maybe i should eat my slugs instead of my veg :-|

[Mysterious Gardener]

The thing with slugs is that you need an action plan. Copper, pellets etc. those are all fine and dandy, but to beat them you have to be more Terminator and less Rambo. Attack them on all fronts, but do it cold, calculated and systematically.

- Slugs like to hide during the day, especially underneath flat objects. Look around your garden for bricks, stones, boards, pieces of cardboard, piles of leaves, bits plastic, anything that they can use as a hiding spot. Remove those from your garden.
Note that you can also use this to your advantage: after you've cleared everything, place a couple of wooden boards around your garden. They'll start to use these as hiding spots, so check them regularly and you'll be enjoying slug salad in no time!

- Slugs also like to seek refuge under flat leaves and stems that are touching the soil. Branches that have fallen off your trees, plants that are sprawling all over: clear those out.

- If you're mulching with straw or hay, consider removing the mulch and doing without for the time being. Those kinds of mulch are like 5 star slug resorts.

Like Chris mentioned, nematodes are awesome. Another option is beer traps. Yes, slugs love beer. Slugs are nocturnal, so place them in the late afternoon. Check and refresh them daily, and place them liberally (they have a limited action radius).

Hope this helps, slugs can be a real menace!

[chris]

The only problem with beer traps is, once their full - you're still attracting slugs to your plot/garden due to the beer - they'll just then move onto to your crops if they can't get at the beer due to all the dead slugs! (I speak from experience! - I did take a photo of it one late night patrol, must try and find it) - I don't use them anymore..

It does kill a lot, yes, but they're so greedy they just keep coming

I have a special pair of scissors that I use to chop them up, on night patrols - that along with the nemaslug has kept the vast majority of my crops free from slug damage for the past couple of years

[chris]

Nematodes work best on the slugs that go underground

As do the vast majority of species ..

[Bill HH]

Is it an offence to serve beer to slugs without asking for ID?

[Mysterious Gardener]

Is it an offence to serve beer to slugs...

Only if you serve them Heineken.

[stubedo]

Don't know how to say this Stu, but I've seen very few slugs this year (unlike last year). The problem this year has been caterpillars - they've turned most of my brassicas to lace
Is the soil very wet - or are there dead leaves or wood near the plants where the slugs are lurking?

Hi, thanks for your reply, I hav`nt seen a single caterpilar here, but my veg patch near bottom of garden is next to quite a big bush of brambles , maybe i should cut it down?

[stubedo]

If anyone else fancies eating some slugs, I have lots of them. Various sizes. Some great big ones like jabba the hut - big enough to share.

Come to mine, while you collect them (in the buckets I will provide), I will fire up the BBQ for you, make a salad (of bits they haven't decimated) and crack open some home made wine.

The only condition is that you cannot leave until they are ALL gone.

OK thanks i`ll be round in a few hours

[Dorothy rouse]

Well I still hate those big fat ones, think I'll take me baseball bat up to the plot!

Yuk.

[stubedo]

I have just had my tea! pack it in.


I have had millions of the blighters, I always do. I too have tried every know weapon I can. It can be quite heart breaking. I thought i was beggining to win in the summer but it was just the dry weather, now they are back with a vengance.

Ah its not just me then ,sigh.

[stubedo]

Seriously - nematodes. They're more expensive than the pellets, wool things and what not - but whilst not singing the praises of them being environmentally/ecologically friendly, they decimate the slug population when applied correctly.

I don't use anything else now, just two packs of them each year - one for the spring sowing the ground is warm enough, and then around a month - two months later.

Last year, I could only get one pack due to lack of stock - but my plot was the least affected on our allotment site. Every one just applies (in some cases) seas of pellets. *shrug*.

In a few weeks, they won't be much of a problem when the temperature drops / any frosts come. Unless we have an indian winter?

thanks for that chris, I`ll give it a try !

[stubedo]

Just be warned - they are very, very bitter. Yes, we did eat them. Several mouthfulls. In error ...

Just keep picking every evening, if you can. My count is now rarely more than 1-200 per night down from 600plus EVERY NIGHT three years ago.

wow sounds like a proper slug fest :-|

[stubedo]

The thing with slugs is that you need an action plan. Copper, pellets etc. those are all fine and dandy, but to beat them you have to be more Terminator and less Rambo. Attack them on all fronts, but do it cold, calculated and systematically.

- Slugs like to hide during the day, especially underneath flat objects. Look around your garden for bricks, stones, boards, pieces of cardboard, piles of leaves, bits plastic, anything that they can use as a hiding spot. Remove those from your garden.
Note that you can also use this to your advantage: after you've cleared everything, place a couple of wooden boards around your garden. They'll start to use these as hiding spots, so check them regularly and you'll be enjoying slug salad in no time!

- Slugs also like to seek refuge under flat leaves and stems that are touching the soil. Branches that have fallen off your trees, plants that are sprawling all over: clear those out.

- If you're mulching with straw or hay, consider removing the mulch and doing without for the time being. Those kinds of mulch are like 5 star slug resorts.

Like Chris mentioned, nematodes are awesome. Another option is beer traps. Yes, slugs love beer. Slugs are nocturnal, so place them in the late afternoon. Check and refresh them daily, and place them liberally (they have a limited action radius).

Hope this helps, slugs can be a real menace!

thanks for that advice Mysterious Gardener

[Martin H]

Only if you serve them Heineken.

Actually this is probably the optimum use for Heineken.

[Two_Sheds]

- beer traps kill beneficials (spiders, beetles) as well as slugs. Put a twig in each beer trap to help the spiders climb back out

- pellets won't work if you put down a blue sea. They need to be applied as per pack instructions, which is about one pellet every four inches

- you must do night patrols, and kill what you find (a pinch of salt is quick & easy)

- you can make your own nematodes

- you have to use a range of methods, no single method will work on its own

[Inez]

Hey,

Ok , its my first year growing veg, kale, swiss chard, turnips......but my only real problem is......evil.....small.....slimy........SLUGS........I really hate them now, I`m trying so hard to grow decent kale & turnips at the moment but the slugs are ruining them, I`ve tried pellets, copper tape (rubbish) ,wet & dry sandpaper 3 inch round pots, & also sheep slug gone wool......NONE are working.....I must have 5000 slugs in my garden...has anyone won the war on slugs this year? I don`t know what I can try next, I feel like giving up & growing something else non Brassica , but I started growing veg as I wanted fresh greens......bit depressed tonight,seeing the evil beggars on my veg when I went out with my torch.......

Stu

You can try to solve this problem filling some cups with beer (stick the glasses to the brim) around ur kitchen garden. It worked with me. They luv beer!!