good afternoon,i heard of a slug deterrent using copper and was
wondering if anyone had any experience of it in use,evidently copper
tube is beaten flat,cut into sections and formed into collars which go
around the plant at soil level,all thoughts welcomed.

bob wrote:
good afternoon,i heard of a slug deterrent using copper and was
wondering if anyone had any experience of it in use,evidently copper
tube is beaten flat,cut into sections and formed into collars which go
around the plant at soil level,all thoughts welcomed.

I used copper tape on my aubergine plant last year and they had no slugs at
all. Of course, no idea if they would have if it hadn't been there. :-)

My neighbour's husband made her hostas a copper slug defence using the
inside of old stripped wire. She swears by it.

"bob" wrote in message
...
good afternoon,i heard of a slug deterrent using copper and was
wondering if anyone had any experience of it in use,evidently copper
tube is beaten flat,cut into sections and formed into collars which go
around the plant at soil level,all thoughts welcomed.

I used copper tape around my hosta pots one year. I watched a hungry slug
slide over it. It did recoil a bit at first though. :O)

"bob" wrote in message
...
good afternoon,i heard of a slug deterrent using copper and was
wondering if anyone had any experience of it in use,evidently copper
tube is beaten flat,cut into sections and formed into collars which go
around the plant at soil level,all thoughts welcomed.

Don't know about copper. I use Nemaslug. Expensive but effective.

Racquel Darrian wrote:

"bob" wrote in message
...
good afternoon,i heard of a slug deterrent using copper and was
wondering if anyone had any experience of it in use,evidently copper
tube is beaten flat,cut into sections and formed into collars which go
around the plant at soil level,all thoughts welcomed.

I used copper tape around my hosta pots one year. I watched a hungry
slug slide over it. It did recoil a bit at first though. :O)

Ideally, you have two copper bands close together on a polythene tape.
Connect the positive side of a battery to one band and the negative to
the other.

Only the most masochistic slug will go over that...

--
Rusty

I haven't had any luck with 'alternative' slug control. I still find that the best way to stop slugs is good old fashioned slug pellets. The technology gets better every year; there seems to always be something else to make them easier and safer to use.

I'm using Eraza this year, check out the website: Eraza - Advanced Slug and Snail Killer

Jon

"JonHorrox" wrote in message
...

I haven't had any luck with 'alternative' slug control. I still find
that the best way to stop slugs is good old fashioned slug pellets. The
technology gets better every year; there seems to always be something
else to make them easier and safer to use.

I'm using Eraza this year, check out the website: 'Eraza - Advanced Slug
and Snail Killer' (http://www.eraza.co.uk)

It's about time a manufacturer reintroduced methiocarb pellets. Far more
effective than metaldehyde as slugs cannot recover from it, and it is much
more active against snails (which can nullify the dehydrating effect of
metaldehyde by sealing themselves in their shell).

--

Jeff

It's funny you should say that, I find that metaldehyde pellets are far more effective against both slugs and snails in my garden. Also metaldehyde is much less toxic than methiocarb, which is down right dangerous!

See this information on wikipedia: Methiocarb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Compared to this: Metaldehyde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jon

"JonHorrox" wrote in message
...

'Jeff Layman[_2_ Wrote:
;888393']It's about time a manufacturer reintroduced methiocarb pellets.
Far more effective than metaldehyde as slugs cannot recover from it, and
it is much more active against snails (which can nullify the dehydrating
effect of metaldehyde by sealing themselves in their shell).

It's funny you should say that, I find that metaldehyde pellets are far
more effective against both slugs and snails in my garden. Also
metaldehyde is much less toxic than methiocarb, which is down right
dangerous!

See this information on wikipedia: 'Methiocarb - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methiocarb)
Compared to this: 'Metaldehyde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia'
(http://tinyurl.com/22sceff)

Jon

There is no doubt that methiocarb is more toxic than metaldehyde - but that
usually means it is more effective at what it does, too.

A quick search on Google, using the terms "methiocarb", "metaldehyde", and
"comparison" turns up quite a few results. Although a few report no
difference, the majority show superiority of methiocarb over metaldehyde.

--

Jeff

I've not tried copper before myself, though I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about it. I use recycled granite shards, they don't actually hurt the snails and are fine for all other wildlife (including my kids!! ).

There's quite a selection of snail control out there though, I get my shards from he

Slug and Snail Control

They also sell Eraza (as mentioned in a previous post) and a variety of other methods.

I've tried using/manipulating old copper piping after it was removed from a water system here, and it had marginal success. I think you need to have either a very even, flat surface or a small, specific area to target - would definitely work better as collars for pots than on the open ground for instance.

I like the shard barrier approach too since they're totally wildlife/pet/child friendly and, unlike pellets, don't need continually renewing after rain.

The best (and cheapest) I've come across are from Ecocharlie:

Slug & Snail Deterrent 2.5 kg

They use crushed-up/recycled ceramic shards which not only have the spiky deterrent factor but also absorb the mollusc mucus trail and so prevent the slugs and snails from moving across them.

We use Nemaslug nematodes too, but I like the benefit of something acting as a physical barrier that you can also see/feel/check on.