Garlic salt & organic gardening

[Annette]

In keeping with organic veg, I heard that Garlic granules are a useful way of keeping slugs etc away. Obviously slugs don't like salt and i wondered if anyone knows if garlic salt will do the same job. Does it even have to be garlic salt or should I just use regular salt? (My supermarket didn't have garlic granules so I'm just hoping to use what I already have in the cupboard.) I guess I'd have to sprinkle it quite regularly especially with all the rain we've been having!

I'm trying to stick with the organic theme but don't know any tricks of the trade so all hints and tips you would be willing to share would be most appreciated.

[Strepsy]

Don't put salt near any of your plants, it will kill them. I don't know about the garlic but I do know that salt can be used as a weed killer and can contaminate the soil for a while I believe. I think I heard that it was used to drive down the enemy in war because you contaminate your enemies soil and then they can't grow anything.

[SueA]

I bought some garlic granules, Annette, & am trying them for the first time. I bought them from a garden nursery, a big tub for about £4 I think, don't think it's the same as supermarket garlic salt. It's supposed to feed the plants as well as deter the slugs & I've sprinkled it round my veg. patch, about a tablespoon around each plant, you're supposed to renew it every week-10 days I think.

[Lesley Jay]

As Strepsy says don't use salt it is poisonous to crops and the soil. One tip I have found which I will try myself is mix two parts distilled white vinegar to one part water and put it in a spray bottle. Each time you see a slug spray it and apparently it kills them.

[pigletwillie]

The only crop that will tolerate salt is asparagus and commercial growers salt their fields annually. As asparagus is a saltmarsh plant it thrives and the salt deters weeds from growing in your asparagus bed. The amounts used are small I might add, a handfull on an average bed is plenty.

[andrewo]

Never use salt, have used garlic granules and they do work, if you renew them but you can now also get organic slug pellets.

[lilo lil]

Hi All

bran is also supposed to be good at getting rid of the slimy little blighters.
Sprinkle liberally around the plant and leave to mother nature. Apparantly, when the slug eats the bran, it expands inside the slug and it then explodes

Re-new the bran every 4 weeks or so. I'm trying this method this year as an experiment, just to see what happens. However, i've heard of several people who swear by this method.

[Birdie Wife]

THis was trialled on Gardeners World a year or two ago, and it was their top tip, one of the cheapest and most effective methods. But you do have to reapply after rain.