The Myth That Eggshells, Wool, Ashes & Brambles Stops or Deters Slugs Continues. Here’s The Evidence It Is A Myth. See Slugs Climb Over Razor Blades In This Post.
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All year I read posts with unproven gardening claims, some heard on TV, some from books and magazines and some from other gardeners. They’d make me smile if it weren’t so sad that some gardeners believe the unproven. Here’s one about Slug Myths, and my proof it isn’t true.
Snail and Slug Myths
Of course it is understandable that people believe what the hear from many sources. As Joseph Geobbels said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.“
When experienced gardeners point out that there is no evidence for some of these myths they frequently get the “It works for me” reply. In the case of slugs this means that someone has used eggshells and not had a slug problem. It’s excellent that they’ve not experienced a problem with slugs, I’m delighted for them, but it doesn’t prove it was down to the eggshells, or whatever else they now swear by.
Don’tcorrelate the result with causation. It’s like saying every time it rains people use umbrellas, if they didn’t use brollies it wouldn’t rain! Or that the faster that windmills rotate, the windier it is and that proves that wind is caused by windmills. (Are windmills really there to produce wind?)
How Eggshells, Brambles, Ashes and Wool Allegedly Work
Myth believers explain these products work because slugs and snails don’t like the sharp edges or that the products dry out the slime and cause the slug or snail problems.
The scientific evidence is dismissed. The evidence that the slime protects the slugs and snails from sharp edges and drying out. Slime actually consists of 98% water and 2% sugars and protein that form a mobile but impenetrable shield for these molluscs. It’s an incredible shield that evolved over millenia and made slugs and snails extremely successful .. and that’s why they are such a problem to us!
The Video Evidence: Slugs Crawling Over Razor Blades & Scalpels
At this point some readers will be interested enough to look at the evidence. Others will not bother because they know their method is 100% perfect and has always worked for them. :-)
So here are two videos for those with open minds. They both shows slugs climbing over sharp edges. In one video it’s a slug climbing over a razor blade. In the other the slug first goes over the scalpel, then it moves along the sharp edge of a scalpel.
If slugs can do this without being cut to ribbons is it likely that a few eggshells is going to be too sharp to deter them?
Is it time to consider the fact that slugs and snails aren’t worried by the sharp substances that are often claimed to prevent them attacking our plants.
There’s no way round it, the concientious roganic gardener who will not use pellets has to provide am emmigration service for slugs and snails. Using a lidded container collect any slugs or snails on your plot and then take them at least 400m away and then liberate them. I am told that they have a pretty good homing instinct so not advisable to throw them over the garden wall!
Slug war is now such a quandary…..save the wild life by not using pellets, let wild life feed on them….dont feed them to the wild life because they have bacteria/parasites that kill the wildlife. I was transporting my several large hauls to the local pond to feed the Canada geese naturally….am I now killing the Canada geese? Canada geese are a nightmare…much pooing, aggressive food begging/ theft. Can I persuade the even more agressive herring gulls to consume slugs?
There’s no way round it, the concientious roganic gardener who will not use pellets has to provide am emmigration service for slugs and snails. Using a lidded container collect any slugs or snails on your plot and then take them at least 400m away and then liberate them. I am told that they have a pretty good homing instinct so not advisable to throw them over the garden wall!
Slug war is now such a quandary…..save the wild life by not using pellets, let wild life feed on them….dont feed them to the wild life because they have bacteria/parasites that kill the wildlife. I was transporting my several large hauls to the local pond to feed the Canada geese naturally….am I now killing the Canada geese? Canada geese are a nightmare…much pooing, aggressive food begging/ theft.
Can I persuade the even more agressive herring gulls to consume slugs?