ARRRGGGHHHHHHHH - SLUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.... I have only put pellets in the greenhouse..... I'm hoping the plants will be big enough to survive the onslaught by the time I get to plant out.... and I was going to try nematodes later too....

 

... I found load of slugs this morning, its been raining on and off for 48 hours now and everything soaking wet. I've also laid a load of slug pellets and 5 empty chinese pot filled with bitter. Got home tonight from work and they were almost all full. :D
Put them on the bird table and the birds are having a party now :eek:

 

honeybee- I know exactly what you mean about killing them. I saw a huge one climbing up my expensive hosta pot (the hosta not the pot!) and was in a quandry. In desperation i put some salt on it. then felt so bad that i washed it off with some water but i think the damage was done. I was really upset (stupid i know) not made any better by my hubby making burning slug inpressions and calling out for its mom!I do go out and look for them but when i find one dont know what to do with it. Think i will get a lidded bucket with some grass in and put them in there before i transport them out into the country. I know their homing instict ig good but if they manage ,what, 2 miles per night on a good day it will take them ages to get back to me!

 

I only salted a slug once - never again! It writhed in agony and would certainly have screamed if it could. Then it went all bubbly and dissolved into a horrible mess.

Now I encourage animals that eat them and avoid growing things like delphiniums. Don't want to get on a soap box, but reading through this topic, it seems that some people are buying lots of slug pellets and they still have got lots of slugs. I buy no slug pellets and have very few slugs. I leave them alone and trust the birds and other creatures to gobble them up. They do the job very well and raise healthy babies who gobble up even more.

 

Hi I'm new to gardening and have been reading various sires to try and help me as I have recently purchased a new house which have a V.large garden(previous owner was obviously a very good gardener).

I have been trying to leave the garden be, other than weeding and pruning so I can see what I have got in the garden(all sorts of things keep appearing. not sure what the majority are but will keep guessing ).

However the garden seems to crawing in slugs & snails. I've tried picking them out by hand and disposing of them elsewhere but this is a bit of a major task.

I read recently that planting garlic discourages slugs is this right? and if so how do I go about it and are there any plants that don't like having garlic near them?

any advice would be welcome :D

 

You are very wise to wait and see what comes up. Hope you find some lovely surprises. As regards the slugs and snails -

Have you got a lot of undergrowth, dead vegetation, stones or other places where they can hide from the birds?
If so - have a good tidy up

What are the slugs and snails eating? They come to your garden for food and stay in it because it offers shelter. Can you get rid of the plants that they are eating? They may go elsewhere if the larder is not to their liking.

Dig the soil over and hoe as often as you can.They don't seem to like loose friable soil.

No easy quick fix, but you will reduce them if not entirely eradicate them.

 

Here we go again... please follow Hornbeams very wise instructions, this person knows what he/she is talking about. I've never used a slug pellet in my life and I have a relatively slug/snail free garden and I grow delphinium and hostas. Organic gardeners have to have patience and in the end nature will balance itself. Lazy G you are also very wise in that you have realised that there are other, less cruel, ways to deal with pests, there is nothing wrong in taking your slugs and snails for a ride in the countryside and if you take them out far enough you should be rid of them for a while yet.

 

The more I read from you Hornbeam the more I like you, you are very, very, sensible and I just wish other gardeners would give up on chemicals and pesticides. As you've so rightly said, it doesn't matter how many slug pellets a gardener uses, the slugs still return year after year. You and I know what it's like to have a slug/snail free garden for the rest of our gardening days and I think we can be very smug about that, don't you. By the way I use a lot of hardy geranium as well.

 

Luv you too, Daisy. I guess people just have to find out for themselves. Some resent us preaching 'cos it sounds like some kind of hippy type religion. But its all so simple. I know we don't get so many slugs in the drier eastern parts of Britain, but I've gardened in the Cotswolds too. Organics work - Poisons don't. Its a simple as that.

 

I'm fed up of holding 'party' after 'party' in my garden. My broad beans don't have flowers like normal people have, they have slugs hanging off the stalks and you should have seen the 'party animals' heading for 'His' hanging baskets when I put them on the wheely bin to catch some rain - even climbing up the wheely bins! For preventative measures I use egg-shells and chalk liberally scattered around the roots of all my precious plants. Trouble is - I think my slugs have learned to parachute in to avoid the chalk and egg shells. If anyone has some really good organic tips, or know a thrush in search of a good holiday venue, please let me know?

 

Don't know what else I can say, matyr4. If you care to read back over this topic and then put any specific questions, I'll try to help organically.

 

I've posted this site on another sluggy thread, some good preventatives!
http://www.greengardener.co.uk/slugextra.htm
Alpine grit is good, and I find copper very effective. Cheap ways of getting copper wire are stripping electrical wiring and unravelling copper scouring pads. Then wrap the wire round pots, trays, legs of staging in greenhouse, or round the plant itself.

 

I haven't used slug pellets for years - and have lots of leaf cover and other slug hiding places. I have come to the conclusion that either I have very effective natural controls - frogs and the like, or they have so much choice of food, that their chewing has little impact.

My hostas are usually untouched until very late in the season.

Snails - now that is a whole different ball game, especially where my delphs are concerned, as they love to snip the flowering stems off. Night patrols and a plastic bag is my control in extremis.

 

It might be worthwhile to carry out a survey of members' gardens. Which ones are slug free, where are they and do they have any common factors: soil type, rainfall, organic etc. I just wonder if the inclusion of wild flowers in a garden makes a difference. I mean - slugs and snails evolved to eat native plants long before we introduced garden plants. So if we grow what they have been eating for thousands of years, they may leave the exotics alone. Just a thought.

 

That would be interesting. It would have to include slugs and snails, as others have noted the proportion of slugs to snails varies in various parts of the country [snails- East Anglia, slugs- West Country] but snails do just as much eating!
What happened to 'post a poll'?