slugs upping the ante

lobbyludd

.....and are now eating the nearly ready to harvest onion sets.

not just the leaves, but munching through the actual onions too.

how do I know this? because I've just picked some huge blighters off of them grazing away in broad (but very rainy) daylight.

I know I can't get away with such slug-tasty treats as leafy green veg or salad but I've always been safe with onions before.

not really after advice as I have tried one way or another ALL the slug control ideas. Just wanted to rant really. arrgghh!!

DavidMackie

I got rid of some caterpillars the other day with watered down coffee - the acidity gets them.

I wonder if theres a cheap non-toxic solution for you??

( apologies for thwarting your non-advice thread vent that slug!! )

lobbyludd

thanks, I really am fine with advice but I've tried beer traps, half a grapefruit, sacrificial planting, slug pellets, bran (all of them just increase the slug damage as thousands of the blighters slime in from other household's gardens, and my ninja slugs laugh heartily at crushed egg shells, cat litter, copper tape, growing in hanging baskets.

nematodes works as does hefty slug killing liquid, but the latter can't go on food plants and the former gets very expensive.

ho hum: makes me seem rather churlish when I try and explain the advanced state of slug evolution I'm dealing with.

coffee though I've not tried, so I'll definitely give it a go. In the meantime I have sliced and diced 20 of them today.

I've been fair, I've told them if I see them they're dead, and directed them to the nearby student abodes where they can munch through the garden without fear of being disturbed, but eating my onions is definitely crossing a line.

DavidMackie

hehehe, sounds like you have enough ammo to launch a sideline youtube career in slug decimation

Reading your post I was shocked that reasoning did not stem the rising tide, but perhaps even slugs know that student habitats can be a bit grimy

Cally_Smart

I am looking to adopt (or kidnap) a hedgehog. I've heard they can be a good ally in the slug wars! Im going to make a little hedgehog home at the back of my garden and patrol the road outside our house ready to save one from its inevitable demise....there was one flat on the road the other week... sadly too late for that one though !

Berni888

OP thanks for this thread and all your comments you made me laugh and despite your grievances with 'ninja slugs':rotfl:you have a way of writing that just 'speaks' to me. You could write a book in that frame and I'd buy it and laugh with tears. They may be winning the battle but here's to you being victorious in the war :T

lobbyludd

well the gloves are definitely off. I found 3 in the lounge this morning - which is often a feature of the eight winter months but they've not tried it in august before.

It seems that unlike spiders they won't come to an arrangement for co-existing. The spiders know if I see them in the house they die, and during waking hours carefully keep behind cupboards etc where we don't bother each other. Once I'm asleep they are free to scuttle about to their heart's content.
Apparently there's no reasoning with some species.

I can't adopt a lovely wee hedgepig, although I love the idea of you rescuing one as it prepares to toddle over a road (or duck or toad? all of which the cat would love to make friends with).

so full-out chemical war-fare it is - a double defensive ring of sluggo (or whatever the stuff i've got is called) around the veg and fruit, and one around the house boundary, my only worry is whether birds eating the corpses will be affected.

Next door spend every evening patrolling their garden with a torch, collecting the slugs, packaging them up in the garden waste bags and sending them off for composting, but that's not working either. Still gives us something to chat about.

can slugs swim? I'm thinking moats.

Elsewhere

Slug Fritters

http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/slug_fritters.htm

Slugs with tomato sauce

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/tomato-sauce-for-slugs-recipe

PZH

Elsewhere wrote: »

Slug Fritters

http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/slug_fritters.htm

Slugs with tomato sauce

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/tomato-sauce-for-slugs-recipe

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Emma_whitnash

So love this thread, it's brightened my day

Eenymeeny

Emma_whitnash wrote: »

So love this thread, it's brightened my day

Thanks, me too.:rotfl:
Sometimes it's hard to see the funny side isn't it? I was reduced to using a skewer to poke out slugs from an old stone wall..obsessive? nah....:)