Bloody slugs

elsien

This is by nature of a rant, more than anything.

I can't be doing with slug pellets etc so over the years have perfected the fine art of knowing which container plants the slugs in my garden turn their noses up at, and which need the copper tape.
So I trundle off on two weeks holiday, leaving my neighbour to monitor and water.

I return to the following munched casualties.
All the busy lizzies.
Verbena. They never touch verbena, until now.
Leeks
Cucumbers
Mange tout
parsley.

I is not happy.

creativemieu

This is supposed to be a bad year for slugs... a climate change thing. I bought some nemaslug which is dried nemotodes which you reconstitute in water. They eat the slugs and can be watered on to the soil. Despite the nemotodes,my first lot of runner beans are almost destroyed by slugs, so I have resorted to eco friendly slug pellets. Years ago I collected sea weed from the beach and surrounded the beans with that which did seem to protect them and I may have to do that again.

Eenymeeny

So sorry to hear of your slug invasion elsien, they really wind me up too. So much so, that I tore the leaves off a sieboldiana hosta last year because it looked so awful. (It's come back this year but looks like it's going to suffer the same fate )
If it's any help I've found that petroleum jelly slathered around the collars of containers seemed to work on hostas in tubs over the last couple of years.
Now why do I have to tempt fate by mentioning it?....

Ken68

Gooseberry bush prunings are useful, place them round the base of runners, marrows etc.

sewandsew

I also suffer greatly from slugs. and now this year. from large snails in shells. I bought that stuff that looks like cat litter(snail granules?) and made rings of it around my newly planted stuff and it seems to have worked so far. I dont know what it is made from, nothing on the box or online. It says pet and child safe.

Ken68

Dried egg shells are another way.

spadoosh

Dont ask how i know or where you can get it from but bong water. Like slug crack, they just cant help themselves and drown.

Davesnave

spadoosh wrote: »

Dont ask how i know or where you can get it from but bong water. Like slug crack, they just cant help themselves and drown.

I think you can get it from the Jolly Swagman, who camps by the billabong....

Oh, hang on, if I remember the song correctly, he did the same as the slugs!

moneyistooshorttomention

Well - I have just been told where local druggies/a dealer or two hang out round here during the past week....:cool: - thinking of that bong water.

You know you're getting to know an area when a local tells you that one:rotfl:. I thought some of the housing in that road looked more than a little "rough"....:cool:

Personally - I'm wondering how high slugs can easily climb. I expect the answer to that isnt the one I'd like to hear...:cool:.

I can only recall one climber slug and that was definitely not yer normal slug. I'd never seen anything like it before - it was absolutely enormous. As I recall - thick/basically brown and probably 6" or more in length (I wasnt going to get near enough to whip out a rule and measure it:eek:). Fortunately - it was climbing up a window - and I just grabbed something and flicked it off. Dont recall beyond that - but I probably threw salt all over it. Darn - knew there was something I forgot at the supermarket yesterday - cheapie packets of salt (slugs for the use of). It matched the description in the Press at the time of a new "brand" of slug that is/was trying to get into the country - so maybe that particular one was just an odd straggler that got imported somehow and didnt bring his mates with him.

bouicca21

Well one has just climbed one of my tall containers - so easily able to climb a metre.

I find a hoe through the middle works very well. As corporal Jones used to say, they don't like it up em.

kimplus8

My garden is covered in them, it's driving me crazy!!! Nematode and nemesis is not working this year at all except on the really baby ones, the big fat ones eat all the nice plants but leave the weeds!!! I wouldn't mind so much if they ate the weeds too but it seems the slugs in my garden prefer the posher plants!!! Fuss pots!