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New Photo's Plus NEW Slug Snail Free Table.... & More

Hi all

Now was I lucky with this little find I thought it was broken, as it was dumped, I found a use for it :) going to be my new VFT table, Laminate top now sealed with silcone (Aqua) and then flooded the MDF with sealer, then Thompson Seal for good measure.

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I have also added the Snail / Slug preventor... COPPER they hate is as it give's them a little shock in the right place... ;-)

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My new Clayton Volcanic Red

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Red Saw Tooth I think

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I hope you like I have others but they will be posted under the respective threads

Noddy
 
Nice plants and a good table. Where did you get those two plants? Those are pretty hard clones to locate in the US?
 
One was imported from GERMANY, and the other North West UK...

I am hoping to create a self watering system next however I will be limited to 50kg which is 50 litres or so

So are you telling me that these can be outside all year... As we get cold winters as we are high up 650 feet above sea level ... I put my first on the porch last year close to the glass window but on the outside since the wndow will radiate heat though low to plant keeping it above 0 and it worked for me ;-)
 
Coooool.
 
I can get quite a few on there, I think only that the problem will be in winter...

Advise please I have seen some like seed boxes with covers and air vents would this do for outside or that not a good idea in the colder months.

As it gets cold here where I am in the southeast up high you see.

Noddy
 
Nice... I didn't know slugs hated copper...
 
Yes, Try it subject one to a ring of copper ... does not kill or affect other animals that may want to eat it, thus I feel it's a better way ... Hence why I was over the moon to be able to obtain the table ..:boogie:

Here are some other ways too...

1) Beer. Yes, it really does work. It’s also the best non-personal way to confirm that overnight damage is due to the slimy beasts. Just don’t use the often-cited “stale beer”, which slugs like about as much as you and I do. Place commercial traps or old margarine tubs on top of the soil close to the damaged plants, wait until dusk and then fill them with the cheapest—but freshest—beer you can find. The next morning, they should be filled with dead drunken slugs. Dump this defeated debris nearby (where it will attract their cannibalistic pals) and repeat every evening.
2) Coffee. New research has found caffeine to be very effective at dispatching slugs. Save your dregs and spray them full strength directly on the beasts in the evening. Surround plants under attack with a mulch of used coffee grounds to deter slugs and feed the plants.
3) Iron phosphate. Turns out that iron is very bad for a slug’s digestion. Like deadly bad. So a new generation of products with brand names like “Sluggo” and “Escar-Go!” wrap iron in a slug-attracting bait. You simply scatter the pellets around plants in peril to wipe out the pests without poisons. (And a little extra iron is good for your garden soil.)
4) Copper. Slugs get shocked when they touch this shiny metal. You can buy ready-made copper plant guards or just adorn your raised bed frames with copper flashing. Hot-glue rings of pennies around the tops of your containers. Drop captured slugs into a jar of pennies and watch ‘em spark!
5) Diatomaceous earth. Available at garden centers, ‘DE’ is the mined fossilized remains of dinosaur-era, sea-going creatures called diatoms. It looks like white flour, but is incredibly sharp on a microscopic level, dehydrating slugs on contact. Surround plants under attack with protective rings of DE (be sure to wear a dust mask); freshen them up if they get wet.
6) Boards. Lay some old planks between your garden beds. The vampiric slugs will crawl underneath to hide from the sun. Come morning, lift the boards and scrape the slugs into a bucket with a flat piece of metal. Then do with them what you will. Hey—got any pennies?
7) Human hair. Surround your plants with a protective barrier of hair. The slugs will get all tangled up in it and strangle (hey—it was them or the hostas!); and the hair will eventually add plant-feeding nitrogen to the soil.
8) Citrus. Leave lemon, orange and grapefruit rinds out overnight near slug prone plants, and then collect and trash them—covered with slugs—first thing the next morning. Old lettuce leaves work well too.
9) Vinegar. A spray bottle filled with plain white vinegar is a great cure for slugs that aren’t on plants. An extremely effective mollusk dissolver, vinegar is also an herbicide—so don’t spritz the salvia.
10) Toads. Avoid all pesticides, provide water low to the ground and a damp shady spot for them to hide during the heat of the day, and these wonderful nocturnal predators will eat lots of slugs for you.
11) Rove beetles. These big black bugs don’t bother plants, but do eat LOTS of slugs and their eggs. So don’t hurt them!
12) Lightning bugs. The larval form of these summertime entertainers, the fascinating “glowworm,” eats slugs and their eggs. To encourage adults to breed nearby, turn off outdoor lights at night, allow a small area of your garden to stay moist and a little weedy, and don’t use pesticides.
13) Ducks! Just turn a few loose in the garden—these feathered friends (and natural fertilizer providers) are among nature’s FINEST slug-eaters! And all together now: “We can always use the eggs”. Thank you.

Go and experiment, I would ...

Salt works well but you need to sit there with a torch all the time not much fun really..

Noddy
 
I suspect what is occuring is the formation of a galvanic cell. Once the slug touches both the copper and zinc/alum/etc. areas it's slime forms an electrolyte and electrical current begins to flow.
Maybe the slime also contains a substitute for the zinc, that I dont know... but somehow two metals are coming into play.

Basic electricity 101

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_cell

but sparks???.... someone would have to show me that for me to believe it, now you are talking voltage levels up in the 1000's of volts
 
  • #10
It works trust me

I read it somewhere ... but it works so all those having slug problem may be you wanna take a look at the table again...

There is copper tape I got cheap enough, positioned at 20" on each stem of the table to avoid anything growing up grass weeds etc...

So that's why I am a happy bunny ... I am just worried about winter months thats all, as the bonsai's take over the green house... as we have couple 182 of them ... Uncles division not mine!

Noddy
 
  • #11
The science is perfectly sound.... the same things happens when you have older dental fillings and chew on a piece of aluminum foil

it is a very unpleasent sensation LOL

The fact that they have to cross an aluminum/galvanized (whatever it is)-copper junction on your table makes it very likely indeed

Just a side note, its potential voltage would be increased if the copper is insulated from the other metal... this would also help reduce galvanic corrision

well done Noddy, nice tek!
Av
 
  • #12
Av8tor1

May be it will help a couple of people at least 1 extra person knows now if not more...

After all I have spend a lot on the FUSED TOOTH's for example, and I don't want the SLUG's to eat them...

On another note slugs make good bait for perch fishing in the autumn ...

I'll help where I can ;-)

Noddy
 
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