Natural Anti-Slug.

[Matthew.Passmore]

exactly, I have an after school club coming to the farm soon to enjoy the space. guess what 'game' I'll be getting them to play.

I'm trying to recruit the local cub group too.

It's going to cost you a fortune in 5p's

 

[Toddy]

Toddy,
Why do you use slug pellets? To attract the slugs to the pellets so they eat them and die.
If you place the pellets next to the plants you are trying to protect you are attracting the slugs to the very place you don't want them.
Try placing the pellets away from the plants to attract the slugs away from the plants,It works for me.
The same applies to rat poison ,it attracts rats and so should be placed away from the foodstuffs you want to protect.

I would need to put down so very much more if I did that.
This way I use tiny quantities and only near the vulnerable plants.

I've gotten hold of some of the iron stuff that Rivermom advised. B & Q £3.95 for the packet..........here's hoping

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Bulldog72]

Last year I tried a new tactic with the slugs and it really seemed to work - it's a bit smelly but worth a try. Take a few cloves of garlic and put them in a jam jar with boiling water, leave this to steep for a day or two. You'll then need a pressure sprayer [you know the sort used to spray pesticides - a cheap one will do] - fill with water as normal and then add a small cup full of your garlic 'juice'. Spray liberally on to whatever crop you want to protect after you have watered or after it has rained and you should find a marked improvement.

I can't guarantee it'll solve all your problems - it certainly didn't stop the little beggars eating my beans but it certainly seems to help. TBH I hadn't been using it this summer [life's been a bit hectic recently] and my potato crop has been chewed to pieces. I was going to start spraying again tonight but, as it's currently raining here again - maybe I'll wait until tomorrow.

Locum - hadn't heard of using WD40 before - not sure I'd fancy it on me strawberries mind you!

 

[Karl5]

My garden is heavy clay soil, I compost everything I can to keep the levels of organic matter high in the topsoil. It's always damp, and there are always slugs and snails.

Toddy, I've got pretty much the same soil and dampness situation as you on my patch.

Have you tried using wood ash as slug repellant?
It has to be old ashes, though (as in, maybe a year old or so), so as not "burn" the plants.
Works pretty well for me.

/ Karl

 

[Chris G]

All Bran or similar.

 

[forrestdweller]

have'nt tried it myself, yet, but one book about organic gardening suggested certain breeds of ducks. (and if they do'nt do their job you just eat them... )

 

[Toddy]

I could go for that, I quite like ducks, but they indiscriminately mess everywhere and in the garden I walk about barefooted. Thought about hens too, but we have foxes......and neighbours.
If I had space that wasn't quite so near other folks I think I'd have the hens anyway. Great compost you get from them as well as some of the best insectivores out there :approve

The only ashes I get are from campfires, the house is gas and electricity, and I don't think I'd ever get enough to make much of a difference. Neat idea though if I did have them.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[xylaria]

Toddy, I've got pretty much the same soil and dampness situation as you on my patch.

Have you tried using wood ash as slug repellant?
It has to be old ashes, though (as in, maybe a year old or so), so as not "burn" the plants.
Works pretty well for me.

/ Karl

I didn't know that wood ash worked on slugs and snails. I used it last year it with burnt bone to increase fruit yeild. It works really well on strawbs

A catapult and brick wall is very gratifing way of dealing with snails: I chuck the slugs on the compost heap where they belong. I have found pakchoi impossible to grow though, as it just gets eaten to stumps by snails dispite growing under pop bottles with egg shell.

 

[tommy the cat]

An interesting article folks....I guess a question that has plagued gardeners for years.
Dave
Toddy 'compunction '
what a great word you dont see that used on here very often!
Word of the day so far.

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

I might dig a Moat

 

[Rebel]

I use a variety of slug killing methods but the best method I have found is, as has been mentioned in this thread, ferramol based slug pellets.

A popular and easy to find brand is called "Growing Success" Advanced Slug Pellets. These are harmless to children and pets and other higher animals. So you won't poison your cat, dog, frogs, kids or even earthworms.

This product is approved for organic use and although more expensive than regular slug pellets it seems to me to be more effective and weather resistant. There is no way I would use the conventional pellets, this is the only chemical I use on my allotments. Read about it here:

http://www.organicplants.co.uk/acatalog/info_AYR_SUND_SLUGPELLETS.html

You can buy it in lots of places including B&Q and Homebase.

My cat almost died from eating somebody's conventional slug pellets (she had to be rushed to the vet foaming at the mouth and convulsing) and other animals will die from them too so avoid them. Read about it here

http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/Metaldeh.htm

I have children and pets visiting my allotments and other wildlife and I don't want them to come into contact with that nasty stuff.

 

[locum76]

I might dig a Moat

nice, you could fill it with beer. it'd be the ultimate beer trap.

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

nice, you could fill it with beer. it'd be the ultimate beer trap.

I could but I think I get fed up with fishing chavs out

 

[cappi]

Left over coffee granuals works a treat i use it over here in france cracking way to use the waste{if your a coffee drinker} not de caf the pucker stuff,it`s the taste and the granuals stick and envelope the gritters.

 

[Toddy]

We bought the ferramol based pellets last week, and I'm delighted to report that they seem to be every bit as effective as the toxic blue ones I still only use them to protect specific plants but I'm well pleased.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[locum76]

hi all.

just for the record, the kids I mentioned earlier were at the farm today and between 30 of them managed to harvest 389 slugs in about half an hour.

The winner got a 2 kilo courgette for his splendid catch of 42 slugs.

with the added effect of our own harvesting, enhanced beer traps and nematodes we are now on top of the situation.

regards

Rob

 

[jimford]

The winner, relieved a 2 kilo courgette for his splendid catch of 42 slugs.

Did he get to keep the slugs?
;^)

Jim

 

[locum76]

If he asked he could have had them.

I believe slugs are excellent bait for chub fishing, does anyone know if there is a market for them as their is for worms in bait shops?

 

[gsfgaz]

i just put a net tent over mine's and they were fine..

 

[fishfish]

the problem i found with sacrificial crops is that to some extent they seem to actually attract the slugs.

have you tried a grapefruit trap?? simply cut little doorways in the eaten grapefruit halves to give entry to the slugs and snails,leave out overnight near threatened plants,they buggers cant resist the smell and will congregate inside,in the morn simply pickupthe full grapefruit halves and burn/chuck over the fence on yer neighbours veg! lol
i am an award winning veg grower and i can vouch for this method 100%,it keeps my 22lb show cabbages safe!