Slug Deterrant?

[HayleyB]

I've had a bit of a Eureka moment and thought I'd find out from you Gurus whether you think it'll work or not.

Chicken Grit - Oyster shell - I get it from Frontier for about £6 sommat for a 25kg bag (feels more like a tonne) enough to last the Laydees a year or so I reckon well...........

If I use it to circle my brassies and lettuces etc do you think it'll work????????

Against those pesky sluggy critters

[blackcatlois]

It may well do... I can imagine someone will tell me off now, but I've used cat litter (obviously not used, but straight from the bag) - the grit kind as the slugs have never crossed that yet.

[desertgecko]

Sounds like a good idea, I've been reading that they can't crawl over sharp things like that as it hurts them so give it a go! If it works, I'll nick some grit off my mum :P

[HayleyB]

Well it's so cheap and yes it is quite sharp and very dry as well, I think I may have come up with something, I'll test it out

[FionaH]

If it works let me know! Got to be cheaper than Slug Bugger which is effective but darn expensive!

[Droppey]

What do you think about beer traps? Someone has told me to use them as an alternative to slug pellets

[Rossa]

Agree with FionaH, Slug Bu66ers is v. expensive. I'm going to try the idea on the other thread about slug deterrents that suggested using wet and dry sandpaper.

Think the key is to find something they can't slide/slime across that irritated their "foot". Grit could be it. By the end of this season it'll be interesting to see who's done what and what the results are.

Rossa (another Fiona)

[Mike B]

beers traps work a treat and i use broken very finely broken glass also but obviously you need to be careful

[RobintheBobin]

My 100% effective suggestion is wheat bran. Last year I planted teeny tiny lettuce seedlings and surrounded them with wheat bran; two weeks later when I got back from hols they hadn't been touched. The bran did get a bit soggy but it worked so well I have bought three 1kg bags frm Holland and Barrett this week. It really is the only thing that has worked so effectively and I can't rave highly enough about it. Its a sluggy miracle

[Lemon]

beer traps are good - but I can't stand disposing of stale beer with drowned slugs (what do you do with them anyway?)!!

I used horticultural sand last year around the little gem lettuce and it kept them away! Even after the rain!

Crushed eggshells works for a bit but after too much rain the rain splashes the soil around the shells and covers the prickly edges (which keeps slugs at bay), so a fresh application is necessary.

[Demeter]

beer traps are good - but I can't stand disposing of stale beer with drowned slugs (what do you do with them anyway?)!!
.

Pour it on the compost heap. It is horrible, isn't it?

[Eco-Chic]

Crushed Oyster shell is one of a range of recognised organic slug deterrents.

[marialittlebzz]

Someone posted this link in another thread ( sorry to steal it !! )

slug fence

Do you think by circling the bed with such fence would work ? It seems that the pricky top are what they can't deal with...
what do you reckon ?

[HayleyB]

I'll go the chook grit route and see what happens will be a good experiment for future reference if nowt else

[COMPOST CORNER]

My 100% effective suggestion is wheat bran. Last year I planted teeny tiny lettuce seedlings and surrounded them with wheat bran; two weeks later when I got back from hols they hadn't been touched. The bran did get a bit soggy but it worked so well I have bought three 1kg bags frm Holland and Barrett this week. It really is the only thing that has worked so effectively and I can't rave highly enough about it. Its a sluggy miracle

You can get a huge sack of bran from horse feed suppliers, it is used to bulk up feed for horses without providing energy.
Last year I got a sack, that if filled with spuds would be a 25kg sack (weighs a lot les obviously) for the price of a couple of 1kg bags from a health food store.