Kitchen Garden Forum

The slugs and snails are stripping my pepper and chilli plants down - in some cases down to the stalks! Have tried the copper tape on the pot edge and that's helped in some cases... until the blighters get into the pot and then nom as much as they want. So I'm trialing a new attack!

Taking the copper tape and folding it back on its self, to almost the end, so there's only a bit of sticky left and then hooping it around the chilli / pepper stalk and sticking the sticky end to the copper tape.

That way, there is no stickiness touching the actual plant, but there's a copper collar around the stalk. Where possible, I'm doing 2 tiers. I know I'll need to break them when the plant stem gets too thick, but for this season am hoping it will keep the blighters away!

Will try and get photos for you guys as I'm not sure if my explanation is the best!

Also, incase this doesn't work - what would people suggest?

I used to try growing organically but now turn to slug pellets at the first sign of damage.

The collars seem to be helping. Some of the stalks now have leaves - whereas before they would just get nommed. Will have a look into slug pellets as well!

OK - Copper collars are helping with some plants, but not others... I think it's time I got some slug/snail pellets - Can anyone recommend some "wildlife friendly" (slugs and snails don't count in this instance) pellets! We have quite a lot of birds, a hedgehog and quite a few cats in the garden.

Another alternative is doing a few nocturnal slug hunts. I went out the other night for my first one this year and caught several hundred slugs and huge snails and that was while it was quite dry. There will be lots more tonight now it's rained. If you do this a few nights running you will notice a big difference.

I have rubber gloves, a torch and a big bucket and if I'm feeling kind I take them to the ended of the road and empty them down a banking for the wildlife to snack on. If I'm feeling more ruthless I half fill the bucket with water and put a few good squirts of detergent in before catching them.
This kills them very quickly. If you put them into plain water they very often climb out again.

An idea that I've just had but never tried.
I wonder if using double sided tape, in the same way as copper collars, with the outside covered with salt may work.

That is if the plants are in a greenhouse or tunnel.

I think I may give it a try.

Stonecoloured wrote: Can anyone recommend some "wildlife friendly" (slugs and snails don't count in this instance) pellets! We have quite a lot of birds, a hedgehog and quite a few cats in the garden.

We have dogs and are also concerned about wildlife, when all else fails we use 'Growing Success' pellets both in greenhouse and garden at home and on the allotment.

Prefer using crushed eggshell but doesn't always seem to work

Ordered the "Slugs be gone" - it looks like cat litter! VERY VERY like cat litter and considering it's "organic" and works by absorbing the trail and being uncomfortable under the foot... I think it very may well be.... Cat litter! Going to try it anyways - will let you know how it does!

Have more poisonous pellets on stand by too!

My chilli plants are in my plastic greenhouse and are are all in individual large plastic drip trays which usuallyb have surplus water in them from watering. The chilli plants don,t seem to mind this and any skug or snail which ventures into to the greenhiuse generslly gets drowned in the process

The collars are working on quite a few plants There are a few that were stalks and have always been stalks (the slugs/snails were eating fresh leaves quicker than they could grow). Now they're stalks with little leaves! Just put out the weeks worth of coffee grounds and will "slugs be gone" the rest once we get through the 4 days of rain that's predicted!

Primrose wrote:My chilli plants are in my plastic greenhouse and are are all in individual large plastic drip trays which usuallyb have surplus water in them from watering. The chilli plants don,t seem to mind this and any skug or snail which ventures into to the greenhiuse generslly gets drowned in the process

May try the "moat" option as well

Beer traps really work for slugs. We found out by accident when we left a beer can with an inch of beer in it by the step on the patio. Later, that night, I couldn't believe my eyes....several big fat brown slugs were climbing over each other to get into the can, with more homing in.
We stuck more cans out and bought some of those slug traps which you sink into the soil. Same again...queuing up to get in and then they can't get out.
Snails...we go picking them up after dark and drop them in a bucket of salty water.
Fed up with my ornamentals getting scoffed.

We have a brick planter in spain its just over 4 x 2 feet, very hard to get slug pellets in spain so my wife made a beer trap she buried a can with the top cut off flush with the soil ,filled it with the dregs out of a few beer cans after our friends had left ,next morning it had 18 dead slugs in it

Bucket by the door with water and washing up liquid - CHECK!
Several beer traps at ground level - CHECK
Copper tape collars around the plants and pots - CHECK
Slug pellets sprinkled lightly around plants - CHECK

So now the questions are...

1. Do you just flush the dead critters from the bucket and beer traps?
2. Where there are pellets, I now have lots of visible slugs / snails out in the open (even in the sun) - are these the ones that have been "pelleted" and do I need to "dispose" of these too? (lots of places tell you upto the sprinkling of pellets step, but not after that one!)
3. Quite a few sites recommend putting pellets in dark / slug-loving places - rather than around your plants - how successful have people found this?

Sorry, I'm new to the slug&snail war, but I'm determined to earn my stripes!

Slugs don't like coffee grounds.