Natural Slug Repellant

[Rachel'sFlock]

Just heard a really interesting idea for repelling slugs, snails and grubs.
Take an aluminum pie pan and add a few slices of cucumber. The cucmber reacts with the aluminum to create a gas that is undetectable by humans, but is abhorrant to slugs and grubs.
Has anyone else used this method? Did it work?
Just thought I'd share. Will have a full report, once I have had a chance to try it.

Bright Slug/Snail-Free Blessings!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Hey, I have all the ingredients for that one. But the chickens have done a pretty good job of keeping the slug and snail population down. Maybe I'll try it out at DD's house

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[kcsunshine]

The best was I ever heard was to pour beer into shallow dishes and leave out where you see their trails. Apparently they like the taste, fall into the beer and drown, happily drunk. Seems like a waste of good beer to me.

 

[Wifezilla]

I fought the slug war for years. Beer just seemed to get em drunk so they partied and made more slugs. DE slowed them down a little, but not much. I even tried the slug bait and that didn't help. The one thing that does help is having ducks. They have really cut down on the population. I let them in the garden in fall after I harvest, throughout the winter, and in spring before I plant. During growing season when those greedy, plant munching ducks are banned from the garden, I take crushed oyster shell and make a circle around young tender plants.

Last year was my best gardening year ever with my fluffy little gardening crew.

 

[kcsunshine]

Wifey, hope you don't mind - I just put your lovely ducks pic as my desktop background. Looking at them just reminds me that winter doesn't last all year long. lol (we need a brrr smiley).

 

[Wifezilla]

Help yourself

That is one of my favorite pictures of my Welsh Harlequins when they were scruffy teenagers. I still have 2 of those girls. A hawk got Bebe, the brown one in front. Shelley, the one with the black on her head, is my "head duck". She is smart (for a duck! ) and a bit of a troublemaker. She likes to test the pen for weaknesses and has wiped out all the fish in my pond on more than one occasion.

While the war against slugs was my motivation to look in to getting ducks, I will always have ducks now even if slugs aren't an issue. Ducks are awesome

Messy, and noisy, yes, but they are cute and funny and a great addition to any homestead.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

While the war against slugs was my motivation to look in to getting ducks, I will always have ducks now even if slugs aren't an issue. Ducks are awesome

Messy, and noisy, yes, but they are cute and funny and a great addition to any homestead.

Hehe, agree x 100 on the ducks. I couldn't start EVERYthing I wanted last year, so the ducks got pushed back. They are my first project for this year tho. They are great slug and grasshopper control (between the guineas and ducks, I'm going to be looking for more grasshoppers, LOL) but I just love their comical little personalities. I think I'll put their messiness in the low end of the pasture, though.

 

[Kim_NC]

We've started giving our garden plots to the pigs at the end of the season. Along with demolishing the plants, they quickly start digging and gobbling up slugs and grubs.

Milky Spore and Nematodes are supposed to be an effective organic control for them. We've not tried either one, but many folks swear by them. Here's an article on them:
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/organicdefense

The next thing I want to do is build a "chicken moat" around one of the garden perimeters.....would work with ducks or other fowl too. Here's a Mother Earth News article I got the idea from - has a nice drawing of the concept:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1988-05-01/Garden-Pest-Control.aspx

Basically you build a fenced "moat" area around your garden perimeter that becomes a poultry run. Incoming pests must cross the moat where the chickens are waiting to gobble them up.

Really nice photo of your ducks, Wifezilla!