fed up with slugs

[hawthorns]

i ve had it with slugs ive tried salt, sharp sand, coffee and copper. is nemaslug anygood . please help

[Alice]

Hello Hawthorns, I understand your predicament. These things don't work for me either. What does work is slug pellets. I hate using them but with care I don't think they are any more harmful than anything else. I put them on little plastic trays in among plants so that they can't leach into the soil. I use them under nets so the birds can't get at them and make sure I go round and pick up any dead ones to keep them out of the food chain. It's the best I can do, but if the choice is I can have my crops, or the slugs can have them, then it's what I'm doing. Hope you can find something that works for you.

[areia]

nema slug i found works in the early months around march april when the eggs are hatching after that its the ole midnight hunt along with rubbing vasaline round my pots with salt sprinkled on it (idea is the vasaline doesnt wash off so quick) i try my damned hardest not to use pellets as i have song thrushes and other birds in my garden, gonna try rough sand paper that i have lieing around wont last long i know as it will get wet desperate times calls for desperate measures orange and grapefruit cut in half and hollowed out are good at getting a few too leave them out cut side down and in the morning pick slugs out and chuck them

[Fifer]

Hi Hawthorns

Hedgehogs are great 'controllers' of slugs. About six years ago, one autumn, we found three late born ones which were not heavy enough to hibernate and we over-wintered them in straw-filled boxes in the shed and fed them on cat food. In the spring we gave them the run of the garden, but put out cat food every night - moving the food to different places. They soon found safe places to sleep up during the day - including through an air vent and under the lounge floor next to the central heating pipes. We told visitors we had a poltergeist when they heard the hedgehogs rattling the pipes.
We had them for several years and they a diminishing effect on the slug and snail population.
Fifer

[marialittlebzz]

oh nice the little hedgehogs !!

unfortunately, they are not found in the center of London...but anyway, for me it's not slugs but snails that are a real pain!
I use everything I can, I put some coffee ground but it works only when it's fresh so almost everyday I have to sprinkle a bit more. Then the orange rings seems to keep them busy, which is good when there is just a few wandering around... tonight I had my first "hunt", I kill them with boiling water
Horrible sounds, I hate killing them !

If you want to have a laugh and see to which point my imagination got running, there you have it : my castle!!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/mariaxuereb81/S...JPG?imgmax=512

it's a very small area so I can do it, the border are both covered with vaseline and salt, and the middle "water" is vermiculite and crushed egg shells, no snails can pass that !!!

[marialittlebzz]

here a better picture

[bobbin]

Talking about birds..well during the mention of slugs anyway.I heard a cuckoo yesterday morning as I left for work. It was soooo loud too. I just stood and listened,Ahhhh lovely. Mind you it was 4AM so little competition for him.:eek

[pebbles]

I have little slugs in my compost bin. Is this ok or should I try and get rid of them?

[sallym]

Don't talk to me about snails

Gave my front garden a good weed today and found a snail farm. Loads of the B*ggers. All got thrown onto road, but on reflection I should have done the bucket of salty water thing. Any survivors of the traffic will just end up in some other poor s*od's garden

[rustylady]

I'm with Alice on this one. I don't like the idea, but the only thing that works for me is the little blue pellets (used sparingly). My problem is the snails - the little b*****s are crafty and don't go for the pellets. They actually do more damage on my plot and in my garden than the slugs do. At least the dopey slugs eat the pellets and expire!

[SlugLobber]

Am awaiting eagerly a delivery of nemaslug. It had better work. I nearly cried yesterday when my only successful pepper seedling vanished, between 9am and 4pm. I'm doing 3 slug-lobbing sessions a day. I'm not finding as many, now, but a couple is all it takes. I gave in on Saturday and dug my courgettes back up. They're now in pots on the garden table, giving me more chance of catching the little sh*ts.

I bought some broad-bean seedlings yesterday and daren't plant them out. I've never known anything like it and feel I may have to resort to the blue pellets, but am quite worried, as my cat wanders across the veg bed. I go away on Wednesday morning for 5 days and am starting to think I should take a pic of my crop before it disappears

[Polly Fouracre]

I have little slugs in my compost bin. Is this ok or should I try and get rid of them?

If they would only stay where they are doing some good i.e.in the compost bin they would be friends not foes!

[ratglass]

Hi all

Although fairly expensive I use it every other year in my pots and raised beds in the garden and it worked really well-I tend to use it about a week before planting my seedings out and then at 6 week intervals until sep/oct. I find it really keeps the numbers down-particuarly the tiny slugs you can't always see with a torch!! Hope this helps.

[nerobot]

The ones in my garden seem to eat my JA's and leave everything else. I think they are strong enough.

Steven

[Two_Sheds]

I'm doing 3 slug-lobbing sessions a day.

They're homing, like pigeons doncha know
You need to kill them, salt or salty water does the trick. Or snip with secateurs.
Attract things that eat slugs and their eggs too: beetles, centipedes, birds, frogs, hedgehogs
slug and snail predators