I hate slugs

[lynda66]

got home last night, and this morning braved the downpour to check on the veggies ...... 3 beautiful courgettes, munched to mush by a herd/flock/whatever of baby slugs ...... grrrrrrr hundreds of the flipping things ...... i was dead cross, so i resorted to slug pellets ..... now i feel dead guilty, cos they aren't netted, so i'm gonna have to go out and do something with them ...... grrrrrrr why cant the flipping things eat the yummy flowers i planted for them, or munch the tasty nasturtiums in the compost heap, or even the flipping weeds that have turned into triffids in my lawn???

I'm a big crosspatch today

on a brighter note, they haven't got to the squash or pumpkins YET

[SarzWix]

This weather is just perfect for them isn't it? Little b*$/#%ds I've lost a couple of whopping tomatoes to them in the G/H - made a tiny hole, then just sat inside them munching away And they ate the silks off the end of the sweetcorn so I couldn't tell when they were ready, and the woodlice got in to finish them off! Gah!

[bloom]

Ha, I started a thread on slugs not to different from this one afew months back, I too hate the little buggers, and this weather is just perfect for them, so not fair, I also decided that it is sods law working at its when the slugs eat your veggies and not what you would mind them eating. I too had to resort to pellets, but noooooooooooo guilt i'm afraid did the trick for a while as well, but nothing stops them for long........

[moggssue]

Not so much of the little - the ones on my plot are huuuugggge monsters! Could be something to do with all the beans and wotnot they've been feasting on of course. I'm a pellet fan as well I'm afraid - but it does only last so long. Time we declared war ............

[bloom]

that was the title of my thread - Slugs and snails I declare War!

[lynda66]

oh, i'm not feeling guilty about the slugs dying cos of the pellets, just feeling guilty that the plants aren't netted and i have blackbirds, and i don't want them to eat them i must go and put some net over now ...... mind you, i'm cross with the blackbirds too, cos they should be eating them before they breed.

[bloom]

True!!!!!...

[hawthorns]

ive also had trouble with the little sods but im fighting back with nemaslug next year. i will the war

[Two_Sheds]

Blackbirds don't eat slugs. Well, would you?

Lots of other things do though ... esp.hedgehogs, and they will be poisoned by pellets, and die a ghastly death. http://www.haywardm.supanet.com/predators.html

[rustylady]

I feed them the little blue smarties, and also keep a bucket of salty water handy (thanks, TwoSheds). Any big ones I find I drop into the bucket and leave them to turn into slug soup which then gets tipped into the compost heap (I must admit I can't pick them up without rubber gloves so I keep the Marigolds handy).

[burnie]

Slug pellets actually attract the slugs,so if you put them near your plants you're encouraging them into you plot.My Dad used to throw them over the hedge in the field below,before we found out how dangerous they are.
You could also become an angler as they make great bait(the slugs,not the pellets)

[kevnsue]

I opt for a sharp stick,stab them and make a slug kebab then give them to the chickens.

[grannysmith]

I have a Slug Relocation Programme which involves putting them on a trowel and sending them into the park behind the house. Usually the kids say "Happy landings!".

A point I only found out yesterday at the vet's is that slugs also carry lungworm, which is dangerous to dogs. Our dog plays with and sometimes tries to eat them if he finds them in the garden, so if anyone else has a dog out there who does this, best to get him checked/wormed for lungworm, just in case.

Now I'll add a great big YUK, since worms and slugs are two of my least favourite things to discuss. YUK again! Good luck to everyone else out there trying to get on top of the problem.

I heard copper wire round a plant might help against slugs, but I'm not sure if it is true or not. I heard they don't like copper.

[Demeter]

I heard copper wire round a plant might help against slugs, but I'm not sure if it is true or not. I heard they don't like copper.

It's true they don't like copper. You can buy copper tape in the garden centres. It gives them a shock if they try and cross it.

[Nige69]

My indian runner ducks absolutely love 'em - snails too ;-)