slugs preventive war

Hi,

I would like to start a preventive war against slugs which last summer destroyed many of my plants.

I hear nematode is a good solution. When should i use this?

thanks

 

Between me and my next door neighbour, we have a resident hedgehog that takes care of most of our slugs. I'm not sure how you encourage them to move in, perhaps in my case it the undisturbed area at the bottom of the garden where I chuck my tree clippings that provides good shelter.

On a more practical note, I saw something on a garden program where they put small piles of oatmeal in inconspicuous parts of the garden and covered them with those saucers you put under plant pots, leaving a gap just big enough for the slugs to crawl under. The slugs gorge themselves on the oatmeal then die of dehydration. Apparently it is better than slug pellets as it doesn't make the slugs poisonous to the wild birds and hedgehogs that like to eat them.

 

The oatmeal needs to be dry to work-even covered it will absorb water by osmosis so to myself at least it seems a lot of work for little gain, I am trying nematodes this year in an attempt to use no poisons of any description in the garden, but I will only do so for maybe two seasons, after that I intend to leave the garden to fend for itself pestwise-although I will still manually remove and destroy any I find. I want to bring it back into balance, and don`t want to eliminate any of the pests natural predators. I have built a pond taking care to have a gradient to prevent any hedgehog fatalities and some cover should any frogs or toads decide to move in.

 

GL, use a LIQUID slug killer, you can water it over and around, your plants. Even killing slugs in the ground. And it`s effective for up to 6 months.:gnthb:

 

Having chickens that sometimes wander into the garden from their run I wanted to get a slug killer that would be organic and not harm the chickens or other wildlife. I was recommended the brand name Ferramol, which has ferrous phosphate. The friend who recommended it (he runs an online garden centre) said the following -

"From a commercial aspect the ferrous phosphate ones (main brand name is Ferramol) are the way to go. They cost the same as the older chemicals and work at least as well but the best bit is that they are non-toxic to mammals, amphibians and birds - the sales rep even ate some to show how safe they are! They are made with durum wheat pasta, coloured and laced with the iron compound which is toxic to moluscs."

These pellets are easily bought at any garden centre and it does seem to work-its marketed as "Advanced Slug Killer" but you need to look for Ferramol or Ferrous Phosphate on the bottle. I used it all last summer as we seem to have a plague of slugs. They don't seem to die on the spot either as this stuff makes them go and find somewhere dark, but I've found hardened dead bodies!

Sounds dreadful, but its my plants over slugs any day and the chickens turn their noses up at them.

I've heard that coffee grounds (used), broken egg shells and copper rings work as well, and someone else recommended oatmeal as it reacts badly with their osmosis and dries them out....?

 

daitheplant , would nematode qualify as liquid slug killer?

I've heard its safe for other animals

 

Nematodes are a Biological treatment, GL. Slugs are their foodsource. They will not kill all the slugs. If they do that they will die out themselves.

 

There's one good solution if you live near the coast. Cockle shells!

I've sent a few customers over to the cockle kitchens at Penclawd, where they have stacks of cockle shells pretty much going to waste. They sell them dirt cheap, and because when broken they're sharp the slugs wont go over them.

They're also not as ugly as pellets, and certainly not poisonous. It's about as green as you can get, recycling a waste product to provide an organic slug barrier

 

I suppose eggshells would do a similar job, although cockle shell edges are certainly sharper!

 

One method that was brought to my attention by one of our sons (being green is in the genes!:wink and is ideal with it being a recycling byproduct was to use pistachio shells to keep the slugs at bay.

Of course you have to first crush the shells which in itself is an art-form I use two wooden boards and lay the shells between them and hammer the hell out of them which is brilliant if you had a PMS day I can tell you!:D

Also it helps if someone in your family is a bit on the nutty side I mean you have to collect them shells from somewhere don't you?:hehe:

This will be the first year I'm trying this method although I'm saving them to use over at the allotment because those slugs do so seem to love our young plants.

I will of course let you all know if they work well.Hel.xxx.

 

Just one point, the vast majority of slugs do not eat plants. They are carnivores, they eat each other! Snails are what do the most damage to plants. Most of the types of slugs which do eat plant material can only chew already partly decomposed material. The slug which does the most damage is one you would rarely see to squash, the keeled slug lives in the soil and atttacks root crops especially potatoes.

 

I use those slug/snail stopper mats that are impregnated with copper and they seem to work really well

 

They still seem to like eating my lupins

 

Stand and watch and see if you ever actually see a slug eating a leaf!

 

So do snails succumb to the same pellets and preventative methods as slugs do? Either way its my tender plants versus them.