Copper slug tape

[worms]

Having seen self-adhesive copper tape advertised for deterring slugs from climbing into outdoor plant pots, I wondered if this might also be an answer for moss control on the roof, if stuck along the edge of the ridging? The adhesive may not be sufficiently weather proof. Anyone with any experience of this?

http://www.greengardener.co.uk/slugextra.htm

 

[chuckey]

Yes copper is the principal ingredient of old fashioned anti-fouling to stop stuff growing on boat hulls. "Westphalia" sell some expensive stuff, which I have used. Only time will tell if if cures my moss problem on a north facing Redland concrete tiled roof. Try:-http://www2.westfalia.net . Its called moss-stop.
Frank

 

[plumbers mate]

Apparently the copper anti-slug strips give the slugs electric shocks which is how they work so you won't have slugs on your roof.

 

[chuckey]

Ah, yes, its working already then.
Frank

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Alternatively, buy an air rifle and hunt the bugg£rs... much more satisfying.

 

[Edwardia]

Slugs.eww..found one drinking milk out of my dog's bowl.. they get through teeny cracks in walls you wouldn't believe

 

[Penners]

Apparently the copper anti-slug strips give the slugs electric shocks

Particularly if you connect them to a mains electrical supply. :twisted:


(don't try this at home, children)

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Apparently the copper anti-slug strips give the slugs electric shocks

Particularly if you connect them to a mains electrical supply. :twisted:


(don't try this at home, children)

You mean they should try it in other people's houses??!! :roll:

 

[Edwardia]

With shell = snail = edible. No shell = slug = inedible. Why ?

 

[Feltwell]

Apparently the copper anti-slug strips give the slugs electric shocks

Particularly if you connect them to a mains electrical supply. :twisted:

Hmmm, copper strips stuck to your roof during a thunder storm could have a more interesting effect!

 

[worms]

Thanks to the joys of Google:

Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1352775,00.html
"Are slugs edible?" Apparently, yes. Peter Jennison of Shipley in Yorkshire claimed to have eaten them at a Scout camp. Just boil in salty water and serve with a knob of butter. "Chewy but tasteless" was his verdict.

But perhaps better informed: http://www.manandmollusc.net/molluscan_food_files/molluscan_food_inedible.html

 

[worms]

Hmmm, copper strips stuck to your roof during a thunder storm could have a more interesting effect!

OK, so what happens to a cathedral roof in a thunderstorm?!

 

[MdB]

Hmmm, copper strips stuck to your roof during a thunder storm could have a more interesting effect!

OK, so what happens to a cathedral roof in a thunderstorm?!

The current from the lightning strike fails to go down the thick copper strip running down the side of the cathedral as it has been nicked for scrap....

 

[chuckey]

Once the lightning srike have gone down 10,000 ft through the air, a layer of roof tiles is not enough to protect you from the relatively good earth of an upstairs lighting circuit or copper plumbing. The lightning strike that hit my house, split the chimmey stack. It was one evening, about eight o'clock and we were entertaining some friends. As usual, wifey was cooking and the rest of us were in the dining room drinking plonk. Suddenly there was a deafening bang and a huge spark shot out of the chimney breast about 6 feet of the floor and just sort of curved downwards and tapered out! "I'll have a white next time" ,Dave said. I just looked at the chimney breast, searching for scorching or some mark as to what had happened but nothing was visible. The damaged stack was apparent when we came to, at the crack of noon the next day.
Frank

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Hmmm, copper strips stuck to your roof during a thunder storm could have a more interesting effect!

OK, so what happens to a cathedral roof in a thunderstorm?!

View attachment 1
Though that remains only part of the explanation.

 

[Flyfisher]

Funny stuff, lightning. A few years ago one of our apple trees was struck and pretty much split in two. The bang was deafening. Nothing particularly strange about that, except the apple tree was only about 15 feet high and was less than 15 yards from a huge scots pine, probably about 60-70 feet high. Also the house was only about 30 yards away with a nice tall gable-end chimney complete with TV aerial.

Did quite well to miss all the high stuff and single out the apple tree. Perhaps the gods don't like apples.

 

[still_adrianth]

On our patio, I placed a triangle of three offcuts of 15mm copper pipe. I had made the pipe shiny with wire wool for max effect. Into the triangle, I placed a snail. It immediately climbed over one of the pipes. "Well," I thought, "I suppose even if it's nasty it's better than staying in the open and being eaten by birds." Clearly my face betrayed my thoughts, for at this the snail climbed back over the pipe into the triangle. There it remained, chortling and eyeing-up the begonias. It hadn't looked uncomfortable while climbing the copper, but my knowledge of body language is limited.

So maybe it's a deterrent but it certainly won't stop 'em. It can only be a couple of years ago that on Gardeners' World, Monty Don made a rim of 15mm copper pipe around some huge raised beds, which he also treated with nematodes to kill the gastropods already present. Can't have been cheap. Anyone else actually done proper experiments?

By the way, this thread is highly relevant to period property owners. In the dark I once stood on a huge slug in bare feet (both myself and the slug) that had come into the kitchen through the wobbly door frame. Not nice for either of us.

Adrian.

 

[worms]

By the way, this thread is highly relevant to period property owners.

Well the thread was meant to be about moss control on the roof and wondering if the slug tape was an easy way to get the same benefits of fixing some copper wire to the ridge but the beauty of this forum is the rambling nature of the discussions!

 

[GeoffP]

Regarding slug control, I think you have to connect two copper tapes to a battery to be effective. Don't think this would stop the moss though.

See http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pIDTN1SWkIA&feature=related

Geoff

 

[shelli]

sorry to be off thread

I read in a home farming mag that the best way to stop slugs is to put a plank down in the garden - they will cling to the underside overnight and you can simply collect them up the next day and dispose of them (feed them to the chickens :twisted: ) - the beauty of this method is that it's cheap, effective and you always know where the slugs will be.