Topic: cucumber, alluminium and snails

[gwynnethmary]

I got one of those emails today about the many uses for cucumber, and one tip was putting slices of cucumber in an alluminium pie dish to scare away slugs and snails- something to do with the combined smell being very repugnant to them- has anyone tried this and with what rate of success?

[davyw1]

Some times i think things like that have been thought up by some one in the EU parliament, consider how many aluminum plates and cucumbers you would need for an allotment
I think i will stick to slug pellets under pieces of wood much cheaper.

[Deb P]

This is a new one on me.....slugs love cucumber so I'm interested to see how that works in practice. I don't have anything aluminium to give it a try though!

[gwynnethmary]

Id does sound a bit sus!  I think I'll go with the beer instead.  Do lemons work as well as grapefruit skins to put the beer in?

[Deb P]

I think you use grapefruit and orange skins upside down on the soil for the slugs to crawl under so you can collect them up, although I guess as a container for beer it will work as good as anything!! I'm not sure if it is the citus that attracts them, or it they are just convenient items that they will find shelter under...as previously mentioned, a bit of wood will do as well.

[saddad]

Or an old piece of roof slate, carpet tile, anything to provide a damp, dark corner for them to congregate during the day so you can find and dispose of them easily..  :-\

[lincsyokel2]

Ok, lets try a combined  approach. Beer in an upside down grapefruit skin with a cucumber floating in it, wrapped in aluminium foil on a bed a crushed egg shells, with a battery attached.

[Deb P]

Ok, lets try a combined  approach. Beer in an upside down grapefruit skin with a cucumber floating in it, wrapped in aluminium foil on a bed a crushed egg shells, with a battery attached.

 ;D ;D ;D

[gwynnethmary]

Ok, lets try a combined  approach. Beer in an upside down grapefruit skin with a cucumber floating in it, wrapped in aluminium foil on a bed a crushed egg shells, with a battery attached.

I like your style!

[Jeannine]

They will probbly throw a party, food ,drink, warmth, shiny dance floor  and the chance of  bright lights XX Jeannine

[1066]

I don't have anything aluminium to give it a try though!

You could buy those cheapy aluminium / foil platters / plates. You know the sort of ones used at parties for all the scrummy food  :-\

[PurpleHeather]

cucumber is a fruit. fruit acid rots aluminium and it wont do the ground any favours. If the fruit has absorbed aluminium never eat it because aluminium rots the brain.

[Geoff H]

I think it is one of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's more esoteric recipes.

[chriscross1966]

Slugs love cucmber but aluminium is desperatley poisonous to them, there used to be aluminium sulphate slug-killer pellets (not good cos as opinted out it's not great for us either... the acids in the cucumber will probably etch into the oxide layer on the ally and dissolve some so the slug gets a lethal dose while chowing down on the  cucumber.....

whcih reminds me I need to get some nematodes....

chrisc

[cornykev]

Ok, lets try a combined  approach. Beer in an upside down grapefruit skin with a cucumber floating in it, wrapped in aluminium foil on a bed a crushed egg shells, with a battery attached.
And don't forget a slice of lemon.
 ;D ;D ;D

[lincsyokel2]

cucumber is a fruit. fruit acid rots aluminium and it wont do the ground any favours. If the fruit has absorbed aluminium never eat it because aluminium rots the brain.

wooo some seriously dodgy chemistry there. Acids dont attack aluminium, you will only get a reaction between aluminium and  alkalines.

And theres no proof the you can ingest metallic aluminium and it reappears in your brain. The route the plaques that appear in senile dementia  take is far from clear.

[Vinlander]

The oxide coating on aluminium is amphoteric which means it is attacked by both ends of the pH scale. And salts too.

It is also one of the commonest metals in the soil. Clay always contains aluminium.

It's not a great idea to cook acid fruit or food in an aluminium pan because you've made a simple solution which is the best possible way to get unnatural amounts into your body.

People in Cornwall found that aluminium added to an excess concentration of idiots in the water industry results in a mixture that can make your hair go green.

If the aluminium is in a more complex environment it will tend to precipitate out and get locked away, but if you don't eat soil and rhubarb together you should be OK.

[Hyacinth]

Great thread. Thanks all.

 ;D ;D ;D

[Jeannine]

Tomato anything and homemade  pickles tastes terrible if done in aluminum pots. yuck XX Jeannine