Young, slug-prone perennials question

I treated myself to some delphiniums, hollyhocks and echinacea plants to add some colour to the garden. To be honest, I expected them to be more established than they are (silly me - probably should have known better by mail order). I naively thought they would be in flower, but these are very young plants (no more than about 10 - 15cm).
Last time I tried to grow delphiniums, the slugs massacred them before they could get beyond about 3cm! The garden is awash in slug pellets, but that doesn't seem to stop them from eating my plants. I think we attract every slug within a hundred mile radius.
So, is there anything I can do to get these young perennials past the slug-tender phase? Can I expect any of them to flower this year? (if the slugs don't destroy them first).
I usually plant everything in containers, but I'm undecided what to do with these. I think if I plant them out, the slug damage will be even worse.

 

Ring of salt seems to be the only thing that's working for me, that and killing every slug and snail I find

 

Ive been using all sorts .. Ashes,sawdust,garlic spray,rock salt and table salt
Ive sent a fair few hundred to landfill too

 

I'd be inclined to pot them up and grow them on for next year TT...it's unlikely they'll flower this year and if they do they'll be insignificant ...Pot them on and cover the top of the pot with grit and just keep checking for the slimey ones

 

They don't seem to like the coffee grounds that I put down...................

 

I've tried everything. These slugs couldn't care less about coffee grounds, crushed egg shells, beer traps, and obviously flippin' slug pellets! The pellets do deal with them, but not before they've had a good old munch. We have a gravel garden, with everything in pots on gravel. People say slugs don't like gravel. They are wrong.
To be honest, I have probably wasted my money - I only bought these perennials because I thought they were ready established in order to overcome the slug problem. I'm a bit annoyed because I wouldn't have bought them at all if I'd realised they were such young plants - I don't hold out too much hope for them. Hey ho! Dratted slugs!

 

Slugs don't like Mr Snuggles, the Baseball Bat

 

Planting delphiniums is like ringing the dinner bell for slugs, they love them. Used to be easy to grow them years ago, there was plenty of hedgehogs around to make short work of the slugs.

Val

 

I use pet friendly slug pellets, and loads of slug traps I fill with beer. Seems to work well enough. As before my Lupins, Rudbeckias, Delphiniums and Echinacea all seemed to constantly get eaten.

 

I can't see slugs crossing salt...but wouldn't it poison the soil after rain?

 

Can you grow the plants in pots somewhere indoors for this year so that they can establish themselves in a slugfree zone and then plant them out next year when they will be bigger and so more resistant?

My hostas are almost all in pots with a band of copper tape around the pot about half way up. I make sure that the pots are far enough away from everything else so that the leaves don't touch anything and in three years I've never found a slug on them until last week when I moved the pots so that I could power wash the patio and just for one day one of the pots was in contact with the leaves of a bush. That plant is already full of chewed leaves, the others are still pristine. That suggests to me that the copper tape works.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have anywhere indoors I could grow them. I was thinking of trying the copper tape actually, although my problem is that I have a a very small garden and I'm very fond of plants! So everything is a bit clustered. I have hostas too (given to me), and this year they are flowering and huge, but they are also slug chewed, and I've just accepted it. If I can get the others to flower, I can live with some slug damage.
I think I might just do what I can with them and not make that mistake again. My original plan was not to buy anything slug prone as they are such a problem. I forgot myself momentarily, in the belief that these were established plants that I could enjoy for at least a year before they got eaten. I might just need to write this one off to experience and research better next time. I'm going to give the copper a try, but I'm not sure I'll be able to find a spot in my garden where they aren't touching something else.

 

Pot size should be indicated - if you want "soon" then you need 2L or better and they will be £10 each or so. Plants in 9cm pots available for those who want cheaper, and to grow on a bit, and Plugs for people who will grow on a lot! before planting out.

I don't have a problem with my established Delphs. They are out of the ground, in the Spring, before the Slugs have formed their army. But young, newly planted, ones are different. I grow them on to 2L, and plant out in the spring after forcing them a bit in the greenhouse, so that they are 18" tall or so, which seems to deter the slugs.

Too many? Too many acts as a deterrent, and the slugs avoid the pellets. I think the instructions say one pellet every 4" - no closer.

 

Pot size is good to know. I don't think the pot size was given, but I should have known from the price, really. Not to worry, I will know for next time! (Or I will just stick to garden centres where I can see what I'm buying).

I'm not sure why the slug pellets aren't working. There are only so many places in the garden I can put them, as I don't want the toddler, dog or cat to come across them (although I think I'm going to switch to the other variety for this reason). There are also only a few spots where they don't get rained on directly. I have to replenish them when it rains, so maybe there are too many within the areas I can put them. I do find dead slugs and snails, but they still find time to damage the plants before they perish. My garden is really a 'yard,' and is the only one in our street that has been turned into a proper 'garden.' I just figured we were attracting everyone else's slugs to the buffet.

 

Trouble with them is the limited range. I find (apart from them being expensive) that they stock the latest Fad that marketing have told them to, and frequently they are not robust plant varieties.

If you want Delphiniums then buying some plants from Blackmore and Langdon, and looking after them carefully [at that price!], would be a good plan. Postage may kill you for a small order though? Their varieties will probably be taller than anything you can buy anywhere else. All the ones which have names from Knights of the Round Table are good, but are grown from F1 seed (to save money buy some yourself, Nicky's Nursery has the best selection I think, or maybe Choice Plants on eBay [sorry, forgotten who!]), but B & L's varieties will be superior for sure
www.blackmore-langdon.com
www.nickys-nursery.co.uk

There are some good nurseries with quality plants online if you want to go that route. Crocus.co.uk for example, although they fit into the "popular varieties" category a bit. They fulfil orders for RHS mailorder, so that probably says something for the quality of the plants and their customer service etc.

I like things from Cotswold Garden Flowers. Lots of stuff, much of it unusual, prices are OK, quality is good. Anything in the description with a high "Bob's Score" is almost certainly worth putting in your garden
www.cgf.net

I haven't done it myself (no pets / children in the main part of the garden to have to worry about), but I think that putting a "roof" (tile, or somesuch) an inch or so off the ground, slug pellets underneath, will cause the slugs to huddle there in the damp/shade ... and much the pellets. The rain won't wash them away so quickly either, and the pets/children shouldn't get to them neither.