Best way to deal with slugs?

CaveDweller

CaveDweller

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I've just built a massive raised flower bed for all sorts of flowers, herbs and veg. Over night I've had three plants just completely disappear. I've heard all sorts of home remedies but will slug pellets just lightly scattered about do the job just fine? or are there any home remedies that actually work? the main ones that keep popping up in conversation are egg shells or a cut up coke bottle with the neck facing inwards filled with beer.

I'm not a very humane person so by any means necessary they need to go:p
 
I used slug pellets effectively in the past.

Other method is to get a hedgehog, they love slugs.:)
 
12 bore...

Modern pellets are supposed to be better targeted than old ones so don't affect other wildlife as much (allegedly) and seem to be the most effective method of controlling them. I've heard that copper tape repels them but never tried it myself. Beer traps work but need to be maintained (empty of dead slugs/snails and refill with beer). If you have the time and inclination, go out after dark with a torch and a bucket and physically pick the buggers up. A large pinch of salt (as in a handful) will deal with the captives. (Of course, should you like them [I don't but have tried!] you could always cook up the snails for human consumption!).
Have to admit that we use the animal friendly pellets and clear up the corpses to reduce the numbers that get consumed by wildlife. Of course, one of the problems associated with killing the gastropods is that it removes a significant food source from the food chain which can have a detrimental effect on the birds that eat them.
 
Copper.

Put an unbroken line of copper around the raised bed (you can get tape on eBay but for a big bed copper pipe can be cheaper). Slugs and snails can't cross copper because it reacts with their slime and electrocutes them.

We have an allotment and use copper tape to protect all the tasty plants. Neighbouring allotmenteers laugh at us and put down beer or slug pellets. But both those attract slugs and ours repels them. It ain't our plants that get eaten :) If you drink coffee then mulch the bed with the grounds. Caffeine repels slugs too.

You can also encourage hedgehogs and thrushes to your garden. They can deal with huge quantities but IIRC slug pellets are toxic to hedgehogs.
 
I need to put some copper around the cat flap. Buggers use that to come in and steal cat food!
 
well i have noticed tescos being full of pricks

joking aside, there are rescue centres which will look for volunteers to rehome a hedgehog if you have a secure garden , but apart from that the best bet is to make the garden hedge hog freindly and hope one moves in naturally.

also creating habitat from frogs and toads is an option as they also like a mcslugget from time to time
 
Copper strips around plant pots work, but not sure that would be viable in your situation. There are problem slugs or slug eggs already in the raised bed.

Nemaslug - http://www.greengardener.co.uk/product.asp?id_pc=22&cat=35 - works. It is not as instant as pellets or beer (you don't see the bodies the next morning) but it certainly worked in our garden. Although it is not supposed to be effective against snails, they seemed to decrease in number too.

Dave
 
how come prick is ok but dick isnt, Its wierd in here sometimes,
 
Also get rid of any upturned pots, boards leaning against fencing/trees, rocks and any objects laying nearby, that way them pesky mollucks has nowhere to hide up during dry spells.
 
I have hedgehogs. They set up home at the back of the Bamboo about 4 years ago and have never left.
Still have snails though....just too many for the hogs to eat them all :(
 
I tried copper tape round all my beds and pots, covered the bottom 12 inches of my bean sticks and ......



complete waste of time! Just seemed to make the hungrier
 
If it's black put it back.
If it's brown put it down.

Not all slugs are bad for the garden. The above rhyme is a Bill Oddie special. The big black snails are OK to leave. They generally eat detritus and convert it into humus.The smaller brown ones are the ones that do the real damage. How you selectively deal with them is the problem.

They don't like copper and a copper band round plant pots will stop then climbing up. They also don't like crossing rough sharp ground so eggshells or gravel works well. If in a border put coloured gravel round the plants that are subject to attack. You can get round mat type things, to stand plant pots on, that are too rough for snails to cross.

Alternatively choose your plants more carefully. There are even slug resistant hostas these days.

Beer traps do work well, but keep the top covered or the beer will just evaporate - you can get purpose built traps that are just super to use - we have half a dozen in our patch.

If the OP has a raised bed then put a barrier round the top of the raised bed to stop slugs crawling up the sides and onto the soil, and make sure that no leaves hang down to where slugs can reach because they will climb up them.
 
When I grew marrows the slugs would eat the new plants immediately they were planted out.

If you drink filter coffer, put the left over coffee grounds round the plants, worked a treat for me
 
A stick with a nail tied to the end. great for flicking them too without getting slimed
 
As I meandered down the garden, I was confronted by a myriad of tiny creatures, stood bolt upright!
My mind race at the thought of a mini invasion from out in space!

But then it settled on the more plausible explanation, that I had got the slug pellets confused with the Viagra.

So I guess what I am saying is, give it a try and then just go and collect them :D
 
Thanks all. Loads of good ideas. I suppose only time will tell though. Sadly escape proofing my garden would be a costly job to buy a pet hedgehog lol

JonathanRyan said:
Copper.

Put an unbroken line of copper around the raised bed (you can get tape on eBay but for a big bed copper pipe can be cheaper). Slugs and snails can't cross copper because it reacts with their slime and electrocutes them.

