Slugs...aaargh

Biggles

Nematodes work a treat. I used them when I was growing peas and never saw a slug in that area. The previous year I hardly saw a pea!

They aren't cheap - but they're the most effective. Google for them, you can order them online or from most garden centres.

Lotus-eater

idlikemymoneybackplease wrote: »

Thanks annie sorry. can any mods please move this thread

I hope not, that thread was last year and thinking always moves on.

There are a new type of slug pellet on the market called "Advanced slug pellets"
http://www.organicplants.co.uk/acatalog/Catalogue____Sundries_51.html
like this, the blue one half way down the page, they sound good, but I haven't tried them yet. Nor have I bought from this place, there may be cheaper prices, just shown for information.

Pieces of wood/half grapefruit/oranges/hollowed out potatoes do work well, but you have to check them all the time.
Beer traps work ok, but you must set the top of the trap a centimetre above the top of the soil to stop beneficial beetles falling in. Also last year I have seen large slugs go in and out of a beer trap no problem !

The best way I have found is to use a torch and spend half an hour , (twice if you can) a night, however being realistic most people don't want/ can't do that, so I find a combination of everything will work best. The torch solution works best in the damp and wet, just when you don't feel like going outside

Never tried nematodes, but everyone seems to like them, they are not cheap, but thats individual choice. Myself, I plant a few extra and expect to lose a few, still gets very annoying though when I lose my best lettuce/cabbage plant


Oh yes, I would have advised oats or bran as an excellent slug/snail attractors and killers, but they also attract rats and mice, so be careful. If you put them out on a saucer and check them just after it gets dark, kill all the S&S's and then bring them in, it would be ok, but I wouldn't leave them overnight.
Cat food is a great attractant as well (although I don't think it kills them) they know magically where it is and will travel vast distances to get to it, but its even worse for attracting animals you don't want than bran.

edit. I use scissors to cut them in half when I use a torch....... now........ dead and dying S&S's apparently attract others as I think they eat them, so if its better to leave them around the plants so they get eaten instead of the plants, or if its better to flick them onto the lawn so the others get attracted away from the food crops is a interesting argument. I may experiment this year.

V_Chic_Chick

Another vote here for those advanced slug pellets - they work a treat, and the slugs stop eating immediately, and then crawl underground and die, which is perfect for me because I have a complete phobia of them and in the past I haven't been able to go near plants which have dead slugs nearby

Jack's_mummy

Yep I use the advanced pellets too - very very effective

alanobrien

Emery cloth or similar abrasive around the base or top of a pot also works well.

JWF

Lotus-eater wrote: »

edit. I use scissors to cut them in half when I use a torch

This post immediately reminded me of a spoof advert in Viz comic which was for 'Slug Nails' which guaranteed a slug free garden. I am sure they also advertised 'Worm Scissors' for dealing with problematic worms too! :rotfl:

On a more serious note, one of the problems is that if you want to minimise water loss you can use a mulch, providing slimy things lots of nice hotels to stay in when they take a break from eating your plants!

realtime16

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I use scissors to cut them in half when I use a torch....... now........ dead and dying S&S's apparently attract others as I think they eat them.

It does! Birds and hedgehogs will eat them up.

Also i've heard that some frogs will eat small slugs upto 8cm long. Start collecting some frog spawn

Thanks for the thread!

stmidwife

I used the advanced slug pellets last year and they made no difference - lost all of my sunflowers, much to my son's disgust!

Maybe we just have really hard slugs around these parts! LOL!

thehappygardener

Ive tried just about everything..slug stopper, yeast or mild traps (like beer ones) egg shells, gravel,
the copper tape can be expensive does anyone know if stripped wire does the job?
i tend to use up turned orange/grapefruit skin (cut fruit in half...eat contents...put face down on soil)...collect early evening/next morning and throw them in the bin.

DKLS

Nematodes all the way, natures own fight back against slugs