Slug and Snail Grand National - place your bets

@BenCotto did you have other plants in the beds too? If so, are they noticeably less nibbled? Or did only the stupidest slugs get trapped
I've used "slug pubs" before, but admittedly not consistently enough as I don't drink beer and thought it a waste to buy just for slugs. But I always have marmite around!

 

Would be interesting to discover whether this shows a preference for a particular ingredient/bait or just 'popping to the pub' on the corner. (ie the closest)
There is a DEFRA funded research project underway; its one year in to a 3 year programme. Details can be found here>
http://slimers.co.uk/

 

Hi Caroline, as mentioned in post #24 the bed was empty apart from a few self sown foxgloves and a dusting of verbena bonariensis. It will be planted with dahlias soon. The bed to the left is where I put sweet peas, currently hardening off in the cold frame and to the right it is strawberries, untouched, and ground ready to take French beans, but not yet.

You can get a sense of the layout here. The runner bean canes are in the ‘open’ garden, what we call the kitchen garden. The sweet peas are in a different cold frame from that seen in this picture.

 

Brilliant!

 

Thanks @BenCotto - if you repeat the trial some time, it might be worth having some tempting plants there too and see if the slugs pubs work, or they go for a metaphorical curry (ie quick munch on the plants) before the pub!

 

I shall Caroline. When the weather warms up and the dahlias are planted I’ll see if the slugs’ heads are turned by marmite.

 

@BenCotto, it might also be interesting to give it a week and then put the traps out again. Will the numbers be back to square one?

 

I expect slug numbers are strongly influence by the weather in any particular week. I think we have all witnessed a scourge of slugs and snails, appearing almost from nowhere, on a wet but mild summer’s evening after a dry spell.