Build a moat around strawberry patch ?

[james444]

Hello, i have some lengths of plastic gutter spare and was wondering if building a moat around my strawberry patch filled with water would deter the slugs and woodlice anyone built anything similar and had any sucess ?

[Alison]

Slugs would probably just go under it

[Jay-ell]

Can't say if would work as you'll have to kill the slugs and eggs inside the moat but as far as I know slugs don't swim. If you make it large enough you may attract amphibians which would do the trick.

Im just thinking moat, stone walls - where are you going to put the catapults?

[muddled]

slugs and snails don't swim but they happily slither up the sides and out of a bucket of water if you don't put enough salt in it.

Ask me how I know

[james444]

Thanks for the replies I will dig the gutter into the soil see if that will stop them going underneath it. Will also man some soldiers on the wall

[Bigmallly]

I'm not sure water would work unless you added some Yeast or Beer.........you need some kind of attractant.
I have read about this method but don't know if if works:

[james444]

I'm not sure water would work unless you added some Yeast or Beer.........you need some kind of attractant.
I have read about this method but don't know if if works:

Thats interesting never thought of mounting it vertical. Need to change the oil in my deep fat fryer aswell so will put it to use. Thanks

[Jay-ell]

Isn't that round 3 of Slugs It's A Knockout?

Spray the inside with metal spray. If it's copper it'll be like a giant copper tape. If it's silver coloured paint you can focus the sun into a death ray.

[astraman1]

a couple of the older chaps on my allotment use soot from chimneys apparently its a real good slug/snail deterrant

[Bigmallly]

Thats interesting never thought of mounting it vertical. Need to change the oil in my deep fat fryer aswell so will put it to use. Thanks

This is where the theory came from:

Preparing the ground « Grow Organic Food

[veggiechicken]

Does this help? Slugs and the Butcombe Box | gardenorganic.org.uk

[marchogaeth]

Thanks for the replies I will dig the gutter into the soil see if that will stop them going underneath it. Will also man some soldiers on the wall

I'm not sure water would work unless you added some Yeast or Beer.........you need some kind of attractant.
I have read about this method but don't know if if works:

I have read about this somewhere and there was a pretty firm statement that slugs will not cross water. So if you just want to keep them out of the bed it should work. If you want to positively trap and kill you will need the attractant. You will need a complete barrier so definitely buried and you will have to keep it bridge free. Slugs will Tarzan across on any bit of vegetation!

I thought about doing this when I built my bed for strawberries but decided against it as I didn't like the idea of stagnant water around in summer as a breeding ground for all sorts of other nasties. I the end I put copper tape all the way round.

It's worth thinking about as once you get slugs in the stone walls you will have major control problems (you probably know that!). It's one of the reasons I a) went for the bed and b) didn't use all the free stones around here.

Do let us know if it works.

[james444]

Hello, so ive finally got round to finish making slug knox and its working great. Sprayed the gutter inside (turned vertically) with vegetable oil and it's working. From looking at the slug slime trails in the morning they appear to be turning back away from the gutter also watched a woodlice attempt to crawl up it and it failed. So far so good thanks for all the suggestions pics below.

[Bigmallly]

The lengths some folk go to for a nice ripe juicy Strawberry........................

[james444]

The lengths some folk go to for a nice ripe juicy Strawberry........................

LOL yeah it's war on slugs