Warum ich denke, die beliebteste Schneckenbarriere ist alles andere als die Beste.
Von: Extra-Height2017
Warum ich denke, die beliebteste Schneckenbarriere ist alles andere als die Beste.
Von: Extra-Height2017
14 Comments
TLDR: doesn’t work very well, but has some effect.
So carrying on from my previous posts on slugs…
“A recent RHS study in a garden-realistic scenario found no reduction in slug damage from barriers made of copper tape, bark mulch, eggshells, sharp grit, or wool pellets (Royal Horticultural Society, 2023).”
Following on from my previous posts, you can see some pictures from experiments I did to try and assess the effectiveness of copper as a slug deterrent.
I carried out a few tests, mainly surrounding plants with copper and observing how quickly the slugs ate them compared to other barriers, or none. I also trapped slugs on a Slugstand, giving them only two possible escape routes—one made of copper pipe and one without—to serve as my control. My hypothesis was that if copper had no effect as a deterrent, half would leave via the copper pipe. Interestingly, only 1 out of 20 slugs left via the copper pipe, and I often observed slugs flinching upon touching it. This suggests that copper does have some repellent effect. However overall i’d say it’s not very effective and definitely not reliable to protect your plants and isn’t something i’d personally spend much time or money on. Maybe if I got really desperate I’d use it in combination with another kind of barrier, say a slug collar.
Here’s a link to the full video i made if interested: [https://youtu.be/aEifJ1XKqzc](https://youtu.be/aEifJ1XKqzc)
And here’s a link to the study referenced above: [https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/plant-health-in-gardens/entomology/rhs-projects-on-plant-pests/gastropod-barriers-experiment](https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/plant-health-in-gardens/entomology/rhs-projects-on-plant-pests/gastropod-barriers-experiment)
I find it strange that copper is so heavily reccomended and so popular, i think it’s proably due to confirmation bias and it’s difficult for people to change believes. a bit like how bloodletting was carried out for many hundreds of years by clever people.
I heard similar when struggling with holding back the hoards a couple of years ago, but became desperate.
The wire did nothing; I’d find slug trails on it the next morning and everything.
However, the tape actually worked really well. Plants that were getting mutilated night after night were suddenly left untouched once I used the tape.
Like all these things, I think it depends on circumstance and just how desperate they are to eat the plant!
The only thing I do that works is:
1) go out at 10.30pm with a headtorch and scissors like a madman. Then snip them up and leave for the birds. But remember to leave the leopard slugs as they eat other slugs. Repeat every day for a week and they reduce massively. Best to do in the rain.
2) buy nemotodes (too early to water them in at the moment)
3) have a few sacrificial plants I allow them to eat.
I use salt because fcuk them slugs
I respect the work you’ve done and also recognise we are all one step away from erecting slug stands and carrying out experiments to find anything that works… but the slugs, they always win….
I especially like the video you did about the slug collars, and they do look effective ( https://youtu.be/8yU0kb1Ubuk ). I fashioned my own (kind of) by cutting the bases out of plastic pots, putting copper tape around the rims and fitting them like collars. Although they didn’t have overhanging edges they did cut down the number of slug attacks. I should upgrade to proper slug collars though.
I like the idea of using a moat to stop them instead, like your slug stop pot stands. Have you considered making moats that you can fit around planted, err, plants, like the slug collars? A bit like Bundt cake tins, they could be a metal ring that can be filled with water and partly buried around the plant (in fact a Bundt tin looks about perfect, as long as it is rust proof)
Can you myth bust vapo rub on your pots to keep slugs away
The copper mesh is the only thing that kept my seedlings alive last year. As long as it doesn’t get wet it works wonders for me. Wish I knew why it’s so different for others.
Cheap tinfoil works well.
Last year I used sacrificial lettuce. The slugs ate that and mostly left the plants alone.
Good work
Devils coach horse eat slugs. I wonder if you can buy a shipment of them…
Vaseline works on my pots but you need to apply thickly so an industrial size bucket required.
The copper sometimes gives them a small static electric shock. But not always, depends if they’re charged up or not.
usually after the first jolt they’re not any more and can continue across it unharmed on a second attempt.
So really it depends how smart the slug is and if they can attribute the pain sensation to the copper (If they can even recognise it as different to anything else) and then remember that going forward.
My guess is no they can’t and the deterent effect relies on them getting a shock and immediately going a different way as a result.