Slugs!!!! and other ugly bugs

Eliza252

ok, I should have posted this at the end of the 'My baby seedlings' thread but I decided I would unashamadly try and get it more attention!

I've run out of space to molly-coddle my seedlings in pots on the window ledge so the next lot are going to have to go out in to the big bad world of the allotment with no time to grow out of the rach of slugs.

I cant afford slug pellets and Its going to take me a while to save up for some nematoids (not the right spelling!) - any tips on how everyone esle keeps the bugs off their little darlings would be great!
It has to be very spend thrifty though! nb, its also an organic allotment!

I have been authoritatively informed that slugs dont like copper - but there is not much of that lying around at the mo! - also beer in little pots but I dont see how that will protect a whole row of sweetcorn seedlings

squeaky

If you've got any old electrical cables or leads about the place, these are filled with copper wire. It can be quite a chore to strip the plastic off but once done you can also unravel the strands to make your copper barrier a little bit wider.

Someone once said that beer pots need to be evry two feet along a row but I can't find an authority on that.

Galtizz

How to make a beer slug trap:

Take a pop bottle (any size)
Take the lid off
Cut off the top (where it starts to straighten out about 1" or 2" from the neck.
Push the bit you've just cut off back in upside down (so the neck is inside the bottle)
Staple this in place
Pour some beer in (about 1" or 2")
leave lying about the garden.

The slugs are attracted to the smell go in and then can't get out.

You can also get some plastic cups, put 1" or 2" of beer in the bottom and 'plant' them in the garden. Slugs slither along, fall in, get !!!!!! on the beer and can't get out. The problem with these is that you are more likely to step in the trap full of stale beer and dead slugs, yuk


I have read that you can also use bran flakes sprinkled around the bottom of the plants because they don't like to slither over them (I tried this once and they go all soggy and horrible when they get wet and don't work)

You can also use crushed up egg shells, cause they hurt their slimey bits. Haven't tried this, I'm saving shells up to try it, but not put seedlings out yet.

Oh, and copper wire, as you said, wrapped around the tops of plant pots, not sure how it would work on plants in the ground??

nb - better make it organic beer

spendaholic

Salt.

But I hate that as it's just as inhumane as hitting ants with boiling water. But then, I suppose drowning them in beer or giving them a slow death with some slug pellets is equally as bad.

EDIT: Sorry, that sounds quite pompous and like I'm having a go, but I'm not. If you don't mind killing slugs whichever way, salt is just as good as pellets but cheaper and more readily available. I just prefer to companion garden where I can myself. END EDIT.

Our old house was slug city so we put in some nice, tasty, fleshy plants to keep them occupied. Didn't cure the problem 100% but it certainly cut it down. We used to put squirrel food out to keep the squirrels off the bird food too, and that also worked to an extent.

So long as there's a barrier between your plants and the slugs they'll fare better, or you could lift them onto windowsills, although slugs are good climbers.

There are 2 other things that Alan Titchmarsh suggests: find plants that slugs don't like; or move house!

Queenie

- encourage frogs and toads with a water feature (or, as in my case - they turned up lurking in an old pot that had filled up with rain water! I have a goodly supply of frogs in my little garden now).

- egg shells get sprinkled on my hosta's pot (because slugs/snails lurve those but not egg shell as Galtizz says)

- the beer *does* work! But, it's the emptying afterwards that makes me heave and I can't compost them

- if you're in an allotment, chances are the other allotment holders use regular slug control so you may want to have a word with them?

Chipps

The broken eggshells are good, also I feel its a good way of recycling and adding nutrients to the soil.
Salt is only good if you actually see the offending slug. I don't think you can just leave heaps of salt around on spec, in the hopes that the slug will sit on it. If you do use salt, & are squeamish - sprinkle salt on & don't look afterwards. YUK!

culpepper

remember salt is poisonous to birds!!!
I wonder if strips of thickish foil cut with pinking shears would work?
It would need to be the type of foil you get in the tops of cans of coffee. You could make little collars for the plants out of it.Just thinking the spikes might deter them.

Loadsabob

I have loads of little slug collars made from plastic bottles. You cut through to give you a round tube, then down into one end, all the way around, about an inch, and bend back all the cut bits, to make a jagged collar. I have successfully used this to protect young plants. I managed to get lots of old plastic bottles donated to me.

As you've raised the seedlings inside, they're going to have a bit of strength by the time you put them outside, which can help, too. It's really the smallest of seedlings that are MOST vulnerable to slugs.

The top section of the plastic bottles can be useful, too, with a few air holes punched in, as a little cloche for small plants, too.

I didn't have much joy with copper wire. I trialled it - the sticky-back stuff, and the slugs I used didn't seem to like it. But when it was wrapped around the plant pots they seemed to get over their dislike of it!!

I tried slug stoppa granules - non-chemical, but work on the principle that slugs don't like crossing them because they are dehydrated, and slugs don't like that. Well, they didn't work for me, but at least you can then turn them into the soil for added texture.

My favourite and most reliable method is collecting them up by night, with aid of torch and boyfriend. I take them away to a hedgerow far enough that they won't "home". I can't bear to kill them, I just want them out of my way. Done regularly, this REALLY reduces the slug population in my garden. I also have frogs, so I hope they get a few, too!

Good luck!

BatCat

Hi,
The plastic bottle idea is a very good one. You can even go one step further and make mini cloches from them, just by taking the base off the bottle and then sticking the rest over your seedlings. It will protect them from nasty slugs and also keep the heat and moisture in.
Another thing I've heard of to keep slugs away is bran flakes. Just build up bran flakes around your seedlings and the slugs supposedly stay away (not that I've tried this, but I've read about it).
A word of advice on nematodes though. If your soil is heavy and clay based then nematodes are not a viable solution as they can't circulate as well through clay soil as they can through other types, so it's just money down the drain.
If you're companion planting then offer them some marigolds, the hover flies will love them while they have blooms and the slugs will strip them bare leaving your favourites alone.
Cheers,
BatCat

mah_jong

Sorry to say this ....BUT the only way to deal with slugs is to wallop them with the rake or hoe!!!

go out first thing with the garden implement and you will be shocked at the amount of them...... After the first few dozen you wont care!!

humane option ...... pick them up and put in a pail and drive to the hills and empty ( or throw over garden fence!!!!!).

Eliza252

Thanks for all the tips!
So am getting the impression that a barrier is the best option
- I see many evenings sat around with plastic bottles and scissors!
Picking them off is not really an option as allotment is miles away from where i live!
Was also thinking if they dont like scratchy things maybe I could bulk buy some oven scourers and then put strips around the seedlings - hmmm.................
plot..plot..