ARG! slugs

[cambourne7]

Hi All,

Just been out to check and slugs have muched 3 trays of plants down to soil level :( i can't see them so they must be hiding in the soil or in a little nook somewhere so i have said to the husband that tomorrow when i get home from work and if the weather is good i am going to spend an hour in the garden dismantling the greenhouse shelving (4 shelf type with perished cover so its wrapped in industrial cling film!) and move it to another part of the garden. Will give everything a clean and will get the slug pellets out!

Really annoyed as i wanted to spend thursday morning planting these out :( Not sure they will recover but will give them a little water and sun and see what happens :(

Cam

[cambourne7]

[saddad]

That much damage, suddenly, more likely to be snails...  I've found them hiding in the framework... convenient hidey holes on the underside of the horiziontal spars...  :'(

[Alimo]

I was furious that a snail had eaten all my psb seedlings - found him lurking under the pots and hurled him out of the greenhouse door....... Straight into me lettuce  ::).  Spent at least 5 minutes trying to find him!!

Alison x

[tricia]

I've lost two lots of living salad to slugs/snails this year even though they were planted under fleece surrounded with slug pellets. Never known such damage. The critters have obviously thrived on the awful wet Spring this year.  You would never know that anything had been planted - completely bare ground! I shan't bother again this year.

Each of my sweetcorn plants is cloched with a plastic bottle so am more hopeful they will survive. The celeriac plants were already quite large when planted out under fleece and haven't been attacked. The bean  wigwams in containers are protected with copper wire band (and fleece, of course!) so they are ok so far too.

It's a war out there!!

Tricia

[cambourne7]

Hi All,

Thanks for 'feeling my pain' my plans for tomorrow have gone to pot as i forgot i was supposed to be doing something else so all now moved to friday i suppose the damage has been done :(

Hubbie has promised to help me with clearing the garden by taking a run to the tip so am going to be bagging things up and making a big pile in the garage so its not soaking wet when it goes in the car.

Harriets asleep having spent the morning playing a room full of toys at the village hall including a giant bouncy castle and i am going to go and get a quick 40 winks in so i am not completely wasted tonight at work.

Am going to get the slug pellets out NOW but need to be careful of where they go incase harriet find them although i don't think she will eat them you can't be 2 careful ;)

LET THE KILLING BEGIN ;)

cam

[strawberry1]

arghh from me too. My carefully nurtured swedes are now munched right down to the stalks arghhh arghhhh the little bleeders

[cambourne7]

aw sorry to hear that hon

[macmac]

I was planting celeriac on the lottie the other day and every trowel full of soil, and I mean EVERY trowel of soil had at least one slug in it  :o I have never seen so many as this year.
A chap who has just taken on a new plot was deep digging and he said he was finding them 18 " 2 ' deep.
I put some marigolds in at home and even with pellets and a beer trap they've all been munched completely :(

[cambourne7]

Darn i was going to try beer traps :(

[Digeroo]

I think this is going to be the year of the slug.

My first two years on lottie I had no slugs.  The site had had pigs who had eaten everything. 

My brassica seedlings have been disappearing very fast.  I keep sowing more.

Yes ARG  :( :(

[elhuerto]

I saw on BBC Breakfast this morning that's it been a great Winter / Spring for slugs in the UK. We don't get them here but the snails more than make up for them. Just up the road there's an annual snail festival where apparently 12 tonnes of snails are eaten in 3 days  http://www.aplec.org/english.asp - I'd happily donate mine to the cause.

[BarriedaleNick]

Everything I grow is started in modules to give em a head start and still they are getting eaten to the ground - lettuce is almost impossible to grow.  I tried coffee grounds and they go right over them!