I had so many high hopes for the veg plot this year, but almost all have been totally wrecked by slugs and/or allied agents...
Cauliflowers, broccoli, kale, cabbages, cucamelons, beans, kohl rabi, turnips, and most of my short sunflowers have all been taken, and the only survivors so far are the trusy taties, the mint, the peas and some very promising looking shallots.
I’ve read elsewhere that the very stark warnings from the Spring have come to pass in that the relatively mild Winter failed to ‘cull’ the slugs in usual way, but hadn’t prepared myself for anything like this.
I’ve tried Nematodes, Slug Gone (the very organic, but largely ineffective wool pellet approach) and simple nightly ‘watches’, but every tactic has so far failed, and I’ve pretty much resigned myself to almost total defeat. I won’t use slug pellets, so they’re out of the question, but I’m at a total loss as to what else I could possibly do.
Despite the above, however, I’m wondering if I could still rescue the year by growing some Winter veg, and assuming that we get a frost or two (or hopefully several more!) then hopefully the course of nature may assist in reducing the slug numbers sufficiently to give the veg a fighting chance.
I’m assuming I’m far from being the only victim of this year’s onslaught, so I’d be grateful if others could reply with their own comments, thoughts, suggestions, or anything else at all that could lift the sense of crushing defeat around these parts!
Cauliflowers, broccoli, kale, cabbages, cucamelons, beans, kohl rabi, turnips, and most of my short sunflowers have all been taken, and the only survivors so far are the trusy taties, the mint, the peas and some very promising looking shallots.
I’ve read elsewhere that the very stark warnings from the Spring have come to pass in that the relatively mild Winter failed to ‘cull’ the slugs in usual way, but hadn’t prepared myself for anything like this.
I’ve tried Nematodes, Slug Gone (the very organic, but largely ineffective wool pellet approach) and simple nightly ‘watches’, but every tactic has so far failed, and I’ve pretty much resigned myself to almost total defeat. I won’t use slug pellets, so they’re out of the question, but I’m at a total loss as to what else I could possibly do.
Despite the above, however, I’m wondering if I could still rescue the year by growing some Winter veg, and assuming that we get a frost or two (or hopefully several more!) then hopefully the course of nature may assist in reducing the slug numbers sufficiently to give the veg a fighting chance.
I’m assuming I’m far from being the only victim of this year’s onslaught, so I’d be grateful if others could reply with their own comments, thoughts, suggestions, or anything else at all that could lift the sense of crushing defeat around these parts!
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