Author Topic: Egg shells (Read 4840 times)

maz · « **on:** May 14, 2005, 10:15:46 »

I know this is an oldie but just to remind folks about it.

Crushed egg shell around the base of plants will stop the slugs and snails getting to them. If you bake them in the oven they are even sharper. *ouch*

maz · « **Reply #1 on:** May 14, 2005, 10:17:09 »

Er.......... thats bake the shells NOT the slugs, before anyone asks. ::) ;D ;D ;D

GREENWIZARD · « **Reply #2 on:** May 15, 2005, 07:07:49 »

it doesn't work for me the little fookers just glide across them :'( :'(
they even scale up the roughcast to devour the plants in my window box ???
the snails & slugs are tough here in scotland >:( >:( >:(
i dot handfuls of porridge strategically around the garden~they love the stuff & then go on slug patrol about 10 pm ~that's usually when the party starts ;D ;D

wardy · « **Reply #3 on:** May 15, 2005, 21:13:08 »

Slugs are brill climbers aren' t they. The climb up my phlox to drop onto my courgettes which are in a plastic pot and they aren't very good at climbing up that. they are more intelligent than we give them credit for :)

return of the mac · « **Reply #4 on:** May 15, 2005, 21:19:58 »

Get em with the pellets- slug pellets are a funny subject in my household- when my brother was wee he went round the garden eating all the pellets my dad had put out, and my mum saw him so she went out to the garden and made him throw up ( fingers down the throat). I think i got the brains of the family! :D

maz · « **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2005, 21:24:40 »

I wont use pellets cos of the frogs.

Im going to try the porridge idea too. Hubby asks ' Is it made with milk or water and do English slugs eat it?' :o Hes not very bright! ::) ;D ;D

honeybee · « **Reply #6 on:** May 16, 2005, 20:21:02 »

I use hardcore around my hostas etc, that either deters them or keeps them at bay and probably the most effective material that ive ever used.

I heard you could use bran too, the slugs love it and i hear they munch it all up and explode which sounds horrid to me.
So i wont be trying that one.

honeybee · « **Reply #7 on:** May 16, 2005, 20:39:19 »

Forgot to say Maz, i tried the eggshells theory but it didnt work, probably because you would need an awful lot of shells to surround a plant and we dont eat so many, so most likely i didnt put enough around for it to have any effect.

Other half reminded me yesterday that he recently fetched me a pile of copper rings home so i must get them out of the shed and give them a whirl. Apparently they give the slugs a bit of a zap so it deters them.

We shall see.

maz · « **Reply #8 on:** May 17, 2005, 09:05:07 »

Ah the lovely woman who runs the canteen where hubby works saved me all the shells for a whole week because we rarely eat eggs.

aquilegia · « **Reply #9 on:** May 17, 2005, 16:12:58 »

we don't eat that many eggs. Maybe half a dozen a month. We have a lot of slugs.

My theory is - if the slugs eat it, I won't grow it (if it's a pretty thing). Edible things get covered in fleece until they are big enough to cope. Lettuces are grown in pots, covered in fleece.

Oh and I also use Hugh Jones' coffee technique - dilute 25g of coffee (cheapest one you can find) in 1 gallon of water and use to water 1sqm of ground. Leave for two weeks before sowing. My carrots and radishes are untouched in the coffee bed. It also seems to have the added bonus of keeping cats off. We finished one bed and left it with beautifully crumbly soil. Cat pooed in it that night, but left the other two (coffeed) beds alone.

Doris_Pinks · « **Reply #10 on:** May 20, 2005, 13:59:44 »

Hubby occasionally drinks fresh coffee, so I dry out the grounds and sprinkle it around my lettuces, seems to be working so far........................(Me wonders if I can get the masses of grounds they throw away from his workplace??? must remember to ask him tonight, he will think I have gone off the edge yet again!)

maz · « **Reply #11 on:** May 20, 2005, 16:24:52 »

Im going to plant a couple of petunias and put the shells around them. If they are still there in the morning I'll put the rest out tomorrow. ;D

kenkew · « **Reply #12 on:** May 20, 2005, 20:51:39 »

Crushed firelighters in bran ....no slugs.

ACE · « **Reply #13 on:** May 21, 2005, 00:44:46 »

You can train slugs, I've got mine jumping through fiery hoops.

TAXI

North Country Boy · « **Reply #14 on:** May 21, 2005, 01:50:03 »

Nice idea i saw on the allotment dvd was to put slug pellets in tuperware containers and drill a hole in the side of them, put the container (lid on as well) with the hole level with the ground, the theory is that the slugs will go into the container and you dont have to put nasty slug pellets over your veg patch. Apparantly they like beer as well, at least weve got something in common ;) ;D

maz · « **Reply #15 on:** May 21, 2005, 08:22:05 »

Did anyone see Gardeners World last night? Nicked me idea! >:(

Well I put the petunia out, surrounded it with shells and this morning its............... alive and well! ;D BUT it looks awful. >:( Not asthetically pleasing is it? So have to use Plan B and maybe put the petunias in a basket. Lets see the little bighters hanglide on to that!!!

honeybee · « **Reply #16 on:** May 21, 2005, 12:51:56 »

I saw Monty too last night Maz, in fact it made me think of this thread...lol
It will be interesting to see the results next week :)

Maz, as you know, i have far too many baskets each year, ive made 11 up so far ::)
But believe me, the slugs will find a way to get in there, they are like squirrels on that trapeze rope, only a lot slower ;D But still they work it out and get there eventually ;)

bunnycat · « **Reply #17 on:** May 22, 2005, 20:09:02 »

I stand my Hostas in trays of builder's sand, but it has to be refreshed every now and then so it doesn't get packed down and smooth.

I had the ultimate slug deterrant until last year - a lovely big toad ;D Saw hardly any slugs for about 3 years, but they were back with avengence last year, so he must have gone to the big dark, damp corner in the sky :'(

dibberxxx · « **Reply #18 on:** May 23, 2005, 00:19:51 »

maz i have try-ed egg shells and they worked for a while but have seemed to stopped working i am like u i don't want to use pellets because of the wildlife in the garden , i don't seem to have a problem with the slugs as the frogs eat all of them its just the snails i could do with some more thrushes in the garden

wardy · « **Reply #19 on:** May 24, 2005, 17:53:24 »

I put my slug pellets in a box with a hole in the side as I have a dog. I found a great big snail trying to get in the hole today but couldn't as he was so big :) He ate my coriander instead :o I saw a young thrush today so hopefully the snails will soon be all gone :)

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Author Topic: Egg shells (Read 4840 times)