snails

Sian_the_Green

Living in a rented house for the year I have been growing everything in pots and had recently moved some herbs, radishes and tomato plants outside and was gutted when they were obliterated by the slugs and snails, some I couldn't even recognise as the original plants! I bought an organic barrier gel from tesco and put that around everything. I thought all was well until this morning I looked and there was even more damage. I was confused until I realised that putting a barrier around something you need to make sure you are shutting things out not in... ... oops. Today I found all the little blighters hiding under, in, around.... I took great pleasure removing them and there is now a line all around my pots again of barrier gel and salt for good measure

Now I just need to work out if I can bring myself to eat things which have had slug slime on...

Davesnave

weezie wrote: »

Although I've used slug pellets in the past, I stopped using them because they kill the birds ...that eat the slugs (typical of the feedback we humans impose on the environment when we interfere... Something works short term but ends up killing of the natural preditor of the original problem).

Sorry to get stroppy, but I'm getting a bit fed up with people who come on this forum and state that slug pellets kill birds as if it were a proven fact. There is very little independent evidence that I'm aware of to support this claim. If you have any, post it.

Pardon the pun, but ironically, ferrous-based pellets, which someone else was recommending, have been shown to have some harmful effects on earthworms. Methiocarb has also been proven to affect some beetles when applied in winter too, but that was on an agricultural scale trial, not in a garden.

About the only animals which might be harmed by the blue pellets are frogs, which are sensitive to copper, including the compound which makes these pellets blue. It would certainly be worth someone doing more research on that. Meanwhile, I can only offer anecdotal 'evidence' that in my garden, slug pelleted carefully for 20 years, we have just had one of the most successful frog/toad/newt spawning seasons ever, with literally thousands surviving to exit the pond. Regrettably, most will not survive a fortnight, but it will be the birds (and two cats with French appetites!) which polish them off.

I've said before that we have very few small slugs here, and I believe that's down to the large frog/toad population and the cover they have. I use slug pellets almost exclusively to control snails and the larger slugs, which no frog is going to ingest. This gives the lie to those 'green' Interweb sites that tell you to 'use an army of frogs to solve the problem of slugs & snails.' Certainly, the frogs help, but ultimately, overstating their abilities harms the credibility of the environmentally-friendly approach which these organisations wish to foster.

I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't use environmentally-friendly methods to control pests, but I feel that it is madness to allow food crops to be spoiled and go to waste simply because of hearsay and anecdotal 'evidence.' In my opinion, over-tidy, concreted, decked and generally 'prissy' town gardens probably do more harm to wildlife than anything else, but it isn't so easy to attack those.

I will now turn the computer off, go down the garden and hide from the eco-warrior backlash!

Lotus-eater

http://www.cat.org.uk/ihateslugs/slugpellets.tmpl

As in alot of things, its isn't at all clear. What is clear is that they can hurt animals.



This says basically the same as you, although does point out that the new type pellets are better if you want to be sure not to hurt wildlife.
http://gardenfine.com/28/controlling-slugs-and-snails/

I can't find any evidence to support ferrous pellets hurting earthworms.

I think we will agree the best way to do it is by beer traps and a torch. Fall back on pellets if you need it, not as a matter of course.

Davesnave

I can't find any evidence to support ferrous pellets hurting earthworms.

Me neither! I read some erudite paper in which this was discussed, but it has disappeared into the ether, so I'd better retract that. My feelings about evidence should apply to me too.

Sailor_Sam

I picked off snails and squashed them last week, the following day my 6yr old niece came around and told me off. she said she likes them, and wanted to keep them as pets.

bella165

red40 wrote: »

Copper band lynsey works every time, copper reacts with the ground/soil to produce a small electrical charge which prevents them eating the plants.

yes but you need to get it correct ,you need any wire and place 2 strands a cm apart stick to the pot/door ect with a bit of mastick,when the snail touces both wires it get a current run through and drops off works every time and the snail lives to tell the tale

wayne1983

we use pellets, there good. but if i see any i just crush it. Like when it rains you see loads on the path and either stand on them or if theres loads and i dont want to get messy shoes i use a brick on them.:D. Hate them though as they eat our strawberries:mad:

Georgiabay

I'm so glad I've seen this thread as I've been racking my brains trying to remember what the concoction was that the hosta lady makes.

For anyone wanting to try used coffee grounds round their plants, I believe Starbucks still give it away.

mumof2nanof2

Apparently if you put slugs in the bathroom they eat the mould. Also if you burn scrambled eggs or the like, then put the saucepan in the garden and overnight they clean the pan for you. I kid you not. I saw it on a web site today called 'Self sufficientish'. So they can do some good.

jaquivander

thought I had a really great idea, offered the neighbours' kids 2p for every snail/ slug they harvested...cost me £8 + and then I saw one of them sneaking into next door's garden to boost his earnings !! did lower the population though (slugs not kids!)