Newbie and messed up the application of slug pellets :(

[Kristen]

They wouldn't be able to sell them if they were harmful to humans at the very least without a big warning on them.

Two viewpoints get raised in that regard:

1. Plenty of times, over the last few decades, things have been sold & used and only later found to be harmful. That's not to say that there IS a risk, but more that a lot of people prefer to play-safe and not run the risk that things that are put on food are subsequently found to be carcinogenic. Every few years the government bans chemicals that have been in use for decades, when they have subsequently been found to be harmful - Thalidomide, Asbestos, DDT ... and only a month or two ago slug pellets containing Methiocarb were been banned by the EU - that's one of the two main chemicals which have been used in slug pellets (the other being Metaldehyde). You would almost certainly be ill, potentially fatally, if you ATE slug pellets as the fatal dose, for a 70kg human, is around 30g (what's that - a small handful?)

2. Whilst they may not kill us, slug pellets may also be eaten by pets, hedgehogs and the like. Metaldehyde based pellets (the most common, non-organic, ones I think?) are toxic to dogs and cats (although some brands of pellets contain something making them taste bitter, to reduce the risk of pets / children eating them). The pellets are blue because that colour is less attractive to birds ... but birds, hedgehogs, frogs eat the dead slugs with the same consequences

[Bex]

Thats me told lol

[Scarlet]

The pellets are blue because that colour is less attractive to birds ...

Perhaps wild ones but my chickens would love to get hold of those blue pellets, they will peck at anything brightly coloured - although they are pretty dull birds!

[simon12]

I understand your concern, I do still use slug pellets and will be looking to change that soon hopefully as everything else is homemade and organic, well, the fertilisers and aphid sprays that is. I lost so many crops due to slugs in my first two years but now I have more time to read up on the alternatives.

I'm sure you won't have done too much damage so don't worry too much about it, as already mentioned stuff you've bought from the supermarket have probably caused much more problems than a sprinkling of pellets.

What alternative method are you thinking about adopting, maybe I can learn a bit from you?

Opps and welcome to the forums from a fellow Wegie

Sorry to take this off topic a bit but how do you make your Aphid spray and does it work? I tried soap and garlic based homemade last year and nothing worked. Strangely the black current that was decimated by them last year is fine and the one that was fine last year is covered.

[darcyvuqua]

I use beer traps there amazing you can make your own with pop bottles too at least the slugs die happy so I don't feel as bad and if anything eats the slugs there in for a nice warm night cap

[Nannysally99]

I use slug pellets, sparingly

[Kristen]

Thats me told lol

On the contrary, I was speaking in the abstract - the third person - not to anyone in particular

[Two_Sheds]

How do hedgehogs fare with the organic slug pellets?

I found a hoggie poop yesterday, so checked the wildlife cam:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...ideo_processed


"they're made from ferric phosphate which is broken down by micro-organisms to iron and phosphate in the soil, both beneficial for plant growth.
Birds, hedgehogs and other wildlife that eat slugs and snails will not be harmed, unlike with other commonly available slug pellets. "

even so, I use them very sparingly, and only on young seedlings of susceptible plants eg lettuce, sunflowers, cabbages
ADVANCED SLUG KILLER 575g

[Bill HH]

I found a hoggie poop yesterday, so checked the wildlife cam:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...ideo_processed


"they're made from ferric phosphate which is broken down by micro-organisms to iron and phosphate in the soil, both beneficial for plant growth.
Birds, hedgehogs and other wildlife that eat slugs and snails will not be harmed, unlike with other commonly available slug pellets. "

even so, I use them very sparingly, and only on young seedlings of susceptible plants eg lettuce, sunflowers, cabbages
ADVANCED SLUG KILLER 575g

Do they work?

[Two_Sheds]

on slugs? yes, dead as a dead thing