Copper wire

[Baldy]

I've got some new staging for the GH this year as next door neighbour dismantled his GH and gave me them. Seems like wrapping the legs with copper might help in the never ending battle with slugs and snails.

So what's the best / cheapest source of copper wire - from inspection it looks like most domestic electrical wiring is only going to contain a little copper (if at all) - has anyone tried using it against slugs or is there a particular type that would have higher copper make-up?

I can see this idea might cost me a trip to the GC - but I only like going there to buy seeds, plants and compost.

[Cadalot]

Why not buy the sticky copper band/ tape and put around the legs £3.40 for 4m with free delivery see Anti Slug COPPER TAPE - Pest & Snail Control REPELLER - Enviromentally Friendly! | eBay

[Baldy]

It's £3.40 !!

[Baldy]

And if I spend a few hours going through boxes in the day shed I'll probably find quite a bit of electrical wiring that I can laboriously strip to test. Ok, lIll then need to put clothes in the wash and have a shower as the shed is a dusty hell hole at the moment...

[Baldy]

You've convinced me:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KING-DO-WAY...pper+wire+slug

more for less on the slow boat from China - hope coppper works...

[Baldy]

not as wide though - hrmm - I imagine in this scenario width is important...

[Chestnut]

I wonder if standing the 'legs' of the greenhouse staging in/on pots of something might help too?

I experimented a bit last year with pots on patio;

Made a 'moat' of water (wide shallow pot full of water, small shallow pot upside down in the middle of this to make a dry 'island', small shallow pot to hold water for your plant, then plant in pot on top of that), generally found 3-4 dead slugs per pot per night, and very few got onto plants.

Variation on this with beer trap (supermarket cheapest!) didn't work so well - I'm convinced the beer attracts slugs and not all drink enough to end up comatose so they go on to precious plant to satisfy their post-drink munchies, so ended up with lots of slug damage!

I don't drink coffee, but used coffee grounds in a dry 'moat' might be worth a try (if you drink coffee?)

Garlic water spray seems to deter, but isn't 100% and house stinks for days after I boil it... Maybe some garlic grown in pots around each leg of the GH staging would be kinder to your housemates?

[Cadalot]

not as wide though - hrmm - I imagine in this scenario width is important...

what a great price for 30m so what you do is make a zebra crossing of three or four bands with a little gap in between per leg.

You have 26m more than the one I found to play with.

[cheapskate chaz]

From a lot of info I read , copper tape is not the ideal deterrent we`ed hope. Apprently slugs will cross over it if they are determined too. My neighbour placed copper tape around her stone plant pots, and her plants were still eaten.
The best we can do is to make an assault course of obstacles and traps, wether it`s with copper tape. beer traps, greases and pellets, physical removal is the assured way, but that means constant visits at night for best results. Understanding where they like to layup in the day gives you a good chance of catching them before they forrage, so , ensuring they don`t have places to hide will be key to keep the population down. Trouble is, the amount of slugs around you in the first place is ......creepy!

[veggiechicken]

What about shoving your "legs" through these, Baldy!

Egl Professional Copper Scourer, Pack of 10 | Departments | DIY at B&Q

[Baldy]

At £1 that's a bargain VC - I can also take some photos with my android phone to give the Vine a bit of a test.
I suppose you'd want me to protect my modesty with a man-kini?