SLUGS

I am having a lot of trouble with slugs.

I placed small trays of beer in the GB and have taken to searching at night with a torch.

Not much luck.

The plants in the NFT tubes have been particularly badly affected.

The standard blue slug pellets contain METALDEHYDE  and are not suitable for use with the fish.

So I have done some research and come up with a few solutions.

Apparently slugs don’t like copper. I will get some copper tape tomorrow but in the meantime I stripped the insulation from some spare wire and wound this around the NFT tubes at intervals. 

Copper Wire Slug Barrier

Coffee grounds are another slug repellent. Apparently they find the caffeine bitter! I have also read an article about using coffee grounds to add trace elements but it was only in very very small quantities. So for the moment not my first choice. Need to do a bit more research.

There is another form of slug pellets rated safe for organic gardens. These contain FERRIC PHOSPHATE. These are said to break down into Iron and Phosphate so should be safe.

Visiting the garden center tomorrow.