Where do you buy nematodes?

browneyedbazzi

After fighting a losing battle with slugs and snails last year, I'm thinking about trying nematodes. I've never bought/used them before and was hoping for some suggestions for where to buy and also an idea of what's reasonable to pay?

Also, I'm not sure how much I would need to buy - do you treat the whole garden, including lawns, veg patch and borders or only the veg patch and borders? My garden is approximately 30m x 10m so treating all of it looks really expensive!


Any advice would be appreciated!

Davesnave

A few years ago, I used to buy nematodes for vine weevil. I believe at that time they were all produced in one place and then marketed by various intermediaries. Not surprisingly, the prices were much of a muchness. They worked as well as chemical controls on ornamentals.

That was fine for pots, but for a whole garden it would have been silly money.

Nowadays, if I was faced with a slug issue, which I'm not, I'd prefer to invest my money in physical ways of beating them, rather than in some microscopic versions of Alien. Then at least I'd have something to see, rather than an alleged million or two wiggly things that I could never do a head count on anyway! :rotfl:

browneyedbazzi

LOL Davesnave - nematodes do have a whiff of snake oil about them!

What other methods have you found to be effective?

Davesnave

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

LOL Davesnave - nematodes do have a whiff of snake oil about them!

What other methods have you found to be effective?

Not snake oil, because they worked, but they require more care in application than chemicals, needing no low temperatures and plenty of moisture. Also, they don't keep very long.

Nowadays, I don't grow large quantities of plants, so I just re-pot vulnerable varieties and squash the weevil larvae I find when I do that. A few ornamentals which are absolute magnets for weevil, like primulas, get Provado, but I don't like using/spending on that.

To keep nasties away from my crops, I use netting across the doors and vents on my tunnel and keep vulnerable things on a bench that can't be climbed by rodents. I do use a few slug pellets in there, as no thrushes or hedgehogs are present, but it is a very small amount.

What I mean about spending on physical defences is things like raised benches for salad crops. I've even seen hanging benches in polytunnels, which could be done out of doors under a pergola, or similar. I don't need them, but I'd soon make one if I did.

wellused

If you have a slug/snail problem it wouldn't hurt to keep the garden tidy so they can't hide and breed as they like, encourage birds, hedgehogs, frogs and toads and keep your eyes peeled for them and remove them to another location. Apart from all that I find chemicals work a treat.

Money_maker

I tried nematodes last year, think I got them from Amazon. They need to be kept in the fridge and have a use by date. Not sure they made much difference in my garden and they 'run out' after a while.

I use washed sand, eggshell and salt nowadays on slugs whilst the snails learn to fly. A tidy garden will deter them but also deter other beneficial wildlife like frogs, beetles and so forth. You really cant win!

teddysmum

wellused wrote: »

Apart from all that I find chemicals work a treat.

They could be deadly for wildlife (eg bird taking a slug) and for pets, so are not an option for many people.


At the end of last season I bought some copper strips from Aldi, to use on pots and look forward to trying them soon.


A media article on uses for coffee grounds suggested them as a barrier, because slugs don't like passing over the rough texture.(worth a try as they are free)

chocomonsta

I found Slug clear to be very effective.

I have previously used the nematodes too and it did work v well but the Slug Clear (liquid) from Amazon was even better.

• Slug Clear, Liquid concentrate, Makes 75 Litres it cost £8.50

wellused

I think that the prospect of wildlife consuming slugs which have been feeding on slug pellets is pretty remote as the chemicals act straight away and I doubt that birds would bother with anything that didn't look healthy.

modoos

I got them from amazon, best things ive bought, no slugs for 6 weeks and all organic.