Topic: notches in broad bean leaves and slugs

[emma h]

My boad beans have notches round all the leaves, but seem to be growing and flowering fine.  I have inspected them closely and not found any bugs on them. Should I leave them alone or treat them with anything?  I'm assuming it is some sort of weevil?

Seeing as they are the only thing not to have been ravaged by slugs I'd really like to keep them!!

The slugs have killed all my beans, peas, lettuces and carrots so I have put some prganic slug pellets down and ordered some nemaslug. Should I just put the nemaslug in the raised beds or does it need to be put on the paths too?  Is there anything else that would be a good way of getting the slugs (the more evil the better)...do beer traps work?

[weedbusta]

beer traps work, curry posted a good one using a slug pellets in a margarine tub with a hole in the side. (or jumping on them.)

[Tee Gee]

The notches will be the work of the pea/bean weevil, and as you have noticed they have not affected you plants.

Slugs/snails the best way I have found is in two parts firstly I like to know where they hide out during the day, if I can't find this then the second part is I create places for them eg.

At the start of the season I put down a plank of wood on some convenient spot, tilt it on a couple of stones so that the slugs /snails can get under.

I let them acclimatise to this new abode for a few days then I trickle a few slugs pellets along the edge of the board so that on their way out they might have a taste,failing that I might get them on the way back.

All I have to do then is shovel them up.

Similarly if I do know where they hide out during the day I trickle a few pellets across the route they will take on their nightly forages.

What I have found now is although I have a few I don't have hoards of them, these I usually get by placing just a few around the perimeter of a newly planted bed.

I think winter digging helps as well because this fetches the slug/snail eggs on to the surface for my resident robin to feed on.

I don't expect to beat them but at least I have got them reasonably under control.