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Slugs....your best way to deal with them...

RoddersUKRoddersUK Posts: 537
in Problem solving
I'm trying to be more organic, so staying away from blue pellets.

First off wool pellets (expensive!).....well I can't say they are great. I built a decent mound around hostas for example and the snails just glide on over....lol

Garlic spray, literally go out later that evening and slugs and snails munching away....

I've put some beer traps out now, so will see how they do.

I go out nightly and grab a load by hand.

Don't see the hedgehog anymore or the occasional thrush.

Plants are in the ground, not pots. So can't use copper tape.
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  • Jenny_AsterJenny_Aster Posts: 945
    You could make a ring of copper by using the 'help' of a plastic bottle.

    It looks like there are more than one type of copper tape, according to the link below where the guy has recorded his experiments, you'll need the type that's specifically for 'electric guitar copper insulation'.

    https://www.growlikegrandad.co.uk/in-the-garden/pests-diseases-in-the-garden/copper-tape-stop-slugs-snails-heres-video-evidence.html
    Trying to be the person my dog thinks I am! 

    Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
  • EustaceEustace Posts: 2,290
    I think slug hunt at dawn/dusk and disposing them off in saltwater is the harmless way of dealing with them. I go for blue pellets as the final resort, but only around plants like delphinium or lupin.
    Oxford. The City of Dreaming Spires.
    And then my heart with pleasure fills,
    And dances with the daffodils (roses). Taking a bit of liberty with Wordsworth :)

  • ObsessedPlantswomanObsessedPlantswoman Posts: 69
    I put them in my Small food waste bin, as it has a lid and handle. At the end of the week I empty them All in the local wood!
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Jenny_Aster said:
    You could make a ring of copper by using the 'help' of a plastic bottle.

    It looks like there are more than one type of copper tape, according to the link below where the guy has recorded his experiments, you'll need the type that's specifically for 'electric guitar copper insulation'.

    https://www.growlikegrandad.co.uk/in-the-garden/pests-diseases-in-the-garden/copper-tape-stop-slugs-snails-heres-video-evidence.html
    Hmm my other half might have some of that guitar stuff lying around. Maybe I should raid the man-cave!

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I think salt is cruel. I snip them in half. Something always eats them. If it's another slug , so be it. At least they're not eating my plants.

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • rowlandscastle444rowlandscastle444 Posts: 2,612
    I once put a whole load of snails in a large margarine tub (with lid), and left it in the shed with the intention of disposing the whole lot when it was full. 

    True to form, I forgot about it, and when I went into the shed after a few weeks in hospital, the strong snails had clearly all worked together, and PUSHED hard (heave-ho?), forcing the lid off!

    There were snail trails all over the inside of the shed. I learned my lesson.

    Now, in a different house, we have a growing family of slow worms, but even they can't keep the slug and snail population down.

    My answer is to grow only plants the slugs and snails won't eat, but if I want something they like to get their teeth into, then I grow them in pots, with copper tape around.
  • Winston_The_Gravity_ManWinston_The_Gravity_Man Posts: 263
    You can eat garden snails you know ?  I've read that they were introduced into Britain by the Romans (what have the Romans ever done for us ?) as food for humans.  You feed the  snails on a diet of nice clean vegetation for a couple of weeks to 'purge' them of any nasties then cook 'em in a saucepan with butter and garlic.

    Anyone willing to give it a go ?
    When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
  • RoddersUKRoddersUK Posts: 537
    edited May 2023
    Nope  I won't eat them....lol

    Ill leave that to the French 

    Beer traps seem to have quite a few slugs in!

    Too many plants I like that slugs also do, wouldn't really not want to grow them.
  • Winston_The_Gravity_ManWinston_The_Gravity_Man Posts: 263
    Someone on here called beer traps "slug pubs".  I think that's brilliant !  :D
    When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
  • rossdriscoll13rossdriscoll13 Posts: 234
    @RoddersUK try Strulch.  It deters slugs, stops weeds, retains moisture and rots down to improve your soil.
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