Slug Invasion.

[bigpaul]

forget about alien invasions or other scenarios this is what will eat all your crops, its already happening. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18413860

[Tonka]

Still, if you really need to you can cook up and eat the slugs.

[Pagan-Mist]

I've been told salt works a treat. If you do decicde to try them I'd use garlic as well

[TOF]

I used a barrier of holly leaves with some success. It's pretty soul destroying going out to survey the estate to find those little bu&&ers have eaten the growing tips out of your beans or made your lettuces completely disappear.

[Barneyboy]

what the best way to get rid of them

[bigpaul]

a beer trap! Newcastle B A works best!

[Timelord]

(14 June 2012, 09:04)Barneyboy Wrote: what the best way to get rid of them

A 1/10th scale v.low voltage solar/battery electrified perimeter fence with a beer moat. Wireless controlled mini downlighters rigged as searchlights atop corner towers for clearance. A negative conductive strip running around the perimeter and buried below the fence line to a depth of a couple of inches. The top just proud of the ground level with an insulator approx 7mm wide between this and the upper positive charged fence. Thus, any slugs attemting to bridge this gap will be shorted between the electric polarity and so be strongly discouraged from proceeding to scale the defences.

This is what I had planned after a few years of having most of my veg decimated by a resident slug and now snail population. I was out day & night with a torch, cutting the blighters down to size, & trying all sorts of known remedys inc beer traps. It didn't prevent the annihalation of my growings. I have not tried since but If I do, I WILL be using a method similar to that described.

Seriously, you can build a v.v.simple electrified perimeter - no fences or anything and it can be run off a 9vpp3 battery or any other suitable. The voltage can be v.v.v.small, but it is enough to dissuade the slugs/snails who are nearly all water themselves and so they complete the circuit between the two opposing polarity conductive strips. This displeases them greatly and they will not be able to cross the perimeter. The circuit hardly uses any power when not actively being shorted by an intruder - only a slight leakage to earth if you have built it right and kept one of the strips well insulated from the ground - and rain/wet. Still, I wouldn't be able to resist building my own scale model fortified camp around my veggies for the sheer fun of it. Being able to sit back & admire the finished product - day & night at the flick of as wireless button.... You never know, the experience may come in useful at a full scale later date!! lol. TL.

[Pagan-Mist]

Blimey that for slugs if you ever have a preppers compound remind me to run the other way lol

[Timelord]

LOL. Yes indeed. I havn't built it yet, but it sounds like fun..

[Nemesis]

Would be good to make a 9volt barrier for ants, these are the real pests when it comes to fruit trees, to which I happen to have quite a few of, so could something be made up?