[neatntidy]

Just brought some oyster shell grit to try around vulnerable plants. It seems sharper than egg shells. Anyone else tried it? Hopefully not bad for the soil?

[arh]

Well, I looked at a youtube thingy done by a slug fanatic, I forget names etc. He actually filmed his experiments, testing a few "old wifes tales/parables" what ever, and he showed the slugs happily crawling over eggshells, grit etc. From what I could see, nothing stopped the slug if it wanted to get at the seedling, I don't think he did the copper bands. But, I took note and went for beer traps, working on the principle that the slug was"dying to get to the beer" .

[fatferret]

I have been using slug pubs as well. They seem to be performing well at the alloment but not so much at home. I tried eggshell around a row of lettuce and the slugs just sauntered over it with their knives and forks out.

I read something about an alternative attractant for the slug traps:

2 tbsp Flour
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp brewer's yeast
2 cups Warm water

I am testing this out at the allotment. I used old bread yeast (and ensured it was still viable). Water was about 35-40 deg c. Mixed ingredients together and  then sprinkled the yeast on top, covered, left for an hour and then stirred in the yeast.  Re-covered and left for a few hours. Same principle I guess as beer smells yeasty.

Took it up the alloment last night - tipped out the carcasses from the beer traps and replaced with the yeast mix.

I'll report back after my next allotment visit.