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Copper tape

I have some hostas in terracotta pots - we've not had too much slug damage in the past, but better safe than sorry - do you find that copper tape around the pots keeps slugs and snails away from your plants? 

I've had a look on Amazon and reviews are very varied - some people claim that their slugs and snails walk right over it to get to the tastiest hostas! image


Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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  • 4thPanda4thPanda Posts: 4,145

    It works on my pots Dove image You do have to make sure that you have no overhanging leaves etc from other pots as they will abseil down onto the tasty plants from other pots/plants image 

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    My big tough Sum & Substance and Blue Angel cope in the border without too much slug damage, but I've got some softer leaved varieties now - remember I bought a Hosta Stained Glass Window from Burncoose last time we were down your way Verdun - last year the slugs did all they could to get at it - we were pretty vigilant but if we go away for a few days I'm afraid that Hefty Hedgehog may need a bit of help image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Jennifer 10Jennifer 10 Posts: 112

    It doesn't seem so expensive on amazon.   One chap an a review said that slugs can 'bridge' over the tape, so putting in two runs stops them.  

  • I find copper tape quite effective but you do need to "polish it up" occasionally otherwise it doesn't work. However, I do tend to treat it as just one weapon in my anit-slug and snail armoury. My hostas are now in pots encircled with copper tape, plus Vaseline around the rim and a mulch of all the crushed egg shells I saved in a jar over winter. Nematodes do seem to work best but I have run out of gardening budget for now! As previous posters have commented, the blighters do seem capable of abseiling/ parachuting onto precious plants ....

  • landgirl100landgirl100 Posts: 655

    Which? Gardening did some research and found that using copper tape was ineffective, in their experiments. The only reliable method was found to be slug pellets, nematodes worked against slugs but not snails.

  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066

    I'm trying copper tape for the first time this year.  Mainly because it's the first time I have grown hostas.  So far so good.

    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • janebaljanebal Posts: 130

    I have bought  6 large size solid copper rings on Amazon that slot together to make a big ring around the plant and  I am hoping they work - cost a bit (equivalent of £2.15 per plant) but should last for years. (When you think how much the hostas cost it may be worth it to protect them like this if you don't have too many.)

    After a few weeks outside in pots all my new hosta leaves are intact - Stained Glass Window, Touch of Class, June, Grand Marquee. Normally I do get a lot of slugs and snails in my pots. Just musn't let the leaves droop over the side of the copper ring.

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