Feel like giving up - a moan

ukjoel

We tried nematodes this year and they definitely made a difference.

I think the other thing we tried which worked well was putting things out in stages maybe a week apart and really slugproofing them for the first few nights.

Plastic milk bottles with bottoms cut off, anything copper we could find and paying the kids a penny a slug also helped.

Once the veg was in for a couple of slug free weeks it was much better able to handle the odd nibble.

If you put it all out in one go then your spread to thin on protecting it.

silverwhistle

Ectophile wrote: »

The only thing I've found that will definitely keep cats out is a good wire mesh cage around the whole bed or container. It will keep the birds out too.

Bird netting will deter cats, but only if it's tight enough. If it's floppy, the cats will squash it, then start digging through the net.

Other ideas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbkLjjlMV8

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-B978D8D7-24B450EA/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=3497&ar=1

Pixiechic

My strawberry plants and radishes got eaten by slugs even with cloche protection.

My courgettes, french beans, pumpkins and sweetcorn are either struggling with the hard clay soil or being devoured by slugs

Using the amount of nematodes I need or growing in pots means it would be cheaper to buy organic locally.

All is not lost though, my chilli plant is producing loads and my Tom plants, peppers, lettuces, chard are all doing well.............so far.

Cliecost

Get this cat repeler http://goo.gl/fD8jQ when I moved in the garden was full of cat 5hit and constant visits from cats. When I put this in the cats were gone almost instantly. It was fun watching ones who tried their luck though

Leif

silverwhistle wrote: »

Other ideas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbkLjjlMV8

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-B978D8D7-24B450EA/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=3497&ar=1

Pay the kins a penny for each sodden cat skin they bring back. I have damned cat poo in my garden, loads of it.

Leif

Cliecost wrote: »

Get this cat repeler http://goo.gl/fD8jQ when I moved in the garden was full of cat 5hit and constant visits from cats. When I put this in the cats were gone almost instantly. It was fun watching ones who tried their luck though

I used a similar device. It seemed to work. But they do not have a wide beam, so I will need several, probably 4 if I wanted to exclude feline vermin.

Leif

Pixiechic wrote: »

All is not lost though, my chilli plant is producing loads and my Tom plants, peppers, lettuces, chard are all doing well.............so far.

You are lucky, chillis are sensitive creatures. Which species/variety? Chard is indestructible, even slugs do not eat it (usually).

demystified

The beans and the beetroot are suffering in the winds here too.

Always sow more you than need and only thin out when they absolutely need the space, not before.

Slug populations always explode in warm wet weather, forward planning is important and trying not to sound rude, but have you ever heard of slug pellets?

I'm all for organic gardening and supporting nature but sometimes you simply have to put your principles aside and nuke the b@stards from orbit.

A._Badger

I doubt anyone has escaped the weather this year (and the pests it brings). My damned chickens somehow got under the netting and made a wallow on newly germinated peas, slugs got at the lettuce, birds almost destroyed a row of spring onions...Peas grown in pots were so unproductive they weren't worth the effort. This past weekend my potatoes were flattened by the wind.

But there is always a bright side. My roses have never looked better - Rambling Rector has just exploded into flower (three weeks late - damn that 'global warming'!) Zepherine Drouhin has produced her best flowers ever and both Gertrude Jekyll and Graham Thomas are apparently trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records!

The one thing it reminds me is just how misleading are all these fluffy BBC TV programmes and newspaper articles trying to tell people how 'easy' gardening is and how people can feed their families and save a fortune with ease.

It isn't easy. It's damned difficult. It is also unbelievably rewarding when it works. A real gardener never gives up. He (or she) doesn't know how to.

Pixiechic

Leif wrote: »

You are lucky, chillis are sensitive creatures. Which species/variety? Chard is indestructible, even slugs do not eat it (usually).

I repotted my chilli plant and didnt keep the label in the pot, I'll have a look for it!

When they started growing I wondered on the strength so had a little nibble off the end of one and it was very mild. So I had another nibble which included the seed and it nearly blew my head off

I'm not sure that I like the chard much either

The wind yesterday has blown my best and biggest tomato plant about, sigh.