.... for slugs? Just a little curious as I was wondering how high will slugs climb to eat plants? I have a number of plants

Yep, I've had them up my Hollyhocks, 3 or 4ft tall.. :p

Hi weezie13

Shucks Interesting, those little creepy crawling things in how high they can slither up huh and the damage they do. They are eating my plants that are potted.

I think I'm going to try coffee grounds, but I'm a little confused about whether to use, spent coffee grounds or fresh? I'm not a caffeine person so hoping de-caf will work. They are eating my dinnerplate hibiscus too.

Wouldn't putting a ring of copper wire around the plant base and tieing a ring of wire around a potted plant pot be worth a try I NEED to know if this works for you, floweringchild...

I'm using Starbucks spent grounds and have discovered, as many have said, how happy the worms are. BUT, I now see "the mole" has taken up residence in the front, and "the other mole" has cornered the petunias... I swear, can we win? Or not...

I hear you there...
I am just about the point to give up on the veggie garden, whilest I have WOODCHUCKS...
I can handle anything else, but they've beaten me pretty bad this summer...

The copper around the plant should work, but
that may get a bit tedious doing that to every plant.. *and even costly*

I have often wondered about a large ring of vaseline.. they do that for ants up the poles for hummingbird food feeders....
I might try that next year, if I get around to it.

Tomacco,
Never heard of using copper wire to deter slugs. Hummmm. Sorry about your other pests. Weezie13
I agree, copper wire would not only be tedious but very expensive. I priced out a small spool of copper wiring yesterday, too expensive.
Vaseline? Hummm. Dunno.

I may try used coffee grounds, even if I use decaf. Wondering if the grounds would harm my plants? Again, the ones that are getting chewed on are potted.

Other suggestions short of chemicals or pesticides?

For slugs????

DE *Diatomatious Earth *

it's made of broken pieces of shellfish spines/casings/skeletons'...
It slices the bellies' of the slugs when they go over it...

***although DE doesnt' discriminate between good bug and bad bug.. ***

Thanks Weezie13,
I'll have to check that out, DE. I could use egg shells but I seldom eat eggs.

Can used coffee grinds harm potted plants?

Other than throwing a bit of bird seed down to attract slug-eating birds, or DE, the wire may be initially an expense but it is reusable. I may give it a try for my mums when they come back up next year.

http://www.artisticwire.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/wire.htm
The odder the colour, the cheaper by the yard (2.99/10 yds) (the larger the number (gauge), the thinner the wire)

So begs the question: Does coloured wire have the same slug-repelling zap charge as non-coloured wire? Mmmm... Another riddle...

Plain copper wire in bulk (20-gauge, 300-foot spool is $30+6 (s&h)
http://www.whimsie.com/craftwire.html

I found an interesting article about copper/slugs etc. Hoping someone finds this helpful.

http://www.moongardening.cwc.net/copper%202.html

Snippet:

"The advantage of the tubing is to be found in its diameter and its rigidity.

"It lies flat on the top of the soil, as wire cannot -- especially wire that has been kinked and bent during the insulation-stripping process. So nothing can crawl beneath it. The surface of the soil must be flattened first of all, of course, and that applies no matter what form of copper is used as a slug/snail barrier...

..."Then there is the width of the tubing. This offers what I believe is the least width of copper if the slime that the creatures put down as they move is to convey an uncomfortable enough impression. Bear in mind that it is this slime, really, that warns the animals to go back the way they came. It is their sensor. It conveys to them everything they need to know in order to survive. It tells them that an unacceptable quantity of copper is ahead, and they hate the sensations that prolific copper gives to them via their slime."

I can show you how high they'll go to...uhhh...ummmm...do the procreation bit. About 6' up on the siding of my house...I guess that's what they are doing. I freaked out when I saw them. :rolleyes:

Hey Tomacco
Thanks for providing live links to copper sales as well as interesting info on slugs with regard to copper wiring. I enjoyed reading the artcle as well!

TulsaRose, hello
Wow, 6 ft. That's incredible. Seems your slugs didn't want to be disturbed or seen huh?

Well, I tried the used coffee grounds yesterday. I went out to my courtyard this morning and found more hibiscus leaves eaten.

TulsaRose, THAT is too high (like illegally high!)! Can I ask if that's the north side of your house?

Weezie, I have a good remedy for woodchucks: My dog Wanna borrow her?

Floweringchild, I can say that putting spent grounds around my mums has worked so far, and it brought the worms. They, in turn, attracted moles. The war is on. I do believe that spent grounds will only go on the mulch pile now... I also found the article interesting. I guess no remedy is free size (one size fits all) and we try everything we can to preserve our hard work. If our slugs were Jurassic, we wouldn't be gardening. We'd be sitting on the front porch with a rifle haha

Yes, Tomacco, that is the north side of the house. Fortunately or not, since we were in drought conditions for a year, slugs haven't been a problem this year.

In the past, I've had very good luck with a slug\snail granular repellant that I bought at Lowes. Can't remember the name of it but it certainly works!