main crop spuds and slugs

[yorkshire sam]

has anyone got any tips on avoidance of slug damage on maincrop pots. Earlies are not too bad but maincrop get decimated and not many on our allotments grow them because of it. But I love my spuds and would dearly like to have a worthwhile crop

[crichmond]

You could always try using nematodes.

[bluemoon]

Nematodes are great, but not if you have clay soil, in which case you might be better off trying to obtain a slug resistant variety. Nematodes can also be expensive, especially if you just want them to protect a 'cheap' crop like spuds. We occasionally have a slug problem, but it often seems worse in some years than in others.

[lainey lou]

Slugs don't like Desiree pots apparently, I'll be growing some of them this year.

[multiveg]

I've heard somewhere of getting a biggish spud, chopping it in half, then spearing it onto the end of a cane then burying the potato end. Check back in a couple of days...

[PAULW]

Soot, for three years I spread soot on the ground where I was going to plant my spuds then rotavated it in shortly before planting result pretty clean spuds, last year due to upgrade of site the sweep did not make any deliveries result horrendous slug damage, this year back to normal soot turned in and just waiting for a couple of weeks before I start planting.

[silverfork]

Nematodes, definitely definitely yes. Slug resistant varieties as well. Beer traps. Every possible thing in the arsenal, all at the same time, I reckon!

[Two_Sheds]

Yep, try the lot: frogs, beer traps (but try not to catch beetles), upturned grapefruits (they congregate underneath so you can then season heavily with salt - they don't like that so much)

Avoid mulches and other forms of hiding place.

[cede]

i'm still digging over my plot and am finding loads of slug/snail eggs as well as leatherjackets, i'm enjoying squishing them. but it does make me wonder how many i am missing lurking under the soil

[Snadger]

Yep, try the lot: frogs, beer traps (but try not to catch beetles), upturned grapefruits (they congregate underneath so you can then season heavily with salt - they don't like that so much)

Avoid mulches and other forms of hiding place.

Not so sure there is a link to mulches and keel slug activity TS? I mulch heavily with farmyard manure, dibble my spuds through mulch, don't earth up and I had very little slug damage last year!

I suppose to prove or disprove the theory I should prepare one bed without mulch and earth up spuds..................but to be honest I can't be bothered. To my mind, if something ain't broken, there's no need for me to fix it.