The war on slugs

I found that copper tape round pots is very effective but beer traps do seem to attract more slugs

 

Virtually none of my seedling have survived this year. Between the cold weather and the little blighters either seedlings didn't germinate or got eaten as soon as they did.

 

Maybe you have found the mysterious green cellar slug.

Slugs - RHS survey to help research / RHS Gardening

If you have the green cellar slug, according to the article above they are not plant pests.

 

Well done ! Just wait till it rains......

 

The last tally was on a wet night....so I'm sort of winning

 

During the latest 3 night-time missions, I have barely found any slugs. I'm sure most of it is down to the warm dry weather, but I have also done the following:

• Removed the beer trap. This made an instant difference, I went from killing 10-15 slugs in one night to around 5 the next day. I don't think I'm ever using a beer trap again.
• Moved some bird feeders from the other side of the garden to the problem one, so now birds hang out there.
• The nematodes might have started working (I applied them 3 days before the reduction in numbers).
• I rearranged some pots that were next to the problem area, as I figured that they probably created a really nice shaded wet environment for them.
• Of course manually killing them will have also helped bring the number down.

 

Still plenty here - mainly under pots, so it's always worth checking those on a daily basis if possible. The small snails are around during the day on various plants, so it's easier to pick them off when you're out there.
The problem with copper tape is - if there are already slugs/snails inside the pot, or some eggs, it creates the opposite effect and holds them in. I'd need shares in a copper mine for the amount I'd need here. I use metal pots whenever I can, which helps with vulnerable plants, but you can still get some if re using compost or soil. In the ground, it's pointless trying to get the upper hand here.
This year has been worse than ever, as there's not been proper winter weather to speak of to help keep them under control, and the warm spring meant the soil warmed up quicker, and plants started growing earlier than usual, so it was a perfect storm for them.

That's why I grow everything on until large enough to cope better @latimer. Even then, they can still be eaten, depending on what they are. Sweet peas are a particular favourite, if put in the ground, so that's always hit and miss.

 

I lost most of my early planted cosmos. I have six plants more than ready to be planted out - but I don't think I'm ready.
They're pale yellow, not Xanthos. Maybe snails don't like yellow ones Fat chance!

 

I hate to tell you, @BB3, they do munch the yellow ones, wretched blighters! I have given up on Cosmos, even in pots.

 

Oh well. I'll put them in bigger pots for now

 

Slug kebab. A little chili pepper and a little salt, dip in olive oil and place on the barbie.

 

Actually, they are probably a great source of protein, so maybe we should farm herds of them.

 

I think it was Fearnley Wittingstall (sp?) in one of his Cottage Garden series who tried cooking slugs. They're just snails sans shells - right? It was not a success

 

He probably didn’t cook them long enough. They have to be black enough for the kebab stick to be burned through.