[muntjac]

nah an ounce of copper coated no 6s from a shotgun sorts em out  

[BillinPA]

was reading about slugs, and prospective defense of slugs.
surprisingly copper sounds quite an effective method of keeping slugs at bay.

anyone use it to good effect on their lotty / patch ? or are there better barriers that slugs dont like to cross


thanks  

Hi Withnail,
The copper bit works, as stated in the BBC article - the 'Flat' copper strips or tape need to be 2 or 3 inches wide (not thick), and in an unbroken band around the entire area to be protected.  It's the 'electro-chemical' action with the copper and the slugs slime that repels them.  I have used this method successfully around the sides of raised beds, locating the tape a couple of inches above ground level, making sure that plants don't hang over to the ground.   But at the current price of copper Munt's shotgun method sound a lot better.......  Salt works too :shock:

[muntjac]

dang i forgot that salt trick . go to b& qs n grab some rock salt afore they stop selling it and use that to protect ya crops it wont hurt ya plants if u dont go overboard .just use a ring around ur stems . oh and another thing if you suffer from cabbage and other bugs .try using roofing felt circles with a slit in pop it around the plant stem they need to be about 6 inch across