australian Native Plant Enthusiasts (ref #3). The discussion was about the harmful fungi that appeared in wood chip mulch used in children’s playgrounds. Of course they posed no real danger—but people were scared. There are a lot of misconceptions about fungi growing in the garden, and this post will look at the truth about fungi in wood chips.
Companion planting is a standard recommendation for growing vegetables. One of the most commonly recommended plants for this is the marigold, which is supposed to be good for preventing various pests from eating the vegetables. I will limit the discussion in this post to using marigolds to reduce or eliminate nematodes in the garden.
It is getting warmer and the Hostas are growing. It is time for the slugs and snails to come out and do their damage. There is a lot of advice on the net on how to get rid of slugs and snails including; beer traps, diatomaceous earth, egg shells, salt and copper tape. I’ve examined copper tape in How to Get Rid of Slugs with Copper. In this post I will look at killing slugs with beer.
Slugs in the garden can be a huge problem and apparently copper is a good slug repellent. If you encircle your plants with copper tape, it will keep the slugs out. It must work – since there are a number of copper tape products on the market designed to get rid of slugs. But does this really work?
