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;D Ohh..Digeroo..I think you 'opened can of worms' and a good debate..Well I suppose mulch will provide damp hidind places for the slugs..but then again...it encourages birds to come and scratch for tasty treats and other predators too.Personally I find more benefits from mulching than not doing it. And haven't had any moore or less slug trouble then before my mulching days.And as for 'encouraging weeds'..absolutely beneficial..but very selective 'encouragement'..Without 'weeds' and mulches I could not grow my veg the way I do now..my plot might not be for everybody's taste and certainly bare soil is not what I'm aiming for...but I only need to look over the hedge to otherside and see how things are grown 'properly' and how much trouble they and their plants are getting with pests and excess work involved keeping things 'so tidy'... ::) err..more like keeping things growing/alive..I'm still amused about other year when their brassicas were like lace work after cabbage butterflies had their 'dinner' and I hadly had a visitor on mine...I stopped counting how many bottles of 'spray' they got through with little effect... ::)At the begining you may have some slug trouble but soon the nature balances the pest and predator situation.
The only things I know that eats slugs is Hedgehogs and possibly Thrushes...
I am trying to understand why people do not mulch
Pigs seem to eat slugs and do a very good job. But unfortunately they eat everything else as well.I am trying to understand why people do not mulch, why they pour on loads of water but do nothing to minimise evaporation.
I am trying to understand why people do not mulchAhh..that's why the question.Well..some are simply not bothered, too much work.. , ingnorance, lack of knowlelge or not able to acess to muching material easily enough (or that's what they think).
I use a lot of mulch and actively encourage certain weeds for mulching and composting and have lot of phacelia. Do you think this encourages slugs and snails?Is this the reason for all the bare soil?