slug experiment

[baldrick]

I hate slug pellets as I like frogs and hedgehogs not to mention birds. I have planted 12 spring cabbage. 6 have been surrounded with the old blue pellets, 6 have been surrounded with diatomaceous earth which I bought for chicken mites.Interestingly there is a dead slug, a trail and a blob of snot on the blue side, but nothing on the diatom side, no trails nothing. This is after rain too. Now its only been a week but I am quite excited. It appears to be repelling the slugs so far. Its silica based fossilized diatoms so not sure if it will be suitable for all plants(does silica act like lime on potatoes for example?) Tis but a modest experiment but Im well chuffed.

[arpoet]

I once bought a large tub of crushed egg shells quite cheap from netto and that also worked a treat, but alas i have never seen it anywhere since. I know you can buy it online but the carriage costs makes a big tub very expensive.
I now save egg shell all winter and then have a session drying and crushing them in a spring. I might try mixing em with sharp sand.
Roger

[shona_b]

we've a B&B opposite who would be a great source of egg shells - I'll have to ask nicely (they were very kind when I was on the hunt for loo rolls for parsnip planting!) They also offered coffee grounds from their machine but I wasn't convinced they helped keep the slugs away.

[mothhawk]

But are the two trials side by side? Maybe the slugs are just attracted to the blue smarties more than the cabbage, and make a bee-line for them first, so never making it to the other cabbages. You really need a control lot that is not protected at all....

[baldrick]

But are the two trials side by side? Maybe the slugs are just attracted to the blue smarties more than the cabbage, and make a bee-line for them first, so never making it to the other cabbages. You really need a control lot that is not protected at all....

yes I know what you mean one end of the row is blue and the other white. the row betweeb the kohl rabi and the experiment is unprotected. Its not a fully scientific control as I used bigger plants to leave unprotected as cant afford to lose 6 really. they have had minor slug damage but nothing drastic yet. Will keep going as its quite interesting. I would use eggshells but the chooks have them all.

[Patchninja]

Well, if you want any extra slugs for your trials, I can send you some!

[Davyburns]

I collect all our egg shells to, and dry them in the bottom of the oven when I'm grilling my bacon on a Sunday morning, and have had no real problems with slugs or snails while I have been spreading the said shell crunchings around

[baldrick]

Well, if you want any extra slugs for your trials, I can send you some!

eeerm thanks very much. Tell you what Ill give you a ring....dont call me Ill call you! Bad news. One diatomed plant has been chewed after heavy rain and some of the unprotected ones. Will re powder today and keep going.

[snohare]

I've got bad news Baldrick, I'm two years ahead of you in your experiment...and the news ain't all good.
Assuming that Slug Off is diatomaceous earth, which I think is safe to say, then what I've found is that it works fine when the weather is dry, but whenever the weather gets wet enough, it is much less of a barrier. So this year, I have ended up putting loads of it all over the place, on the basis that overall it will slow the little b*&^ers down as they travel to and from their dining tables. Later in the season I have still had a lot of slug damage on my brassicas, but it is noticeably worse where the leaves of a plant are touching the soil, or where I have not put repeated and widespread applications of Slug Off.
Next year I am thinking I will get Nemaslug, and use that in conjunction; I don't think anything is a magic bullet on its own. (Although I suppose the nematodes must come close.)
If you want to make Slug Off go much further, it is a good idea to pour some onto a flat surface and crush it with something (I use a spade), once made into smaller fragments it does just as good a job and covers a much wider area more completely.

[arpoet]

I must add that i get lots and lots of free spent hops from a local brewery and the slugs tend to aviod them. A ring close to the stems of plants like runner beans seem to save the young plants from attack.
Roger

[snohare]

AT LAST ! A way to catch the slugs on the hop !!

[arpoet]

If you cross breed them with frogs they self croak

[snohare]

Ah, but surely the breeding programme would go at a snail's pace ? I mean, these days, would the government ever shell out ?

[planetologist]

I've used wood ash with good results. Only need to be careful when applying it, because it burns the leaves.

[Snadger]

Diatomacious earth works on mites and such like by getting under the exoskelton or scales and abrading a hole in it which means the mites dehydrate.
Don't want to spread alarm but you should really use a mask when applying it as if breathed in it can give similar results to asbestos dust methinks, staying within the lungs.
I would imagine the slime created by a slug would stop it from working in a similar way to mites, although slugs and snails would find any abrasive material (even sand) uncomfortable.