Slug control

[raspbarry]

I just put this in the Top Tips section, but its probably better here... too good for people not to see it! (I think)

Just read this in a little book called Garden Wisdom, my brother bought me for my birthday It suggests using crushed eggshells around plants to deter slugs! Another reason to invest in chickens... and great for no waste zealots (like myself!)

[Rachel]

Great tip!

I have been scouring the internet for nice(ish) ways to rid my veg patch of slugs. We have just taken on a large garden with shoulder high grass and weeds, and plenty of hiding places for slugs and snails. We have cleared most of weeds now...but the little slugs and snails are everywhere. They even managed to get into the greenhouse and wipeout 2 full trays of month old peas and lots more besides...

One tip I had was to sink a small plastic cup into the ground, with an inch of beer...the slugs must climb in and be too tipsy to get back out again

[Geordie]

Slugs

Another similar tip along the eggshell line is to use dry holly leaves or copius amounts of pine needles.

If you want to protect a few plants you could make a circle of garden lime around the plant about an inch wide....seems to stop slugs crossing.

Slugs & snails in the greenhouse.....if greenhouse is empty try a sulphur candle, try to seal the gaps to avoid them coming back (not easy!)

Plant some lettuce or similar that you are willing to sacrifice to the slugs in the hope that they leave your prefered plants alone.

If you use trays on staging in the greenhouse put the legs of the staging in a bucket and half fill with water....dont think slugs can swim! Keep staging from touching the glass and you should hopefully create an 'island'.

[Lady Sunshine]

I think slugs have attacked my newly planted spring greens. The leaves of some are covered in holes. I tried egg shells around the bases but it hasn't worked. How much egg shell do I need, maybe I haven't used enough? I am very concerned and I am thinking of getting slug pellets because I only have 12 plants and at least 5 have been attacked. I have also planted raddishes and they are sprouting. I think I may have put too many seeds in, too close together, anyone know the best way to separate and spread? This is my first attempt at growing veg

[Geordie]

Protection

Hi lady s,

the most immediate way is to cover the spring green with some sort of container.....see previous posts....make sure you twist the cover into the soil so it will not blow away.
This will create a physical barrier between plant & slug. Bear in mind the plant will grow faster in this state and once it gets to a reasonable size then the cover should be removed.

Depending on how harse the winter is likely to be in your part of the country you should expect to loose a certain number of plants. For the spring cabbage i planted i work on about 30% not making it to next spring. Its just experience that gives me that number!

As for your radishes if they are sown thickly and start sprouting together simply pull up some out of the ground to make space for the others. Do not pull up to many when he growth is small, you can always thin out again in a couple of weeks. When you pull the unwanted ones out try to keep from disturbing the soil around the ones you leave behind.

Hope this helps.....trial & error is often the best way to learn what works for you and your garden.

[Rachel]

Brilliant!

The slugs will be moving on in no time, I have given the children the important role of egg shell crushing. Unfortunatley for them they have to eat them first...breakfast, lunch and dinner

I just have to combat the caterpillars now, thought I had got them all, but my poor radishes have taken a munching again

[Lady Sunshine]

Thank you Geordie, just got your advice and will be out first thing in the morning - after raiding the recycle bin for appropriate covers!!

[Geordie]

Slugs

How to win the slug war, i have tried to incoporate all previos advice into handy guide.....this only covers organic methods.

Your vegetables and plants are slug paradise - wet winters combined with temperate wet summers provide the ideal conditions for slugs. Their natural enemies, weather-wise, are frosty winters and hot summers.

Know Your Slug!
The most common slug is the garden slug ('Arion hortensis' to be precise). It's grey or brown and only 4cm (1.5in) long. It slithers around your garden on an orange sole. Another slug you may may well meet is the field slug ('Derocerus reticulatum'). This one is different from the garden slug because it has distinct brown patches on it's sides. Both are bad news for your tender plants and vegetables.

Another common slug you will meet looks a bit more of a monster - it can be up to 15cm (6in) long and is called the 'black slug' because of it's colour. Many people assume that this is the slug which is doing all the damage. In fact it causes very little damage to your plants - it's the much smaller garden and field slugs which cause all the damage. So the motto with slugs is 'ignore the big black ones'!

There is a less common slug known as the keeled slug (Milax budapestensis). It's about 10cm (4in) long and has a definite ridge down its back. It's not as common as the other slugs, but it does cause considerable damage.

Nematodes: The latest and it seems the most effective way of controlling slugs, this beats the chemical alternatives easily. Nematodes are tiny organisms, so small they are invisible to the eye. They are naturally occurring organisms which are harmless to you, your kids, wildlife and your plants.

The idea is to buy them in plastic packages, put them into a watering can, add water and then water the areas affected by slugs. The little nematodes then enter the slugs and release bacteria which slowly kills the slug. Even better news is that the nematodes then multiply and go in search of more slugs! It does work - farmers have been using them for several years and are increasing their use of them each year.

