Curse those slugs

Hi I live in a area where slugs rule, what vegtables can I grow that slugs won't eat ?

 

Hi,

What side of the country are you in, the wet West, dry Easy , cold North ?

Are you growing direct into gaden soil or raised bed or pots ?

What do you want to grow and what crops have been worst affected ?

What about wildlife, do you encourage birds and frogs who eat slugs and snails ?

What preventative measures have you used, eg copper tape, various things like gravel, eggshells etc ?

 

I am the cold north of northern ireland cool wet springs and autumn's.
Have grown potatos before slugs dont touch them have grown beetroot used crushed egg shells but slugs had them and my pumpkins and they had my peas last year even with eggshell round them .
Growing directly in to ground its a 3m square plot .
Like the idea of growing broad beans and garlic, but basically want to grow anything that is productive and slug resistant so any suggestions welcome as am excited at growing any veg lol I have grown hedging in garden and have stacked old logs in damp corner of garden to attract wild life

 

Have you considered tall fruit like Raspberries, Blackberries, Currants or the minature Apples, Pears,Plums etc
Strawberries possible but more in elevated locations like wall pouches as in the ground they will be gone before you see them red.

We grow runner beans but need to protect them with copper tape in the young stages.

If you can add some form of water, anything like a 10ltr bucket upwards. In late winter the frogs look for water to spawn and they are not fussy as long as there is something they can get hold of to climb out. eg a small piece of tree branch or untreated wood.
If they are happy and have cover they will stay in the garden all year eating the little slugs which generally do most of the damage.

 

I have no real problem with slugs, or any pests for that matter, except for blackbirds that have learned that pots of fresh compost usually means there's seeds in there.

My garden is what I loosely term as a townie's idea of natural, as in I've deliberately made it that way. Some things I've learned over the years:

You simply can't defeat all the pests.

You can control them by working with nature.

Nasturtium grows vigorously enough that once established, it grows faster than pests can eat it. And eat it they do. It's like an all you can eat buffet for just about every garden pest. Grow some nasturtium and they'll flock to that more so than your other plants.

If you have room, a wildlife pond might help. I'm not sure if frogs eat slugs. I once read that they do but I've never seen it happen.

If you place some strategically positioned flat rocks here and there, the birds will use them to smash open snails. The flat rock, along with the flat piece of wood laid on an inconspicuous patch of soil will also serve as a daytime/dry weather hideout for slugs. Go out in the daytime, turn said rocks or bits of old wood over, and dispatch any sleeping slugs however you see fit.

Think about trees and shrubs to provide safe cover for birds that want to hunt your garden pests without themselves being hunted by the local cats. And a few neglected corners with anchor points for webs will quickly be colonised by spiders, who will munch your aphids. As an aside, said cobwebs also provide a supermarket for the smaller insectivorous birds, who occasionally burgle the webs for the flies caught in it. It's simultaneously amusing and tragic to watch.

 

You describe it as 3m square. In that sized plot you can police it intensively.
Suggest you clear all hiding places within ,say 5m, on all sides. Remove grass if its a path. Replace with woodchip/bark. Consider putting 'slug pubs' outside the plot.Grow plants and plant out when they are 75-100mm tall. ( Use ferric phosphate pellets in case they work for you.) Visit regularly at sunset on damp days and pick off and destroy all slugs.
You will never eliminate them entirely but every little helps.