Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Copper Foil Slug Barrier



Lemon cucumber starts

This time of the year is alway filled with anticipation of the first sightings of seedling emerging from the soil. All the planning, time spent bent over planting all those seeds, and then the waiting, waiting, waiting for littlest signs of germination appear and finally they do. At this point I want to jump up and down and scream Success...Success! Summer harvest here I come.

But wait, there are still the slug predators to contend with before the fantastic harvest part. Those soft, slim, moisture loving creatures will feast on tender seedlings and can destroy crops of vegetables in a night. I have used Sluggo which seems to work very well but it is spendy and needs to be applied regularly to be effective. This year I'm trying a different approach with the idea that I will have to exert as little energy and expense as possible.


An old 5 gallon bucket

Be careful when cutting the plastic it's a soft material.

Start with a five gallon bucket and use a hand saw cut it into rings that are about three inches in depth. Remove any burrs left on the edges and then apply a sticky backed copper tape. To keep the tape from sticking to itself or becoming tangled, remove the paper backing just as you place the tape on the ring. I found the copper tape at several of my local hardware stores.

The adhesive readily sticks to the plastic.




Place the rings in the garden and plant your seeds or seedings in the center. So far the slug barrier rings are doing a great job at keeping the veggie eating pests away and are also helpful with keeping the water localized around the plant when watering. Two good things for the price of one!


Eight Ball zucchini


This post is shared on Simple Lives Thursday.





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