Topic: Slugs & spuds.....

[carrot-cruncher]

.....came across the following in a book & have decided to try it next year to stop the slimy, little b*****ds from destroying my crop again.

Take a standard supermarket carrier bag & fill with approx 15 - 20 litres clean soil or compost and plant a chitted seed spud.   Place all the bags very close together to exclude as much light as possible to avoid any greens ones.   The outer bags may need to be surrounded with plastic polythene to exlcude the light.

When ready the spuds can be harvested by just upending the carrier bag and picking out the spuds.

Has anybody tried this method and how much success did you have

CC

[sandersj89]

It might work with earlies but don't think it will be so good for main crops. Nor enough soil and water supply might be an issue. They would definately need something around them to exclude light.

I think it would be better to use old compast bags or heavy bin linners as they are larger and will allow more room for earthing up.

Jerry

[john_miller]

Another problem with supermarket bags would be photodegradation- they will dissolve in a few weeks I would imagine. Don't get me started on the chemicals in the bags either! I grew potatoes in wooden vegetable crates last year, my local wholesaler was glad to get rid of them, these will give a much greater soil volume and be more resilient. Is that an option for you?  

[derbex]

I bought some white plastic buckets @ 2 gallon, from a local carboot 4 for a pound. Uncertain provenance but they look just like the ones used as brewing buckets mayonnaise/marge containers &c.

I didn't buy them for that, actually for making cider in, but I may well give them a go. Any one any idea about marking for grades of plastics?

Jeremy