Barriers: Scatter sharp material around the plants to prevent the slugs getting too near them. Often used are soot, sand, ashes and broken egg-shells. these definitely make it considerably more difficult for slugs to get near the plants by drying up the mucus which slugs rely on to move. All of them will be affected by wind and rain, so frequent re-application is required. They also suffer from the disadvantage that they do not lower the number of slugs in the garden, although it may well encourage them to take up residence in the neighbours garden instead!

The 100% barrier method that works for seedlings is a plastic bottle with the base cut off. Insert it at least 10cm (4in) deep into the soil around the seedling and only the most determined slug will succeed - great as a cloche as well. The problem comes when the seedlings outgrow the bottle. However, slugs really do prefer the tastier younger plants.

Another plastic alternative is a band of flexible plastic placed all around a number of plants - these are available from garden centres. The plastic should be at least 30 cm (1ft) high; 10 cm (4in) below ground and 20cm (8in) above ground. This doesn't stop all slugs, but deters most. The problem here, is that slugs may already be inside the plastic wall, and they won't be able to get out.

Beer and Milk Traps: Quarter fill a jam jars or any plastic container with either milk or beer, and sink them into the ground so that they are about 1 to 2 cm (half to one inch) above the soil level. The slugs can easily climb this, but it will stop ground beetles from entering them and drowning. This method definitely works, although you need at least for jars per square metre (yard), and they will need to be replenished every two or three days.

Hand Collection At Night: Easily the most effective - simply collect the slugs by hand (a long needle on a stick can be used if you don't like touching them) and transfer them to container of salt water. You will need a torch to spot them - expect to kill roughly a hundred per hour. Search on the lawn, paths and around tasty plants.

You may well find that a large number of slugs are on your lawn at night, rather than directly on the soil. This raises the interesting proposition of getting the lawn-mower out at midnight and single handedly massacring thousands of slugs in half an hour. Because of the obvious safety implications of mowing the lawn at night, I have never done this myself. However, a friend of a friend of ours tells us that it works a treat!

Happy hunting!

[Lesley Jay]

The only problem I can see with using egg shells is how do you hoe the ground? You would have to remove the egg shells and then do the weeding and then put them back. Seems like hassle to me.

This year we made beer traps out of plastic bottles and they certainly got filled up with dead slugs. But I wonder if the smell of beer might have brought slugs from other plots over to ours.

We have always used slug pellets. We buy them from a discount store and because they aren't expensive I have always been very generous with the amount that I scatter on the ground. I didn't think they worked very well. But this year I read an article on slug pellets which said to only put a few down because putting large quantities down doesn't work! So we have been really carefull this year and only used a few and this is the best year we have had in our battle against the slugs. We have even grown lettuce - uncovered- and not lost any!

One word of warning about slug pellets they can kill cats and dogs.

[sewer rat]

Hi to everyone. Joined yesterday and think I will be a regular visitor. Am in the process of converting half my garden to veggies, from lawn and flower beds - should be ready to go by Spring.
On the subject of slug pellets, a member of another forum that I participate in suggested that you cut a ring of plastic about 3 - 4 inches high, place round each individual plant / seedling and put a few pellets inside the ring. Any slug that enters will not leave as it cannot avoid the pellets, and the plastic ring will stop dogs ,cats, birds etc from being able to get at the pellets.
Cheers
Rat

[Geordie]

Slug Pellets

Just topick up on Lesley's post..... a large quantity of slug pellets will act as a repellent which deters slugs from getting close. A few pellets are not noticed and so sem to work better.

[andrewo]

Slug pellets

It's the old argument though of chemical over organic - I still use slug pellets put put them in plastic saucers around the garden.

Tried egg shells and they didn't work unfortunately, oatmeal had some effect but just slowed them down. Beer traps are good but I always worry of other beneficial creepy crawlies falling in.

Out of interest how many peope use slug pellets?

Andrewo

[Lesley Jay]

I use slug pellets. Maybe Jaxom could set up a poll for the results.

[Looloobowers]

Nematodes

Hi, I have used this for the first time this autumn. I read that if you use this once in autumn before the ground temperature reaches less than 5°C, it kills a lot of the slugs before they lay their eggs and thus not so many slugs next year. Then you treat the area every 6 weeks throughout the summer. So far after only one treatment we have noticed the difference. We have lost very few brassicas planted in autumn 1 or 2 at most whereas last year we must have lost 50%. I will continue with the nematodes next year to see what happens. Most of the companies that sell this also offer a special deal where you pay up front but they send it out every 6 weeks so no need to worry about forgetting.

Regards
Looloo

[Jaxom]

Nematodes

I hear lots of good things about Nematodes. Perhaps GYO could do an artical on them before next spring? it would be nice to understand them a little better.
Jax