We have an allotment and use copper tape to protect all the tasty plants. Neighbouring allotmenteers laugh at us and put down beer or slug pellets. But both those attract slugs and ours repels them. It ain't our plants that get eaten :) If you drink coffee then mulch the bed with the grounds. Caffeine repels slugs too.

You can also encourage hedgehogs and thrushes to your garden. They can deal with huge quantities but IIRC slug pellets are toxic to hedgehogs.
Click to expand...
Putting the copper tape round the perimeter of my flower bed would be pretty tricky. Would it be possible to make a circular barrier around each plant with some copper or would it start reacting with the soil and kill the plants? I remember using copper nails to kill some old trees many moons ago so I was a bit wary when I saw the copper tape option.
 
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Cobra said:
As I meandered down the garden, I was confronted by a myriad of tiny creatures, stood bolt upright!
My mind race at the thought of a mini invasion from out in space!

But then it settled on the more plausible explanation, that I had got the slug pellets confused with the Viagra.

So I guess what I am saying is, give it a try and then just go and collect them :D
Click to expand...
You might not want to mow your garden for a while. Your tiny creatures might find somewhere to hide:D
 
CaveDweller said:
Putting the copper tape round the perimeter of my flower bed would be pretty tricky. Would it be possible to make a circular barrier around each plant with some copper or would it start reacting with the soil and kill the plants? I remember using copper nails to kill some old trees many moons ago so I was a bit wary when I saw the copper tape option.
Click to expand...

What we do (and I may just patent this method) is to get a length of plastic downpipe and cut into 4 - 5 inch section. Put copper tape around it so that it will be an inch or so from the soil when you push it in. Put each plant up through the middle of the collar.

Overnight we went from total devastation of runner beans to 100% survival.

However, this looks fine in an allotment - maybe not so much in your flower bed.

Also, I'm pretty sure the copper nail to kill a tree is a myth. But we use copper strips on the roof to kill the moss so some clearly leeches out in rainwater.
 
Take a walk around the garden with a salt cellar. Tip a little salt on any slug :punch:
 
JonathanRyan said:
What we do (and I may just patent this method) is to get a length of plastic downpipe and cut into 4 - 5 inch section. Put copper tape around it so that it will be an inch or so from the soil when you push it in. Put each plant up through the middle of the collar.

Overnight we went from total devastation of runner beans to 100% survival.

However, this looks fine in an allotment - maybe not so much in your flower bed.

Also, I'm pretty sure the copper nail to kill a tree is a myth. But we use copper strips on the roof to kill the moss so some clearly leeches out in rainwater.
Click to expand...

Does sound a good idea, put it into production :D. I tried to get hold of some copper tape yesterday and my local garden place or DIY store didn't have any. They didn't have anything copper at all and I didn't fancy driving an hour to my nearest B&Q so I got some bio Slug pellets instead and they worked a treat last night. I worked out that the slugs are coming from an old stone dyke wall which makes up for one side of my raised bed. I just put a small sprinkle of pellets along the soil by the wall and by the looks of their slime trails none of them even ventured more than an inch or two onto the raised bed. Happy days!
 
CaveDweller said:
. Would it be possible to make a circular barrier around each plant with some copper .
Click to expand...

thats what i do - i use pop bottles cut into circles with copper taper arround them - the key is to put them over the plant when its small so you don't have to force it over leaves later (though if you didnt do that you can of course cut through the circle to make a whole to slip the stem through then repair it with a bit of copper tape)
 
My wife does the Slug Dance. You can use any steps you like, just make sure that the slugs are under your boots :D
I found that because pellets are made to attract slugs they attracted them from next door:(.
I have tried egg shells and copper strips but was not impressed, I now have 10 Slug Pubs which seem to be working well.
 
An otherwise pacifist vegetarian friend of mine offs slugs with a sharp pair of scissors.
 
srichards said:
An otherwise pacifist vegetarian friend of mine offs slugs with a sharp pair of scissors.
Click to expand...
Yep that sounds humane enough :D
Cant they throw them over the fence?

(Yes that was all tongue in cheek :D )
 
srichards said:
An otherwise pacifist vegetarian friend of mine offs slugs with a sharp pair of scissors.
Click to expand...


You sure they don't grow new heads/tails and multiply :D:p
 
Coffee grounds are supposed to be good repellent and fertilzer. Go to your local Starbucks I'm sure they will give their coffee grounds away as it costs them a fortune to get rid if them.
 
Just a quick googling, but it seems Starbucks etc recycle thier coffee grounds using normal commercial premises recycling bins. No additional cost to normal business rates refuse collection.
 
BBR said:
Coffee grounds are supposed to be good repellent and fertilzer. Go to your local Starbucks I'm sure they will give their coffee grounds away as it costs them a fortune to get rid if them.
Click to expand...

already said that

Gremlin said:
When I grew marrows the slugs would eat the new plants immediately they were planted out.

If you drink filter coffer, put the left over coffee grounds round the plants, worked a treat for me
Click to expand...
 
I went for the slug pellet route this year after experimenting with a few pots of beer. Both work, and I haven't seen any slugs since.
 
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