Losing battle....

[w33blegurl]

So, I've had my plot 5 years now and you'd have though I'd feel like it was a bit more under control but every year I seem to hit a wall of panic...today I got there!! Went to the plot and the slugs have decimated loads of stuff!! In a week. With pellets down!!! A butternut squash plant has vanished completely! I have no spinach, spring onions, swede, carrots or parsnips any more - anything that was seedling size has been eaten. My potatoes are not looking great (several have had all the leaves eaten)...the sunflowers are now just stalks....you get the picture. Don't even get me started on the bl**dy weeds... the couch grass bindweed and dandelions are everywhere...mainly in the paths which I now need to think about totally redoing but have no idea whether to go bare earth (which invites weeds) or bark (which also seems to invite weeds) or maybe grass which I'll never find the time to cut!! None of this is helped by the fact that the plots on either side are beautiful!! And also look untouched by slugs.... I really don't need a beautiful plot (tho it would be nice!) but just under control would be great....

OK...now I've got it all out, I'll take a deep breath and carry on (after a cuppa!)! As a side note, what do you all do with the weeds from your plot? It's costing me a fortune in garden waste bags at the moment as there is really nowhere else to put them. I've filled a load of rubble sacks and two black bins with weeds that I'm leaving to rot (mostly they are just growing in the bins/sacks...) and my compost heap needs a proper overhaul as the bindweed is growing up through all of it! I'm still at the stage of having lots of weeds to get rid of!!

Gripe over, back to work!

[WendyC]

I think the slugs and snails have been especially bad this week. It's been damp and warm enough for them to be on the move. It's a shame they aren't more partial to weeds as that would solve two problems.
Is there anyone who will give you a few hours so you can get on top of things? If not why not just cover unused sections then you will start killing the weeds and you won't have to look at them. I haven't looked but you will probably still be able to get replacement plants from the garden centre.
As for weeds I compost them all bar bindweed. If you existing heap is going to take time to sort out can you start a new one and come back to the other one when you've got time.

[lottie dolly]

Start a new compost bin,any bind weed ext that is not suitable for the heap,put it in a lidded container of water to rot down,then the juice can either go on the heap or liquid feed,there are some threads on here about the very subject,as for the other weeds and pest's,it is a bad year for everyone,due to the silly weather making great growing conditions for the blighter's,plus things are so behind the norm with growing,so welcome to the stress club

[Thelma Sanders]

We're all in the same club! Why don't the plants grow as quick as the weeds, then they'd stand a chance against the snugs.

It's hard to take when things take ages to grow big enough to plant only for the snugs to take them out overnight Grrrrr!

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Not planted a single thing out this year as yet, so all safe n secure in the poly!

But yeah! This next few days I am gunna have to take the plunge! At least today got one of the main beds ready!

Never sweated as much! :roll-eyes

Been a lovely day, but got a tad too warm in the sunshine for "Digging!" Later in the afternoon! But It's done!

And I compost everything! And yeah! The weeds are reeping revenge on me this year! But they won't win!

"Shower Time"

[mothhawk]

I would use bark chippings on your paths, as that should help control slugs.

I remember the Prince of Wales gardener at Highgrove saying that they grow a lot of hostas, and they seldom get eaten by slugs because they are mulched heavily with bark. The follow-on being, beetles love to live and shelter in bark and wood piles, and beetles eat slugs.

[purplekat]

I have a couple of big barrels on my plot, all weeds get to sunbathe for a few days on the path to wilt down, then get chucked in the barrels. Eventually they fill with rain and rot down into a stinky mess, tip over at the end of the year to transfer goodness to the soil and start again (I've not had my plot long enough to see if anything survives this process yet, I'm a little worried about horsetail)

I seem to be having success with these slug pellets https://www.amazon.co.uk/Growing-Suc.../dp/B007BN5Q4Y although it's been fairly dry this year.

[Kirk]

As you are in Kent and the weather is warm now how about trying nematoads to counter the slugs?
What are the people like at your site? Just ask in case the ones around you pick snails etc off and lob them in your direction. Could find people don't like them but don't want to kill them, so they get lobbed in what is the direction of your plot.

Weeds on paths cannot really help you with although the bark chips seems a reasonable option, especially as, if it suits you, any weeds can be done to death with a glyphosphate mix. Sometimes you need to resort to things just to get on top of it all, and maybe you are at that stage as many of the weeds, couch grass and bindweed, are simply not easy to remove by digging except over a number of years.

Problem with them that I see is that they may be dug over once but then are left to get on while the veg are being grown. So in the next year they are back with a vengence, and you are at square one again.

[Bill Door]

Ok as others have said I soak large weeds in a bin for a few months then add the "sludge" to the compost bin. I sometimes put docks and bind weed in bags and then put them in water after a couple of weeks.

I do try to hoe the ground well even when there are no weeds (usually between rows of shallots, onions and garlic). Hoeing seems like hard work but if done regularly it does get easier. Hoeing also helps to stop water evaporation from the soil. I have also planted courgettes and squash through black plastic sheets as this keeps the weeds down and helps keep the soil moist under the black plastic sheet. If you fold the plastic sheet into a flat bundle about two feet by two feet and then cut a hole through all the layers (in the middle ) you get the plants about two feet apart both ways. If you want a bigger spacing then fold the plastic sheet less, three folds instead of four.

As far as slugs and snails go I do like a plastic bottle, with two flip lids on the shoulder of the neck, filled with cheap beer or water with sugar and yeast and dug into the ground up to the shoulder. Slugs love the beer/sugary solution and soon fill the bottle. You can also put a cut through a plastic sheet for the squash and put a bottle with the beer in to catch more slugs.

As I was told at work "don't work harder, work smarter". If slugs are bad then instead of 10 lettuce plants put in 15 or even twenty. There might be a better survival rate with more at the beginning.

Good luck

Bill

[noviceveggrower]

Don't worry just go with the flow, that's what gardening is all about. My new plot is covered with bindweed as I stripped it last year when I got the plot. Think its going to be a case of digging it and getting as much out every time as possible. I had a pretty good idea this would happen but gardening is a journey not a short brisk walk.
I haven't seen many slugs this year. Usually they are crawling up next doors outside wall but haven't seen one at all.

[Containergardener]

Weve had little rain but even then loads get on our decking where im container growing, obviously living under it !
What happens when more rain descends..eek.
Had a downpour today and thunder but still hot.

[w33blegurl]

Thanks all for the wise words and encouragement! Yes I think bark may well be the way to go with the paths, just need to get some in now. The weeds in the path are all grown through the existing membrane so quickest fix maybe to lift and ditch the membrane put new stuff down and bark it!

Have just taken delivery of multiple tubes of slug pellets (wildlife friendly!!) and am going to try wool pellets as well to see if I can a least keep them a little at bay...fingers crossed!!

[sparrow100]

I use thick card under the chippings on my path. It does rot down, but so do the chippings and at the end of the year I can tip the rotted stuff onto my beds and start again. Weeds will get through membrane eventually, even horsetail.