How do you get rid of slugs and snails

[rary]

I have looked through a number of posts for different methods of getting rid of these pests and thought why not have thread for all the different methods we use to get rid of them, both chemical and non chemical,
So what is your best method?

[BUFFS]

The best way for me was when we had chooks and I would let them run free in the veg patch for about two weeks each autumn, even when I had to give them up it was three years before the slimies became a pest again, now that I think of it I might see if I can borrow some off someone local and get the job done properly..

[Penellype]

I use a 3-pronged attack:

1. Treat the whole garden with nematodes 2 or 3 times a year (as needed).

2. protect vulnerable plants and pots with copper tape, either round the edge of the pot or with a plastic ring (cut from a pop bottle) with copper tape on round the stem.

3. Pick off any slug, snail or batch of eggs (however small) I see and kill them (either by treading on them, putting them in the hotbin or feeding them to my friend's chickens). If it has been wet I go outside with a torch after dark.

I also check places they hide such as under the bricks I use to hold down nets and cloches, and under pots and remove any I find.

It isn't 100% effective but the difference between doing the above and doing nothing is huge.

[Jimmy]

Carpet layer of slug pellets.
Beer traps
Jimmy

[Snoop Puss]

I don't use pellets. I collect them as I go about the veg patch and then dispatch them (by stamping on them) or on occasions, if dispatching is inconvenient, I lob them as far away as I can, though I know they'll come back sooner or later.

Am hoping to mulch with hay next year and am a bit worried that this will mean a huge increase in the snail population. Will probably put some cardboard down this autumn in places to tempt them to seek shelter underneath...

[burnie]

Maybe I'm lucky and have less of a problem, but I just squash the ones I find, I rely on the Thrushes and hedgehogs too, so I never use pellets. Yes there's a few holes here and there and when I pick summer cabbage(golden acre primo) there's usually the odd one to evict, but I can live with that.

I've moved this and made it a sticky for now

[Cadalot]

A Hammer as my signature icon

[1Bee]

I have ridiculously limited time on the plot, so I don't use any traps or collections methods as they're too time consuming. If I come across a bunch of sluglies I'll lob them into the hen pen across the way (with the owner's permission) but otherwise I use the ferrous sulphate type pellets. I notice a huge difference when I haven't used them for a while, for one reason or another. They're not a deterrent or a barrier, but I think of them as a population control measure.

I'm happy to co-exist with snails and slugs wherever I can, so I don't religiously remove and kill - there's plenty of detritus for the more benign species to be clearing up for me.

It's the ones that tunnel the potatoes that really get to me, and I'm thinking of using nematodes next season.

Interestingly, in our first season we hardly saw any slugs and snails (the plot hadn't been cultivated in years) but they population has definitely boomed this year. On the plus side, this year I saw three thrushes at work on the site, and that's the first year I've seen them at all.

[1Bee]

Interesting reading for the so inclined:-

Identification Guide | SlugWatch

I'm laughing at myself because we've been troubled by slugs coming up the vent from the cellar in the dining room and wondering what they've been after. That would be the slug that eats mould and algae**, then, commonly known as... the Green Cellar Slug.

Clue is in the name. *eyeroll*

**Yes, you do get mould and algae in our dining room. It's best not the think about it.

[Snoop Puss]

That was a gruesome if fascinating read, 1Bee. All the ones I read suggested dissection as a way to confidently distinguish between them...

[1Bee]

Yeah, that's quite high on my "Not Gonna Do That" list. Along with making my own nematodes.

[BUFFS]

Maybe I'm lucky and have less of a problem, but I just squash the ones I find, I rely on the Thrushes and hedgehogs too, so I never use pellets. Yes there's a few holes here and there and when I pick summer cabbage(golden acre primo) there's usually the odd one to evict, but I can live with that.

I've moved this and made it a sticky for now

the only problem in relying on thrushes and hedgehogs is that I would need the equivalent of a flock of starlings or a stampede of hedgehogs to clear the lot, although the jackdaws seem to take quite a few given the chance..

[cariann88]

Next year I am going to try beer traps as I am not down there as much as I like.

But right now If I see any slugs or snails I feed them to the chickens on next plot to me.

[Penellype]

the only problem in relying on thrushes and hedgehogs is that I would need the equivalent of a flock of starlings or a stampede of hedgehogs to clear the lot, although the jackdaws seem to take quite a few given the chance..

Any biological control (nematodes, thrushes, hedgehogs, toads etc) needs a base population of slugs/snails in order to remain, so you will not clear the lot. If you do the predators will either move away or die and the problem will return. The ideal is to find the balance where the population is kept below nuisance level.

[SelkirkAlex]

eeeks! even worse than I thought. wonder if my polytunnel would withstand a small thermo nuclear bomb