Do egg shells keep slugs at bay?
We buy a lot of eggs in my household and they have to be at least free range if not organic. They can be quite pricey though and it seems wasteful to throw away the shells and the boxes. So I am on a mission to get the cheapest highest quality eggs I can find and not to throw anything away!To get the eggs for the cheapest possible prices, I have found that it is best to
- buy them in bulk (i.e. go for the 12-15 packs, they will last a couple of weeks even if you only normally get through 6-7 a week)
- shop around – the supermarket may not be the cheapest place to buy, have a look at local farm shops or farmers markets and you may even be able to negotiate a bulk buy discount.
I have been saving the eggs shells for the garden, as we are growing organic veg and I’m hoping they will deter slugs! Anyone had any experience of this working – I would love to hear your comments.
I planned to use the large egg boxes for planting seeds prior to planting out as seedlings in the garden, however we had so many pots left over from previous plants purchased that we didn’t need to. Instead we will using them for kids craft projects.
What do you do with egg shells and egg boxes? I would love to hear some more ideas for getting the most out of eggs.
to this blog on it! – Thanks!
I'm composting my egg boxes as it is good for the compost to have some paper in it. 🙂
I'll try that if I don't use them all – thanks for the tip!
You can use your egg boxes for cultivating seedlings and then place them directly into the soil and they disintegrate as the plant grows. Thanks for sharing this post with us on Seasonal Celebration Zoe- keep up the good work!
An update on the eggs shells, they seem to be doing the trick so far, but the raised beds are surrounded by stones and I think that may be helping, as I don't think egg shells work on their own.
We currently have a slug which I haven't seen yet, but keeps leaving slimy trails on my coir matting by my back door. I read somewhere that a slug can get over any surface it likes by producing extra slime. It does risk dehydration, but if the weather is fairly wet that isn't a problem. I'm bracing myself for a slug encounter one morning, as last year I found one on my hob!
Also I found this blog, where they put copper wire to the test as a slug deterrent and found that didn't work either! Really would like some more suggestions!
http://www.growingthingsandmakingthings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/copper-wire-as-slug-deterrent-test.html
Since writing my previous comment I have discovered once and for all that egg shells do not keep slugs at bay! The only thing that really works is going out at night and removing from your veg patch one by one, then pouring salt on them!
A low sided dish of beer. Bottom of a clay pot or disposable tin pie dish. You use it over and over and over so a little less wasteful. They love it, crawl in and don't leave. Black tarp on ground around garden. They love to hide under tarp so just pick up and collect. Careful with the salt. Too hard on the plants.
Thanks for the tips Amy!