Bran and slugs

[Bluejane]

Has anyone tried bran as a slug/snail repellent? I've heard that when they eat it it absorbs the water in their bodies and kills them. Presumably the same applies to oats - can anyone vouch for them as an option? I usually have a 'live and let live' policy, but after last year's disastrous strawberry season, when you had to turn the telly up high of an evening to drown out the sound of the buggers chomping away, I'm determined to get a decent crop this year.  So it's all-out war!

[Bluejane]

[Emagggie]

Sounds like a good one to try, nice crop myeslf, bran at the ready  ;D ;D

[Gail-M]

I heard about using oats recently and am trying it out - so far no slug damage - but then again its been very dry weather so maybe slugs are not so busy!!!

[weedbusta]

i tried putting some oats in a bucket with slugs. the idea was they ate the oats and exploded when the dry oats expanded. it didnt work, in fact i think they had a party.

[laurieuk]

I think the idea of bran comes from te time when bran was used to attract slugs to the metaldehyde that was mixed with it. The bran was the food part so they do hold parties when you put it down on it's own.

[greenscrump]

Hi there, don't know about bran but I've been using barriers of sharp sand piled around plants and copper piping (from heating refit) around beds, seems to have worked ok so far but look out for breaches cos they are soon discovered  :)

[Bluejane]

Hi Greenscrump

Well, the bran didn't work, that's for sure!!  >:( The greedy rotters have been merrily munching through - of course - the ripest, reddest, most luscious strawberries. Not so bad while it was dry but the rain we had last night brought them out in force. I'm going to try oats next, but failing that it's sharp sand - thanks for the suggestion. Or human hair, maybe? That's supposed to repel them (understandably - it would repel me, anyway) and it's cheaper and more easily got than copper piping.

[djbrenton]

A soot barrier seems to work for me.

[MikeB]

I used the coffee method this year, can't point you to the thread since the search facility is disabled due to high server activity and it seems to be working. I haven't seen a single slug this year (quickly touches wood) and no slug damage.

[Bluejane]

Sounds interesting - would that be old coffee grounds spread around the plants?

[MikeB]

Sounds interesting - would that be old coffee grounds spread around the plants?

That apparently works as well.

What I did was mix 50g of instant coffee with 2 gals of water, I then ' watered ' an area approximately 12' by 4' including any plants, there was no damage to the plants.  I did this in march and I haven't seen a slug since (quickly touches wood), nor had any slug damage in fact it is probably time to re-treat.  I used tescos own brand coffee at 19p for 100gs, good for 4 gallons. A resonably quick, definately cheap and effective method of slug control.

[Bluejane]

I'll definitely give it a go - and there's a jar of truly revolting instant coffee at the back of the cupboard, which nobody will drink and I'm too mean to throw away - so it'll be extra economical! Thanks a million for the tip.