Ah, well. I searched for copper but didn't have any matching titles here. I'm interested in no-effort solutions because my mom is too busy to tend to her garden, otherwise she would do it herself already. She tried coffee and crushed eggshells. It didn't work but I'm not sure if it's because she did it once and didn't follow up. She also used the beers sometimes, then forgot about it. She's just busy. So the solutions that would require her to reapply it is out of the question because the slugs and snails will just bounce back when she stops. I'd like to set up the copper (if not wire, mesh?) all around her garden, and take care of the predators myself inside the garden with baits, etc a few times until they're gone, then let it be. But my mom won't go for it if it isn't effective even if I offer to buy it myself. She's grown suspicious of the claims by companies about the insects. Such like that sonic wave machine that supposedly drive the spiders and/or mosquitoes away by creating sound frequency they don't like. She got it and it didn't work. I'll continue to research it when I have time. EDIT: I heard copper will repel snails, is this true? I was a little disappointed to learn that the banana slugs weren't repelled by her copper. I'm not sure if it's because her copper is too small or poorly designed. We have numerous banana slugs around here, and they're main problem for my mom's garden. Slugs are huge here. This post was edited by Aindra on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 14:14

I would use something wider than copper wire...tubing or wide strips would be best... They would need to come in direct contact with it...so keep it a little above the mulch line. Also, it works best if clean, so as it tarnishes, you might want to take a bit of sandpaper to it every now and then...

Copper is toxic to many invertebrates.In reef aquariums, it is something we avoid,b/c it hurts corals and other life.It is also a good treatment for disease in fish.With snails and slugs,it is best to place the copper tape or even some pennies around the outside of the pot,but attatched tot he post.This stops the critters from crawling up the pot and eliminates any concern of contricting or harming the trunk of the tree.Pennies or tape can be places in the pot in a circle aroung the trunk,but not on it,so they would have to cross the copper,before gettting to the trunk.The copper is like an electric fence to the slugs and snails,it reacts with their mucus and ''shocks them''.The problem with the beer and other attempts at bait is that if the snails or slugs bypass the traps,they still get to the tree,they wil not cross properly placed copper.

QUOTE: In addition, snails have great homing instincts, so if you fire them over the fence into your neighbour's yard, they will find their way back. That's cetainly reassuring. My thoughts on the matter: It's a good thing in historical times they did not use "carrier snails" to bring the news from the frontlines to headquarters. "Send reinforcements." ______________________________________________ QUOTE (AlmostHooked) Just a thought as you can purchase a 250 fot coil of it for around $50 and there is 3 wires in each foot, Has anyone tried this or is it hogwash? My thoughts on the matter: I'd think it nice to hire old gray-haired hippies to braid you a copper bracelet to go around the neck of all your pots, and have a couple of arm and leg bracelets made for you and Myrle to ward off arthritis. Copper is such a grand cure-all....so why not prevent slugs........and you'd be giving an old-timer some honest work. That said, I saw that Pieterje's pots had them around the necks, and saw how some really large snails (in pictures from Europe) had GIGANTIC snails stopped by copper PIPE, and so I caved and bought some of that sticky-back copper tape for my ceramic hosta pots. And some others too. Did it work, you ask? Well, who knows..it looks pretty....makes me feel like I'm really gardening now, ya know......and let's face it, we had slugs raining down on us with lots of rainy soggy weather, and they were everywhere. So I was fighting the war on too many fronts last year to know what one thing actually HELPED. The thing I believe helped the most was learning to NOT PUT THE BAIT IN THE POT WITH THE HOSTA. Duhhhh, I mean, what if it kills a slug intent on eating a WEED not a HOSTA....I mean, is there an issue of killing a GOOD slug moral issue to be resolved? You know how they say life forms have sensitivities and sensabilities, and after all a slug IS a "life form"........but I haven't removed the tape, I like it. So what if bait scattered in the moist areas and NOT in the pots is what reduced the slug problem. I'd use both option A. Copper Tape and B. Bait .....regardless.