Topic: Slugs

[Lupin]

:'( :'(
Hello all,
I'm new on here & i don't know my way just yet also i feel unsure of how things are done,
I wonder if anybody can help me..we have a huge amount of Slugs in our Garden..i don't know how come we have Millions but we do,
How can i get rid of them? We have a Rabbit & i don't want to use  pellets..
they can't come from next door as we have a 6ft wall all around.. i know they can climb I'm at the end of my rope now tried eggshells ..no good & they don't go near the Beer traps now..maybe one or two but not many ..PLEASE HELP
Thanks Lupin

[flower]

HI lupin i am sure you will get lots of advice re slugs from a4a members all i can suggest is what ive found works for me use copper tools re  small tools as the slugs dislike the copper whereas metal seems to attract them also u can try garlic spray on produce and i have also found bird grit to be a great detterent too and also the extract of the yukka is said to be very effective too available as a spray .You will get many kinds of advice you have nothing to lose by trying them all happy growing

Ann-Marie ;)

[flower]

and if im honest in true evil fashion i would go out there armed with a very sharp stick and an evil glint hehe  ;D :o

[derbex]

Hugh was impressed by coffee as a slug inhibitor -try this link :

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,162.msg1913.html#msg1913

[Yellow Petals]

Hi Maureen,

It's me, Sammy!  Glad you have finally posted and welcome! :)

Try posting a hello on The Shed and let a few peeps know you are here :) xx

Sammy.

[Doris_Pinks]

Lupin, I feel for you! I have slugs the size of hippos! (OK it may be a slight exageration!!)  The best thing I did to keep the population at bay was to install a pond in the garden, after having it for 5 years, the population in the garden has decreased dramatically, and we love to hear the frogs singing to each other! ;D
Now my plot on the other hand is a slug heaven! I oversow to allow for the loses! I also now start a lot more at home and wait until they are a fair size, to give them a bit of help, before they take their chances on the plot.
I have a small prefabricated pond that I am going to put in on the plot, I just can't decide where!  DP

[Mrs Ava]

I am with flower, torch and night time patrol with a knife.  I am frequently amazed how many you can send to that slug friendly lettuce leaf in the sky!  I found very very sharp grit seemed to help around some plants but that is about all I can advise.  We really try not to use the dreaded pellets in the garden because of the kids, which means I have given up trying to grow some plants, but my hostas, slugs fave, always survive the year perfectly!  Curious.

[Lupin]

;)
Thank you all very much for you're tips :) & will copy them down as soon as i get chance,
I Told Himself i had joined a lovely helpful Allotment board & he's thrilled to bits...I love the pond idea because we had one years ago at the old house as we had a humongous garden that i miss :'( because we had good soil )this is a wide garden & partly sunk & all clay :(Maybe we will be able to have a small one..
but unless Frogs can jump 6ft walls we will have to adopt some
At the moment i have some drunken slugs to
 squash ...they get drunk on Beer fumes ;D
Thank you again
Maureen xxx

[gavin]

I think I'd want to "get" ;D as many as I could BEFORE it gets warm enough for them to breed?

The most common - the grey field slug (Deroceras reticulatum) breeds in April/May and again in September/October. The garden slug (Arion hortensis) has one generation per year, breeding mainly in mid to late summer.

All best - Gavin

PS Read somewhere that mowing the lawn at night kills slugs by the thousand!  ;D ;D ;D

[Jesse]

PS Read somewhere that mowing the lawn at night kills slugs by the thousand!  ;D ;D ;D

My neighbours will seriously believe I've lost the plot if I start that  ;D ;D ;D  Eeeuuwww, gooey mower blades  :P

[Multiveg]

Salt was something my dad used in the garden. You could see the slugs squirm.

In an online game I play, there are rockslugs and you need salt to kill them.

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Hugh was impressed by coffee as a slug inhibitor -try this link :

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,162.msg1913.html#msg1913

I read this article and took note of the idea.

Late 2003 I started saving the dregs from my caffetiere and put these used ground coffee dregs around my lettuce very effectively - no snails, no slugs got through, and rain didn't wash the dregs away.

However, if I do find any slugs or snails, they get thrown over my neighbours fence.   I have a brick anvil to break the shells of the snails, as otherwise, the ducks have difficulty swallowing them.   They (slugs and snails) make lovely eggs !

[Palustris]

A snail hibernarium! Sadly the hens and ducks had a feast. A snail mortuary!

[Doris_Pinks]

Feed them on Bran and eat em Eric??!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Multiveg]

Think we are going to give nemaslug a go this year...

[Doris_Pinks]

I did that one year Multi, I didn't notice a vast difference for the cost, but then I was gardening on heavy clay soil :'( Now I have encorporated more compost etc. it may be worth me giving it another go!

[tim]

Beer traps have  been suggested under a potato thread, but surely these can't lure keel slugs to the surface? I'm sure that they would rather have the potatoes? = Tim