slug prevention...

[pjh75]

How apt that this is the latest updated post... I have just come home and seen that one of my cucumber seedlings has been munched down to just a stump in my greenhouse... and the cheeky blighter left a slimy trail so that I know exactly what has happened. I bet he is hiding somewhere waiting for nightfall so that he can attack another one - he'd better not go anywhere near my mange tout!

[squashysu]

hi monty don has just come on Gardeners World and said that used coffee granules from a perc are great for getting rid of slugs, the slugs stick to them and want to get off!

I may just try that.......

[Stacey Steve]

I'm going to try using the copper tape sticking it to cut pieces of plastic drain pipe. It should stick well to the plastic and will certainly work out cheaper than solid copper.

Let you know if it works but I suspect the slugs will just burrow under the rings and still eat my plants.

[Patsy]

The tinfoil idea sounds good, do you just lay circles round you plants like collars or what please?

[SusanWoodman]

Slugs

I've tried the copper tape but it shredded my hands, so I suffered worse than the slugs!

My sister is selling some product called slug busters (at a website called the green trading company) that is recycled wool pellets that the slugs apparently don't like crawling over; I haven't tried them myself yet because I mostly have pots in my tiny garden and don't have the space to spread them in a wide zone around the plants.

Has anyone tried the copper mats that you put under pots? Do you have to have several inches clear around the pots? Do they go on working more than a year?

[armadillo]

I'm thinking of getting some 'nemaslug' - they're nematodes that kill the slugs but nothing else, and it's safe for other beasties to eat said dead slugs. Has anyone tried it?

From what I've read, once you get rid of the first enthusiastic wave of slugs it's easy enough to keep on top of them. I think the nemaslug works for about 6 weeks- long enough to give seedlings a good head start at least.

But- IT! DOESN'T! WORK! ON! SNAILS!

BAH!

[wormlady]

Hey folks
So does the copper have to be shiny for it to work? And does anyone who has used it think that the reason it didnt work was because the slimy bstrds sneaked underneath it? Or were already in the soil? I was just about to order some but Im a bit wary now....

[minskey]

Hi daisydaisy

I seem to have all the slugs in the UK here in my little veggie plot in sunny [well, not to day] Lincs, they used to eat everything and didn't even have the good grace to do it at night but in the day as well. I had good results with an idea; I cut large or small pastic drinks bottles in to 4in high rings, coated the outside of the ring with a good thick layer of vaseline and pushed them into the soil so that they had the seedling in the middle. I did't lose any of the seedlings which had tha vaseline coller around it Stopped buying tha vaseline from the chemist though , get it from the supermarket now as I was buying so much. Minskey

[vincent villa]

Slugs

People are quite right - they can burrow under barriers if they are really keen to get at your plants. I have had some success with crushed oyster shell round the plants. They sell it in farm stores to give to chickens who eat it and keep it in their gullets for crushing their food - thought you'd like to know that...

[ClayGarden]

Given that both tin foil circles and copper circles work, is what happens is the moon light is bright enought and shine the slug so much it thinks its sun rise or something?

[Winged one]

I am trying the free used coffee from a coffee shop in the garden - seems to be working so far (lettuces safe since I started and have removed a couple of stuck slugs too).

Will porbably be using the blue pellets on the plot, as don't get their often enough to keep coffee topped up.

[hypnophil]

I tried bran and it was rubbish, the whole of my newly planted veg went in one night!
Grapefruit, kept them away cos they like it and hide under it and even though i didnt harvest the slugs, they left alone my plants. i did sprinkle coffee grinds too and worked brilliantly!! will definately do it again this year.
I dont understand why people use pellets because plants take up what is in the ground and if i wanna eat pesticide i can go to the supermarket, also, i dont wanna kill the good guys.

[jeannine]

Pellets are a complete con, don't waste your money!

They take a long time to poison the slugs and in the meantime while the slugs are dying they are an easy target for all the natural predators like birds, hedgehogs and beetles.

A single hedgehog can eat its own bodyweight in slugs every night. So for every hedgehog you kill by using pellets you can literally get thousands more slugs.

The only time slugs get out of hand is when the natural balance is upset - often for example when someone is using pellets. Use an organic alterntive like nematodes and you'll save time and money.

[Jenny22Cumbria]

I'm always saying this on various threads on here (cos i think it works!) but I go for the double pronged attack!

I surround my beds with copper (I used piping last year but for this year I've just bought 50 foot strips about an inch thick) and then use Nematodes. The copper stops them climbing in/out and the nematodes kill the slugs already in the soil.

I got one lot of nematodes last year but this year I've ordered 3 lots that are delivered at 6 week intervals. The copper is going to be screwed to the concrete slabs that surround my 2 beds. It was expensive but I think it's worth it if you can afford it - and I'm hoping it'll last a long time.

I don't sow much (if anything) directly into my plot 'cos I find I get many more survivors if I put in and cover seedlings. I'm already planning how to cover my brassicas - we have loads of wood pigeons stalking our garden

[nomad]

is it true that slugs do not like citrus,like orange peel or lemon as i would like to find an alternative to pellets this year.