Slugs!

[water rat]

Hi, I'm just about to buy my first "proper" 'scope (8" Newtonian minimum) but I have a problem with ... slugs! My best viewing area is in the middle of the lawn but we have loads of slugs despite a frog pond. My wife doesn't want to lose too much grass so I'm thinking of laying a circular viewing base (maybe 5-6' diameter concrete/paving) but I need to find a way of keeping the slugs off it. Any ideas?

[rabbithutch]

Buy the cheapest beer you can find and put it in shallow saucers or container lids away from you viewing area. Check, empty, repeat every couple of days.

Beer always worked for me as a slug bait and killer. Of course, UK slugs might thrive on beer - even cheap beer - so give it a trial run before committing to a six pack or a case.

Of course, we don't have the slimy sort of slug here in Texas. My experience comes from half a century spend in North Carolina and reports from a niece in Washington state - where the slug is the state symbol.

[Rob Severn]

Hair. Go to the hairdressers and ask them to save you a bag of hair and put it around the edge of the base. The slugs will not cross over it as it sticks to them and they really do not like that. Much more humane than beer and slug killer. We used it on the organic farm I worled on, works a treat.

[Yendor]

I suggest this as a possible fix............

Nemaslug Slug Killer | (Nematodes Slug Control)

It's an organic way of dealing with the blighters.

[Paulb3098]

Beer worked for me and you can always drink it on those cloudy nights

[faulksy]

failing that buy a shot gun

[Charon]

Beer trick worked for my slug problem.

[haitch]

Beer worked for me and you can always drink it on those cloudy nights

But pick them out first!

[Psychobilly]

If you do go for the concrete base idea then incorporate a ring of sharp grit a couple of inches wide around the outer edge in the design..

[todd8137]

hi and welcome ,slugs ?how big are they, get four slabs down its always good to have a level base to start with,i did this and leveling the scope is easy now, you could try slug pellets,but that may harm the ole frogs if they eat the dead slugs

[jbk44]

Maybe this would help?

Hedgehog Houses

Don't buy hedgehog food, i did and the slugs were side by side with the hedgehog eating the stuff. The hedgehog took a while getting it's tast for the slugs back again after that haha...

Great post

[brantuk]

Draw a circle on the ground around your entire rig (leaving standing room) using a thin layer of salt. Slugs won't cross that - it's like acid to them.

[Ptarmigan]

Put a ring of copper tape or bare copper wire round the base.

Slugs dont like crossing metal, so say gardening people who put copper rings round their cabbages !

I've not tried it but my daughter reports that the plants in her galvanised metal edged raised beds suffer much less slug damage than in her wooden ones.

We think that the remaining small damage in the metal beds is from slugs that come up from below (not realising they are not supposed to be there !!) but excludes the surface crawlers.

( In your case that isnt a prob. unless they learn to use a Kango )

Somewhere there is a video of a slug approaching a copper wire and recoiling, was shown on Gardeners World long time ago.

[garethmob]

i second the ring of copper, my grandad uses it on the base of the tomato plants and lettaces and they never get eaten as the slugs cant cross copper

[Ptarmigan]

Paul said: "Beer worked for me and you can always drink it on those cloudy nights"

I thought "Ughh did he mean to say that"

Then you said :

But pick them out first!

and I was much relieved that it wasnt only me rolling round on the floor at an alternative reading

Chuckle,

Sorry for the jest Paul

[JonnyP]

Why discard the beer flavoured slugs?

You could deep fry them and market them as a high protein alternative to wasabi peas. Contact your local trendy pub.......... <mind goes off in a random direction>

[beamish]

kidnap a few hedgehogs !

[Ptarmigan]

Or do your veg. patch a favour and wear hob-nail boots when observing.

You could deep fry them

If in Scotland coat in batter first

[chiltonstar]

I go with the "fry them" approach.

If we started eating snails and slugs here, they'd soon disappear, rather like rabbits and pigeons in Italy and France (where they eat them) unlike GB where every verge is covered in rabbits and most agricultural fields are ditto with pigeons because most of us are squeamish about "game".

If you do try eating them, I suggest you clean them out first (leave them in a sealed black dustbin sack for a few days with some nettles) - works with snails. Rather than batter, I'd go with garlic butter.

There are some french recipes around on the web, but you need to pick the right kind of slug though as some may be toxic, particularly if they have been eating something nasty.

Chris

[JonnyP]

pick the right kind of slug though as some may be toxic, particularly if they have been eating something nasty.

How can beer ever be nasty?

[chiltonstar]

You should try what they serve in my local.......... I was thinking though of tomato/potato/belladonna or the like......

Chris

[callisto]

Draw a circle on the ground around your entire rig (leaving standing room) using a thin layer of salt. Slugs won't cross that - it's like acid to them.

Thats what I done around my kitchen door, works a treat

[LeeB]

If on a pillar insulated copper ring all way round child's static discharge electric zapper rigged so that when slug bridges gap to metal a second earthed ring zapp dead slug or at least makes him decide top descend.

[Ptarmigan]

If we started eating snails and slugs here,

Hugh F-W tried slugs in one of his shows, only once I think, the look on his face told a story !!

I love rabbit and pigeon and grow quail for the table as well; so I agree with you on most but I'll not be trying slugs.

Snails are sort of ok but I wouldnt travel to eat them, unless you paid me

[haitch]

We think that the remaining small damage in the metal beds is from slugs that come up from below (not realising they are not supposed to be there !!) but excludes the surface crawlers.

That could be down to the one thing worse than slugs in this world... Weevils - nasty little swines the lot of them and you know what... they're all female!