Is it just me, or have they been particularly bad this year? Not outside - that's always a pain - but in the greenhouse. I've had stuff potted on and growing lustily, then you come down in the morning and, wham - some s*d has either snapped the stem or taken out the growing tip. I'm not talking tiny seedlings - that's par for the course - but good stock in 5" pots ready for hardening off!
Is it because April & May have been reversed this year, so the snails & slugs have come when the plants are mature rather than young? Or is it just my bad luck? What's everyone else's experience?
no, it's not just you, our romanesco broccoli have disappeared as well, plus some cauli and red cap cabbage, also kalibos cabbage ..they seem to have distinctive tastes, they little b****ds :o
oh, yes, they were 6" high, in the ground, covered with net, cabbage collars on..and our friends were hiding under them >:(
you can only replant so often
I planted out my brassicas and protected them with slug stoppa from Ryton. However, it was late at night and I left the tray of spare plants on the path without any slug protection. next morning virtually nothing left of the spares! I hope that i remember to keep the slug stoppa topped up! Little b*****s - salts too good for them! >:(
Are you sure its slugs because voles are favourite for eating the tops off plants
Don't think it's voles in my case, but I'm pretty certain I've got a mouse - could that be the culprit?
:-\
My new tiny plot seems to be infested with slugs. They have eaten the whole pot of leeklings which I had carefully rescued from the allotment. Just looked like a flymo had gone over the whole thing! Good job I have an emergency pot of even tinier leeks on the go!
>:(
Mice and voles (I have both) have similar tastes, so either might go for crops. Was your plot grassed over when you took it on, Katy? Slugs love grass; with luck, the numbers might diminish in time. Meanwhile, do what you can to decimate the population.
My first year on the allotment and I i amazed at the amount of slugs and snails! Put some pellets down 2 days ago so hopefully will kill 'em! Is there anything else I can do? Apart from grow all root veggies!?
Slugs and snails are currently my number one enemy. Earlier this year put my beloved marigold, foxglove and dahlias plants outside in the garden to harden off.
Out of approx. 100 plants have been left with about 5 or 6, and it seemed to have happened overnight almost.
Have lost count of the plants I have lost at the lottie, though the blooming pidgeons helped too...
we have got a small pond in the garden and the frogs seem to hav reduced the slug population but there are plenty snails
Have had to resort to the little blue pellets this year, but I have covered the seedlings with chicken wire so the birds can't get to the corpses before me. It seems once the pellets have been on the ground the slugs seem to stay away.
(for now, anyway) Hope they aren't famous last words ::)
I'm really worried, I planted the chinese veggie plants I've grown from donated seeds, thanks pye and jeannine, surronded them with slug stoppa granules..trouble is, i did the same with my celery and half of them were eaten!! :o
While putting a ring of slug stopper round your plants may stop slugs from getting in did you check to see if there were any inside your ring of pellets
yes, it was all new soil and i checked, mind you, they also go underground, don't they ? ::) ::)
around our Hostas I'm d**n sure they abseil...
::)
All my plants in the greenhouse are on a freestanding shelf unit I made myself.
The snails clamber up the plastic walls looking across at the yummy plants,
but cannot work out how to get to them. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Slugs on the allotment are another matter though, I've had a little damage on
my butternut squash, but I put some pellets down and they've eaten them all. :D
(the pellets that is)