Bran to kill slugs?? (In this months mag)

[blue411]

If its good enough for gardeners world........
Put some on today, i'll see what happens tomorrow morning!!

[Comfreyfan]

According to the mag, slugs love bran, but it kills them by swelling up inside them - sounds fairly disgusting. The only worry they had was that after rain the bran would swell up and sit against the plant stems - so advised covering the soil up to but not against the plants.

[CarolineW]

Lucky You!

*wonders if oat so simple will work* got given about 300 free sample packs in the cupboard, and they all need to be eaten by october.

Lucky you, Lynda66! I love oat so simple. I'm planning to pick up a sack of bran next time we go to the farm shop for hay / rabbit food. Can't hurt to give it a try!

Meanwhile, I've been getting pretty good results with coffee grounds. We got friendly with a local coffee shop, and pick up a bag of grounds at the end of the day every couple of weeks. It made the difference between no crop (plants eaten as soon as they emerged / were planted) and a pretty decent, if slightly nibbled, crop.

[Nelly]

Wheatgerm substitute

I had a bag of out-of-date wheatgerm in the cupboard and decided to try it as a bran substitute around my new mispoona seedlings. This backfired quite dramatically because my neighbours' labradors (we share a patio area) went completely beserk over the stuff and scoffed most of the seedlings in an attempt to devour the wheatgerm, while also trampling all the neighbouring salad greens. What was left of the wheatgerm went really mouldy. On the one hand I don't think there was any slug damage. On the other, I don't think slugs stand a chance when competing against an enthusiastic labrador-cum-plant-hoover. I removed the last traces of wheatgerm (though the worms seemed to be getting quite excited about it) in order to save the remaining salad from labrador feet. The mispoona seedlings have since been utterly devoured by slugs. Ah well. Without rogue labradors, who knows?

[djhs196]

A quick update - I've had bran round the base of various climbing french beans, borlotti beans since the 12th July - and it's worked very well as a slug distraction.

I can't admit to "leaving the slugs be" on the assumption that the bran would kill them as these plants are just out the back of the kitchen and benefit from nightly checks. But each night I popped out I'd find all the slugs munching away at the bran, rather than plants and I'd dispose of them then. I've not had to reapply the bran as yet.

As a distraction for the slugs I'd give the bran 10/10. Not brave enough however it assume that it'll kill them if I left it to "get on with it"; I'd struggle to leave a slug munching just inches near the young bean plants once I've seen it!!

[Tori]

Just come in from my nightly slug hunt. Yuk. Will definately try the bran - I might put a layer of it down away from the plants see if they will go for it instead of the pumpkins, cucumbers, lettuce, corguettes, . . . . .

[smurfberry]

oatbran slug killer test: part 1.

Oat bran update: bought some oat bran yesterday and sprinkled some on a paving slab in the garden - checked back after midnight with a torch and there were several feasting on it - so it definately attracts them. Woke up late this morning and it was raining heavily so all the oat bran had dissaapeared and so had the slugs! Don't know if the oat bran killed them and the birds ate them earlier or if they crawled away to die? Will try again tonight if it's dry...

[zazen999]

I tried this a few years back and we were astounded by the amount of pigeons that it attracted. Not sure if it was the slugs or the bran; but the pigeons trampled over all the plants we were trying to save.

Not used it since.

[yoanbob]

hum, my worry around here would be mice and rats.

[smurfberry]

I tried this a few years back and we were astounded by the amount of pigeons that it attracted. Not sure if it was the slugs or the bran; but the pigeons trampled over all the plants we were trying to save.

Not used it since.

Yes, I was concerned about birds, squirrrels, cats, dogs etc damaging the plants so that's why I put it on a paving slab rather than around the plants (it's a shared back garden). Put more out tonight and there was a slug eating it within 5 minutes! So at least it hopefully distracts them from the plants? Even found a slug in the kitchen today!