Topic: Copper Tape - your thoughts

[Buckeye Girl]

Does anyone use copper tape on the allotment?  This is my first year and I was considering using it on a few choice plants, at least until they got established properly.

Any thoughts?

[jjt]

You have to realise that slugs travel through the soil. If you make a timber raised bed and run tape round the boards, it won't work. It's worked alright for me in other situations though. Table in greenhouse with tape round the legs etc. It depends what you mean by choice plants. Some are tougher than others. Apart from mass methodical extermination the only thing that I've seen work is slug pellets. And I won't use them. So I'm praying for a drier summer.

[Pesky Wabbit]

I only use it on the legs of the tables that my strawberries are on and on a few selected pots.

Like other methods its good, but it aint fool proof and its quite expensive £5.00 for a 4 metre roll.

[triffid]

Couple of years ago, I actually watched a snail crawl across copper tape when I had it all round the top edges of my raised strawberry bed. (It may have been doing it for a dare - I didn't stop to ask.)
By that stage the tape had been in place for long enough to tarnish - never thought I'd see myself polishing me allotment beds....  ;)
Of course that was exceptional; in 2008 it seemed to rain solidly from June till September. But all in all I wasn't very impressed given the price of the tape.  :(

[triffid]

You have to realise that slugs travel through the soil. If you make a timber raised bed and run tape round the boards, it won't work.

Ah, meant to say also that I'd pre-treated the strawb bed with slug nematodes, rather than just relying on the copper tape. As Jit says, the little beggars move through the soil and hide in it.

[ipt8]

I am trying it on the boards round the raised beds in the poly tunnel and on table legs if tables I am using for staging. Seems OK so far.
I got it from ebay but bought about ten rolls. If I remember right it worked out at about £1.40 for a ten metre roll.