All my seedlings eaten at the allotment.

Lotus-eater

stilernin wrote: »

I remember an old boy at the allotment who used to go around his plot with a pair of scissors ... instant gratification isn't something new!

I do that!

I do that every wet night.

In fact I do that every night, I don't have an allotment, where I'm sure things are different, but in my back garden, I do it every night, without fail.

Because if I did fail to do it,.....I would have no crops.

Emma_whitnash

delerium wrote: »

beer beer beer and more beer.....then feed the blighters to the birds :beer:

Yep, beer (or cider) is the best bait. Works a treat, zaps loads of the blighters.

bottlehalffull

Slugs ate everything nearly on the allotment we had last year.

Nemotode slug stuff is supposed to be good though - am trying it at home this year (Which reminds me I have to go and read the instructions)

It frustrated the heck out of my OH who felt we were fighting a losing battle - but they didn't eat quite everything ... just every bit of lettuce I put in. Whether seed or plants, they stuffed themselves silly. Slug pellets didn't seem effective either. Beer traps caught a few.

[Deleted User]

I know it's HORRIBLE when the little so and so's munch their way through precious crops.

If you feel inclined to try again - I'd recommend a mix of using something they don't like to crawl over, regular weeding (so you don't provide an unintentional "bridge" over that), and nematodes (our neighbour uses them on his allotment and says they're brilliant - yes, they can look expensive, but he reckons they've saved him ££££s in lost crops).

Things they don't like to crawl across = anything sharp or gritty (e.g. sharp grit; coffee grounds; crushed shells - if you live near the coast). I save all eggshells, rinse them out, dry them out (on a windowsill or in oven), crush and they make a fantastic gritty "mulch".

As you're growing in a field, you'll probably need to limit the nematodes to just the areas you're growing vulnerable plants in?

In your position, I'd do the following:

Mark out the area you want to grow vulnerable crops in.
Weed and clear.
Treat the area with nematodes.
Set up a line of defence/barrier around it - using something gritty (make it as wide as possible).
Then plant in that area.
Keep the area free of weeds, and regularly top up the barrier.

This should mean that any slugs/snails that hatch from eggs already in the ground will be killed, and any hatched elsewhere won't be able to get to your crops.


The other thing I would add is that if you have crops that are growing in the open, doing what you can to encourage birds will really help (I know that's difficult when you're in a field) even if it's just a bowl of clean water and somewhere to perch nearby. (And better still, just underneath the bowl will be a perfect place for slugs to hide, so you can despatch them). Since I've done this in my garden, I've hardly had any problems with slugs and snails (and have the joy of seeing lots of empty snail shells around).

Hope you try again.

GreenFly_2

I haven't anything else to add from the excellent advice given already except to have a word with your local pub landlord and ask him to keep the slops to put in your beer traps, its free!

Good Luck

[Deleted User]

I used to walk around at night with a torch and a bucket of salt water. I picked the blighters up and plopped them in

Primrose

I really feel for you. I've just had a whole row of sturdy little celeriac seedlings chomped to death, as well as all my parsley seedlings, and a dozen red lettuces. I've got a lot of 5 litre square mineral water bottles which have the bases cut off. I find them very effective as individual cloches forced into the soil with a stick poked through the opening to keep them anchored against the wind and they do protect against slugs and snails but unfortunately these will only protect a few plants. I don't know what the answer is. It's a continual battle and I find the best protection is often to wait until the seedlings are as large as possible before plant them out. Obviously if you sow straight into the ground, you can't protect them in this way.

izzwizz_2

Chickens are great for eating slugs and snails (trouble is they like seedlings too!).

bottlehalffull

I did the throwing them in a salt can - it made slug jam and eventually got thrown away.

I've heard mowing the lawn at night kills lots... but it's probably a bit mad to be doing that.

spend_thrift

Slugs and snails hate to crawl over copper. I've seen seedlings protected with copper pennies placed in a ring around their base and with copper pipe salvaged from a skip bent into a ring around the base of the plant. You can also buy copper tape especially designed to stick around the top of containers and raised beds that does the same thing.

Ducks eat slugs and snails (although I'm not sure how practical keeping them would be for you), and I second the suggestion that anything sharp and gritty or salty spread around the plants will irritate their feet.

Apparently coffee grounds are effective because they hate caffeine! If you have a cafe nearby you could get them to save their grounds for you (Starbucks give theirs away regularly), or get your co-workers to put their teabags and coffee grounds into a pot in the office kitchen for you.

I also second growing seedlings on in trays and planting them out later. If you grow more than you think you will need, if a slug chomps one of your planted seedlings you can replace it quickly with one from your tray. It might help you to feel you're not losing time every time they strike.

Oh, and planting in patches rather than rows is said to help because they're less likely to chomp all the plants at once as it isn't a case of chomping their way along a straight line of plants.

Good luck