Slug explosion!!!

Anyone else had an explosion in the number of slugs this past week or two? They've decimated a dahlia to nothing and munched right through the stem on another. Somehow it's still supporting a flower.
I went on holiday for the first 2 weeks of august and didn't have much damage, now they're eating something new every night. Just put my pansy plugs out in trays and had a couple eaten. Even worse they seem to have made their way into the 2nd shelf of my mini greenhouse! What's going on and when will they kindly sod off?

 

It's that time of year when slugs and spiders get huge and Togs are scared

 

I seem to have mostly snails and more of them big orange slugs(spanish)?chickens wont eat them for some reason
Ive stopped removing the usual uk slugs so they stand a chance

 

I've hardly any snails but loads of those horrible orange slugs, they really give me the creeps. My friend picked one off and it still had a pansy leaf in its mouth!

 

Mostly snails here too,I've noticed their shells are very thin too.Every time I pick one up my fingers go right through

 

Only empty shells here, the birds must be eating them.
Just remembered I have a lupin which has been planted out over 2 months, and still not had a chance to grow bigger. Soon as a new leaf comes up another older leaf gets munched.

 

Yes yes! Slug and snail explosion last week too. I resorted to liquid killer again in selective spots which seems to be the only thing to do the trick that borders on animal friendlyish. Otherwise it's a case of picking them off manually. I used nematodes over a week ago but that seemed to make virtually no difference at all. I did apply them during the rain so wondered if they were just washed away.

They're eating everything though, all of my cyclamen flowers munched, fuchsia leaves, ferns, astilbe, Alchemilla - many plants that aren't usually on the menu. I had a new dahlia which was almost decimated, and they're even eating my new echineceas.

Ironically the only plants so far untouched are my two hostas in pots with copper tape barriers!!

I know pots are a hassle to water but I'm favouring them for this reason for next year.

For most of this year I have tried to be organic and safe to wildlife but I simply have to turn to the poisons in my garden otherwise I may as we'll not bother - it's just not enjoyable if every single thing I plant is destroyed.

I've ordered some ferrous sulphate pellets to apply in window boxes and beneath some harder hit and bushed perrenials in small doses to try and hide them from birds and our cat. Apparently they are slightly less dangerous as long as applied scarcely.

That said, I do plan to build a bug house this weekend to try and attract more ground beetles and millipedes as natural enemies. And I'll give the nematodes one last shot in late September to try and reduce the population before winter.

I'm also going to collect every single fallen leaf this autumn. Last year I left them thinking I was helping the soil but I suspect I was just leaving a winter time slug and snail buffet.


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My Hostas are more like cobwebs! Which is good as they're companion plants to my Tricyrtis which are mostly undamaged

It was the mild winter Jack. If it had been a harsh winter the slimeys that were lazy enough to overwinter under leaves would have been toast by the spring.

 

Here is the slugwatch site,i think its been posted before ...
http://www.slugwatch.co.uk/?page_id=13
I found it interesting but there isnt a message saying kill all spanish slugs on site so maybe i should stop doing that

 

Like JackJJW, my hostas have also remained safe in tall pots with copper tape. However, that hasn't been the case in my local Garden Centre where they're selling a load of (heavily chewed) named varieties off for £1 each so I've bought a few and will be dividing them soon hoping that I've picked up a few bargains.