Dwarf beans eaten over night. Help?

Discussion in 'Pests, Diseases and Cures' started by VeggieNovice, May 12, 2022.

  1. VeggieNovice

    VeggieNovice Apprentice Gardener

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    Hi all

    I'm a new gardener and so could do with some advice please.

    I had dwarf french beans in the ground. They were netted and checked all the time for aphids and so on. Woke up to bare 1 inch stems. No idea what's had them. No trails from slugs. Cannot see any caterpillars. There were no aphids from what I've been seeing. I'm at a loss.

    I've become a little obsessed with checking all of my plants every morning and every evening for aphids and slugs, snails and so on. I've planted a few companion plants around the garden to try to help with the pests. I also have a pollinator area with quite a few different plants to attract good critters in the hopes they'd be my saving grace however those plants are all still small and many haven't flowered yet so not getting the full benefits yet.

    Has anybody encountered this before and how did you deal with it? What could be the culprit. Difficult to tell as there aren't even any leaves to see how they've been munched.
    How do you deal with pests in general?
    I don't want to use chemical as we want to eat our harvest but also I don't want to upset nature.

    Thanks
     
  2. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    My bet would be slugs and snails especially if you have just had a drop of rain and the soil surface is wet.
    They don't tend to leave trails when it's very damp.
     
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    • Black Dog

      Black Dog Gardener of useful things

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      Definitely Slugs. Snails are normally better behaved. They nibble but don't eat everything in their path.

      Rain attracts them, whereas dry and rough soil keeps them at bay.
       
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      • groundbeetle

        groundbeetle Gardener

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        My first attempt at a slug trap, I had a look at it today having put it down a few days ago. A 500 gram flat, shallow shaped (Fage) yogurt pot filled about two thirds full with half water and half stale Peroni. I found two slugs in it, drowned and completely dead.

        I also today found a Salvia splendens "Blaze of Fire" seedling I have been nurturing for a couple of months, had about eight leaves on it, and something has been eating it, probably slugs. I did also add a few ferrous phosphate slug pellets today. It rained yesterday, so that is probably when the Salvia seedling got eaten by slugs.

        I had read about beer traps for slugs but never tried one before, as I don't usually have beer around. Slugs do seem perfectly capable of climbing into a 500 gram Fage yogurt pot two thirds filled with beer and water, and drowning.
         
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          Last edited: May 13, 2022
        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          We used to use slug pubs. Beer is by far the best attractor for them as it's the yeast in the beer that draws them in.

          We don't get too much problem with them in our garden as we are in a very dry area of the country but in wet periods we used to be bothered by slugs. Slug pubs helped considerably but we used to bury the pubs in the soil with just the rims above the surface. This made them more accessible.

          Another good way of getting rid of slugs is 'slug patrol' on damp evenings. Slugs love damp and wet conditions and tend to go to work overnight. At the time when dusk is turning to night is their busiest commuting time so you need a container, a torch and a large leaf if you have one. You can start patrol on the lawn when there is only just about enough light to see unaided and progress to the flower beds later. The slugs usually start their parties on the lawns and progress to the plants.

          How you dispose of them is up to you but the fairly common way is to drop them into a container that has salt water in it.

          This is an interesting article from Slovakia

          The Slug Pub - The Permaculture Research Institute
           
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          • Black Dog

            Black Dog Gardener of useful things

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            True, but they also attract every slug in the neighborhood if the wind is right. So for every slug you catch, you can be sure there are three others already on their way. And long journeys make them hungry, so they stop from time to time and eat what's available. That's why I don't use them. There's already enough of them without hanging a sign "free beer" on the outside of my garden
             
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            • shiney

              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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              Put the slug pubs in your neighbours' gardens. :ideaIPB:
               
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              • infradig

                infradig Gardener

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                Remember to tread lightly upon the leopard slug, Limax maximus, for they are (generally) on our side. See the glowing testamonial from Peter Thompson of the Game &Wildlife Conservation Trust-
                February - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
                 
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