are slug rings effective?

hallo,

Looking at a website where slug rings are for sale, they are not exactly cheap so i dont want to make an expensive mistake.
Has anyone any experience of these things - are slug rings effective?

thanks

karaman
the spirit never dies
+++++++++++++

 

Are the "slug rings" made of copper tape. If they are, they will probably be effective round pots and containers. However, I find it cheaper to use copper wire stripped from cables.:wink:

 

I've been using slug rings for the last year and they were amazingly effective- well worth the money as they can be used all the time. I'd recommended you buy the bigger ones though as you'll be suprised how big your clumps grow when they are not being demolished by slugs.

They are also handy for marking where you dormant perrenials are, so you don't dig them up by accident in spring.

I've not used the tape before though.

 

Beer, cheap Beer works just fine. Pour some beer in a shallow bowl, position the bowl on the ground near the plants. Before you know it slugs will be in the beer dead, just pour off the bowl and start fresh again.

 

There are several cheaper and equally effective sources of copper rings. Horticultural suppliers put a premium on the price as though a ring of copper was something special.
As Cajary mentions, stripped electrical cable will work as will the braid from old stripped TV coaxial cable. Another source is perforated copper earth bonding strip.

 

So they don't have to stand "proud" then - as the rings do? just some wire laid in a circle "flat" on the ground will do?

 

Works just fine Kristen.
If you want to protect pots then the outer mesh shield from TV coax works very well as it can be flattened into a ribbon and stuck to a pot with two or three small pieces of gaffer tape.

 

Am I right in thinking that molluscs cannot slither across copper, without experiencing an 'unpleasant' chemical reaction? Which is why copper is used.

 

Brilliant! thanks. I'd never really thought about it. I have loads of coax from the days when we used to use that for networking - although I suspect that the shield is probably not copper, but I'll have a look - the core might be.

Will 240 volts do, or should I rig up something higher? :hehe:

 

The cores in network cable are insulated so no good and as you've guessed the shield is most probably silvered copper so I don't think it would work.

240 Volts would be just dandy, you'd be left with no slimy mess, just carbonised gastropods :D

 

"The cores in network cable are insulated so no good"

Yup, I was planning on stripping them - although if that turns out to be a PITA I'll think again.

"just carbonised gastropods"

That's shocking :hehe:

 

For slug control, I have used for years , the copper sticky tape on my containers. This appears to work well , my container hostas only suffering minimal damage. I have used beer traps , which used to work very well , but the last 2 seasons have not caught anything , not a clue why I now have TT slugs :cnfs: The copper rings are a tad expensive at £2.50 - £3.00 a go. Now if copper wire does a good job , will brass wire be as effective (70% copper 30% zinc ) ? I have a good supply of brass wire. Also would bronze ( 88% copper 12% tin ) brazing rods work ? Are the slimeys as discerning of material content as they are of alcohol content :D

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20-Silicon-br...232?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4aa6cb6c10

 

VERY non-green John. Burning the insulation releases extremely nasty PCBs.

 

"A completely non-green but quick method is to chuck the cables onto a bonfire"

Definitely won't be doing that then :thumb: I'll stick the insulation in the landfill bin instead