GardenBanter.co.uk - Copper Anti Slug and Snail Rings

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Hurst (Post 794856)

I have a large sunflower which i recently repotted into a far bigger pot. (There's nowhere good outside to plant it)

The very next morning after repotting it, some chunks were missing from near the base of the stem, it looked a little like someone had taken a knife and scraped two slices off. There were some trails nearby so I assumed snails/slugs.

I bought copper tape and stuck it around the pot, but this morning even more had been nibbled away and a fresh trail was visible just near the plant.

I've read that slugs can move underground. Is it possible that there's one living in the compost of the pot itself? This sounds strange but I couldn't see a trail on the side of the pot, only right next to the stem base, leading a short distance away from it then disappearing.

If this is possible, does anyone have any idea what I can do, other than using pellets?

Pete Hurst

Yes they will bury themselves in the compost. Last year had some compost that had been rotting down for several years and I used it to mix with potting compost and put it in troughs for my runner beans. The next day found that something was eating the beans. There was no way they could get into the troughs from out side so I scattered some slug pellets in the troughs and lo and behold lots of deceased slugs the next morning didn't have any problems after that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Granity (Post 794857)

Well, at half past midnight, torch in hand, I found a snail sliming its way up the stalk. The copper strips were obviously ineffective (although I still couldn't see a trail anywhere around the outside of the pot - so perhaps it climbed the greenhouse wall and dropped from a roof pane!)

It's possible I didn't apply the copper very well. It was a little messy. I'm going to try again higher up the pot.

And, based on your info, there could still be slugs in there. I'm personally a little hesitant to use pellets but I guess I might not have any other choice...

Thanks at least for confirming my hypothesis!

Pete

Well, the sunflower was fine. It is now over 6ft tall and beginning to bloom :)

I've stood both sunflowers on a small table, and used copper tape on each leg. A snail occasionally still finds its way up there, but I suspect it would be more like hundreds without the tape.

Also I'm saving a lot of tape by not having to do each pot individually.

I'm now setting up a series of low boards supported on bricks, and coppering the bricks, for all my outside pots.

Pete