Why are slug pellets bad?

I always read that slug pellets are bad and that one should try not to use them. What I'm wondering is: who are they bad for? I mean, obviously they are bad for slugs, that goes without saying, but who else suffers when they are used?

I have tons of slugs, and hardly any birds (who might eat them) in the garden. There are 5 cats next door, so I think the birds stay away (apart from the odd pigeon). I don't really want to put bird feeders out, because it'll make the 5 cats come over into my garden.I also can't bear to collect them / squish them / drown them / dispose of them. But I do want fewer of them. So I have been using the dreaded pellets - but I feel I ought to know more about why that's a bad idea. :(

 

The concern is that of secondry poisoning eg thrushes, frogs etc and the animals that them. Also IMO a sumwhat miss guided fear of poisoning children and pets.

Personally I dont use pellets as I think they actually attract in slugs, look unn atractive and for the reason of secondry poisoning.

I find grit to be the best deternt and or copper tape and beer traps.

 

Hello,

and after spending another morning walking around my garden, shaking my head and tutting (after pelletting and putting slug stoppa round every single plant I have), they don`t work!!


I saw someone in the garden centre earlier on today who swore by sprinkling lime everywhere.

Does this work anyone?

Probably not.

 

until it rains ...... !!!

 

Pardon my ignorance but how does one apply copper tape? There is no chance of beer being given to slugs in the house and I already have a gravel garden so would grit still work?

 

The copper works by giving a static chage and repelling the slugs, You can buy it in pree formed rings, a flexible tape or use copper pipe and solder fittings in order to make a barrier across the top of a raised bed.

I use the grit around salad croppers, bedding plants or as a capping layer on pots eg hostas.

 

i agree chuck-I found one halfway up the stairs last night whistling the tune to mission impossible!!!

 

Does grit work for snails as thats what I get also where do I get the grit from a garden centre?

 

i love ground coffee,i drink it very strong,black no sugar,:thumb:
then every day i empty the filter into a basin specially reserved for it,if i use any eggs i throw the shells in,then i take it into the shed to a bigger bowl and keep adding to it while its drying out .
then i crush the egg shells not too fine, mix well and sprinkle around my plants in pots in the ground, everywhere in fact
if i see slugs after rain ,everybody has them,:eek: i sprinkle with salt i don`t care how they die as long as they do,:D but i have seen very little slug damage so that seems to work for me :thumb::thumb:

 

Thanks Pam


Cheers for that, one I haven`t tried yet.

Can`t stand coffee though, but for a good cause I`ll do it.

 

Lollipop if you drink that much coffee youll be up all night so be able to get get the little suckers in the dead of night when they arnt expecting you

 

In my experience pellets DO work. I only use them may be twice a year, in spring and autumn when all the slugs are invading massively. I sprinkle them all around the more appetizing plants and keep the cats in for one or two days. In winter and summer they mostly sleep. I crush every snail or slug I meet around (Ifeel a bit bad but it´s life). It´s all about strategy. Take some rounds of the garden early in the morning, or when it rains, even if it is not nice to be outside. Rainy days are unpleasant for us, but they are the best days for lots of gardening tasks. Repotting, transplanting, sowing grass, crushing snails. The big advantage of organically crashed snails it that they can be thrown in the compost, or left for other animals to eat. Any poisoned snail must be destroyed in some other way. It is a yucky task, but it is all about getting used to it. You can train yourself to do anything if you put your mind to it.

 

I try not to rely on any one method to the exclusion of another.

The pot has a copper tape around it.
Grit lies everywhere, with a smattering of pellets thrown in for good measure, interspersed with beer traps.
Then if it gets past that, I will be standing guard at 4 in the morning with a shotgun.
Damn, there goes another plant.

 

You obviously haven't read about my SAS slugs.:D

 

lol jack.. me thinks your obsessed. I think the beer theory is shot at. I live right by a pub so why dont the little blighters go straight to the pub for their beer? I give them a helping hand and when ever I find a snail it gets a better launching than a boeing 707