how do i keep the slugs away from a strawberry plant?

Question

complete novice at gardening and me & my son have just started to grow some strawberry plants for a project. We will be planting them in a big pot in the garden soon, i was just wondering how i keep the bugs away pref without chemicals. we grew lettuces last year in the same way but the slugs ate them all!

Answer 1

If you are putting them in pots and you do not wish to use slug pellet. You can buy copper tape from any good garden centre which you stick around the pots.
Slugs hate copper of any kind.
If you wish to stop them eating your lettuces, place a few shallow pots filled with beer, near the plants.
They love the yeast and will drown in the beer.

Answer 2

Think about adding herbs and members of the allium (onion) family. I have mine interplanted with onions and basil - also just added a couple of cowpea plants too to add more nitrogen. I did get some foliage eaten by something and some pecking at some of the fruit, but overall, they have produced well and the foliage looks fine. Make sure they have enough water. Plants produce some natural resistance to pests but need adequate water to keep it up. I'd thought the plants were finished a few weeks ago. Then I was surprised to get a sudden second flush of strawberries as late as May here in Florida when it's so hot and buggy. I picked a bunch yesterday. I noticed onion and basil have warded off the cabbage worms where they are next to collard greens too: the leaves closest to the onions and basil are the ones with no holes in them.

Answer 3

Slugs don't like to go over sharp stuff so sand sprinkled around will help but will have to be reapplied after rains. Copper reacts to the slugs slime and gives them a mild electric shock so putting some copper around the plants is like having a little electric fence. Beer traps also work to kill some slugs that are attracted to the beer and drown. I havn't had much trouble with sluggs and strawberries I get more damage from deer and catapillars the deer just need to have nets around the plants and with catapillars you can just be viggilant with removing them as you see them (thats what I do) you can go with a catapillar killer there are a few that are made from fungi or bacteria that kills them or you can use a white spun polyester covering when the plants are about to fruit.

Answer 4

READ THIS, best answer or not, I don't care. This is war.
IN MY area, slugs are often over 8" long and crawl in and then out of all beer traps. I like the idea of the grit, diatomacious earth works well too. I've heard the copper thing works well also but it could be cheaper to buy your strawberries. FORGET STRAW MULCHES, it only gives them a moist dark place to hide in the day time.
NOW, are you ready for WAR???. Not scared to go out at night with a flash light are you?
You will need a sharp stick and a spray bottle with 1/4 cup ammonia to a about a quart of water. You can make this stronger if you need to, or just use ammonia based window cleaner spray.
Check.
The first trip will be early after dark. look for a slug, and scrap it into an open area and pin it to the ground with the stick. Stab it good honey, don't hold back, it ruins your lettuce and strawberries, right.
Leave it there. Come back in a few hours. If you have a bad slug problem there will be a slew of 'em sliming over the dead one. They are cannibals or at least scavangers. Now that you've got a bunch in one place, spray 'em with the ammonia mix. Oh, if you just can't watch, walk away.
You can also lay out day time refuges for them, pieces of terra cotta pots or flat rocks or something of the sort. Go out at your daytime leisure and spray the slime balls in their hiding places.
The ammonia is not going to damage your plants or soil like salt will, but I wouldn't spray them directly.
There, I have given you my personal stratagyin the war on slime.
Best of luck to you. As you can tell, I take my lettuce personally.

Answer 5

Cut the bottom of an old lemonade bottle and pour some beer in it - the slugs are attracted to it's smell and fall in and drown!

You can do the same for ants in the pots by using Coke or Pepsi (not the sugar free ones)

OR you can pour some salt around the bottom of the outside of the pot - the slugs will fizz and dissolve

Answer 6

USE SOME COPPER PIPING or something made from copper - the slugs hate it - to them its like having a metal or tin foil on a tooth filling uhhaarrgghhh a copper wire or strip placed in a circle around the area is said to deter by creating a micro-current as the slug touches it. Strips around pots could also be decorative. A self-adhesive copper tape is available in some garden centres or online

Answer 7

Agree, slugs are a nightmare. Try beer traps to attract them away and perhaps companion planting - strong scented things like spring onions and chives help mask the scent of the yummy strawberries and may help to keep them off. I'm not making any guarantees that your strawberries won't smell of onions though!

Frogs and hedgehogs love to eat slugs, so do what you can to encourage them into your garden - places to hide and things to eat.

Really dedicated gardeners go out at dusk and pick slugs off plants and send them to meet their maker with a salt bath.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

whatever u do dont use pellets we found a hedgehog last summer which had been poisoned by eating slugs which had fed on them. try moving pots onto a hard surface like patio or yard away from the lawn and put something over them like a fine netting you could try a ring of salt around the pots the crafty buggers wont like that

Answer 10

go to a store that sells bulk kitchen supplies like comercial spices you need a large container of cayenne pepper and the same size of plain cheap fresh black pepper, mix them together and sprinkle around the garden close to the plants you want to keep, your slugs and all other nuisance critters will be gone fore the entire season, try it gaurentteed results.