Slugs

Being new to gardening I'm also new to the slug problem. I have noticed how many there are, hundreds, and the rain isn't helping matters.

I love the idea of the beer trap and as I brew my own beer there's always loads literally on tap. I am going to have to give it a try, I'm not wanting to use pellets as the poisoned slugs will fall of the hostas and into the pond, and dead koi smell horrible.

 

pellets for me unfortunately, but they are organic ones (if that helps!!)

 

yep, they're the ones i use

 

Blue pellets for me in pots and beer traps also used. I also go and pick them by hand, if I find then during the day I put my foot on them and the blackbird and maggies have them, at night in a old milk carton and boiling water, I usually get about 40 a night.

Rusty

 

Got the beer

 

Put a little roof over the traps, stop em filling with rain

 

I have used the blue slug pellets, but they don't work if they get too wet. I also have a hedgehog who consumes a fair number of them (s/he lives in a specially constucted log pile from when my neighbours cut some trees for me and I couldn't shift or cut the pieces smaller myself), otherwise picking by hand in the evening. I haven't worked out how to put the collected slugs somewhere they will stay until the hedgehog gets at them, so generally I put them in the compost bin to help break everything down, they then have a 20ft journey to get back to the veg patch.

 

If it stops raining I can put the beer out

 

Pellets and Beer traps for me too!
I too got 4 cans of very cheap morrisons bitter.
But don't tell anyone because if they drown in that someone may call the RSPCA for cruelty to slugs and snails.
It's not fit human consumption

 

I might give my beer traps another try , not had much success with them over the last 2 years . Maybe a drop of Efes Xtra in them will do the trick !

 

I stumbled across a site once dedicated to the most humane way to kill a slug ,if I remember right it was cut them in half with a pair of scissors
Personally I don`t care how they die as long as they do

http://www.sluglady.com/page_1228310987312.html found it here`s the link for the faint hearted No not quite the right site

 

Harry come out to garden in morning & has to drag a Zig out of his Efes Xtra trap.

 

Got some old roof tiles in shed ,I shall work tomorrow on a nice little home for them to drown in ,ducked out front door and pushed one behind planter near the badly affected lilies ,bit sheltered so hope not much rain in it ,if successful i will post pic tomorrow

 

The slugs are just dripping off the foliage in my garden. Night and day. Just found one sitting on a gorgeous unopened regale lily bud chomping out huge chunks. Grrr.

 

God help us if these spanish slugs take hold they breed even quicker
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18672728

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2012-07-06/slugs-destroy-west-country-crops/