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Slugs!!

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  • kiwimama
    kiwimama Posts: 369 Forumite
    Arrrrrrrrgh so many bloody slugs!!! They are really doing my head in, every day I pluck them off my pansies (in pots) but the next day there are more and fatter than before grrrr, now they have almost deheaded two tomato plants so no more growth there I assume and have devoured the bottom leaves of many bean plants but not the steam or tops so should be fine.

    My Mum says sprinkle salt but of course the rain is just washing it away.

    Might have to entice the little !!!!!!s with a brew (post above)!!!
  • keran77
    keran77 Posts: 443 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    jpno12 Those traps sound brilliant! I also like the garlic water idea thanks faerie-spangles I will have to give that a go in my growhouse.

    Today I got some copper barrier tape for slugs and snails http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/weedkillers+insecticides/gotcha-slug-and-snail-barrier-x4m/invt/0285381/ It's handy for plants in containers. I don't know how snails manage to get into my hanging baskets!!

    Good luck everyone!
    :A
  • Charlton_King
    Charlton_King Posts: 2,071 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Do not use slug pellets.

    As if the birds and hedgehogs didn't have enough trouble surviving in today's polluted and cat infested environment...
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Do not use slug pellets.

    As if the birds and hedgehogs didn't have enough trouble surviving in today's polluted and cat infested environment...

    Can you point me towards an independent study that shows a causal link between slug pellets and bird/hedgehog deaths? I've been looking about and I can't find much.

    It's worth mentioning that to behave logically, a person choosing not to use slug pellets would also only buy organically produced potatoes. Huge quantities of slug pellets are used in potato production.
  • A._Badger
    A._Badger Posts: 5,881 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Anybody using the phrase 'cat infested' is automatically close to my ignore list.

    For the record, I both use slug pellets and keep (healthy) chickens. There is no conflict and I have no intention of switching to fairy dust or distilled moonbeams instead.
  • marleyboy
    marleyboy Posts: 16,698 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 26 June 2012 at 1:08AM
    Just done my evening slug patrol. They crawl out from one side of the Garden hedge and the other side from under the decking. They almost march as an army, tonight I counted 84 of them....I HATE SLUGS.

    The pellets I use are bio degradable and harmless to pets and birds, but it doesn't seem very effective on the slugs. Particularly after watching them simply slide over the pellets and march towards my plants.

    I tend to go out now just after Midnight and salt the !!!!!!s, I did not at first realise that slugs were cannibals and are happy to eat their dead. For example tonight, in one particular spot where there are a few dead slugs, appeared a mountain of them, all clambering over one another to eat their dead friends, a nice coating of salt and this mountain of slugs will no doubt be tomorrow nights meal, meaning yet more salt resulting in an even bigger mountain.

    I am at a loss now on how to reduce these beasts, accepting I will never really eradicate them completely. At the near corner of my garden is the snail family, they appear in large groups and crawl up the wall, in bouts of 20 - 30, the floor of the wall is caked with dead snail shells of which I have lost count.

    It seems I have a large snail infestation on the one side, and a variety of black, orange, yellow and even white slugs infesting from the other.

    Just how can I rid such a large infestation? I am not exaggerating on the amount or the slug count (I had to count them to believe it for myself).

    I would have thought I had killed the majority by now, but NO they seem to intensify in numbers each night.
    :A:dance:1+1+1=1:dance::A
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  • faerie~spangles
    faerie~spangles Posts: 1,871 Forumite
    marleyboy wrote: »
    Just done my evening slug patrol. They crawl out from one side of the Garden hedge and the other side from under the decking. They almost march as an army, tonight I counted 84 of them....I HATE SLUGS.

    The pellets I use are bio degradable and harmless to pets and birds, but it doesn't seem very effective on the slugs. Particularly after watching them simply slide over the pellets and march towards my plants.

    I tend to go out now just after Midnight and salt the !!!!!!s, I did not at first realise that slugs were cannibals and are happy to eat their dead. For example tonight, in one particular spot where there are a few dead slugs, appeared a mountain of them, all clambering over one another to eat their dead friends, a nice coating of salt and this mountain of slugs will no doubt be tomorrow nights meal, meaning yet more salt resulting in an even bigger mountain.

    I am at a loss now on how to reduce these beasts, accepting I will never really eradicate them completely. At the near corner of my garden is the snail family, they appear in large groups and crawl up the wall, in bouts of 20 - 30, the floor of the wall is caked with dead snail shells of which I have lost count.

    It seems I have a large snail infestation on the one side, and a variety of black, orange, yellow and even white slugs infesting from the other.

    Just how can I rid such a large infestation? I am not exaggerating on the amount or the slug count (I had to count them to believe it for myself).

    I would have thought I had killed the majority by now, but NO they seem to intensify in numbers each night.

    Try my garlic concoction.

    Although I do worry that killing/poisoning one pest in the garden has a knock on effect.
    I'm not that way reclined

    Jewelry? Seriously? Sheldon you are the most shallow, self-centered person I have ever met. Do you really think that another transparently-manipu... OH, IT'S A TIARA! A tiara; I have a tiara! Put it on me! Put it on me! Put it on me! Put it on me! Put it on me! Put it on me! Put it on me!
  • hali000
    hali000 Posts: 85 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Hi there,

    If you want to get rid of the slugs, try using slug nematodes which stops the slugs feeding on your plants and then gets rid of them.

    You can prevent slugs by using Copper Snail and Slug tape. It stops slugs with a self-adhesive copper tape. It can be used to protect pots and edges such as your fence.

    For full instructions on how it works, see the website below

    http://www.gardening-naturally.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2egardening-naturally%2eco%2euk%2f&WD=slugs&PN=Copper_Snail_Slug_Tape%2ehtml%23aCS002#aCS002
  • cheeswright
    cheeswright Posts: 433 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    ok...i'm confused
    here - and other places - I keep seeing people saying they put salt on the ground to kill slugs - but this will kill the plants... -
    infact its an excellent long term weedkiller..........

    so if your going to do this - put it on your paths...and hope the slugs cross it

    but dont put it around your plants - your doing more long term damage than the slugs could dream about- even in a british summer.....(sigh)
    Fight Back - Be Happy
  • LincolnshireYokel
    LincolnshireYokel Posts: 764 Forumite
    edited 27 June 2012 at 6:57PM
    Davesnave wrote: »
    Can you point me towards an independent study that shows a causal link between slug pellets and bird/hedgehog deaths? I've been looking about and I can't find much..


    Try ringing a Hedgehog Hospital, they'll put you straight.

    Metaldehyde is poisonous to slugs and hedgehogs. Hedgehogs eat slugs that have eaten slug pellets. After about 200 slugs, the hedgehog has enough metaldehyde to kill it, very slowly and painfully.

    Now there are people who will argue with that, but it may be better to err on the side of caution, wouldnt it ?
    **** I hereby relieve MSE of all legal responsibility for my post and assume personal responsible for all posts. If any Parking Pirates have a problem with my post then contact me for my solicitors address.*****
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