My onion sets were growing lovely until the wet June set in and the slugs invaded en-masse. This is in spite of going over them every evening picking each slug off into a 3" pot. Most nights I filled 3 or 4 pots, but one evening I filled more than 8. Thats about 2.5 litres of slug. Mind you they make a very satisfying plop when they land in the stream.
(http://david-frary.com/images/slugged_onions.jpg)
I grew better onions than these when I was twelve. Good job there are plenty as I reckon two or three will be needed at a time instead of just one.
so sad, sorry to hear that Eristic :'(
I honestly did not realise slugs ate onions, do they like a bit of tomato and garlic with them? ;D
blimey, I didn't know they ate onions either.
That can,t be just slug damage surely.
Are you sure you don't have rabbits - or even muntjack???
Rest assured that is slug damage plus the odd snail. Where do you all get the idea that slugs don't eat onions? Some evenings there would be as many as half a dozen on an onion all munching like there is no tomorrow.
(http://david-frary.com/images/slugs_n_onions.jpg)
Any rabbit or munjac smart enough to evade the foxes would quickly end up in my kitchen but there are none, just slugs. Sometimes in the time it took for me to walk the 40 or so yards to the stream to empty the flowerpot and return, there would be another dozen or so on the onions I've already cleared. I've seen lots of slugs in my time but never so many as this year
This does bring home the importance of keeping plots clear and I am at a handicap here as the plot behind me is my new plot still in the process of clearance, the plot to the other side is occupied by an old boy who is no longer able to cope and it's covered in meadow grass. All the plots here back onto a scrub oak wooded area as an extension of the nature reserve beyond the stream.
Cambourne. Yes they like a bit of garlic and tomato but it's a bit further to slither.
I start fighting the slugs in the Autumn and Spring digging- picking the small clumps of whitish eggs and destroying. From February and through the spring I have pieces of flat wood scattered around the plot and collect any slugs/snails hiding underneath on a regular basis. Late Spring and Summer if the weather is going to be damp overnight I go round the plot and sprinkle a very LIGHT quantity of pellets randomley.
I have destroyed literally hundreds with the egg/slug collection method and killed just a few with pellets.
Yup, slugs eat onions. Snails do too.
They also ate my nice squash seedlings. Grrr. There are a few left. :(
In all my years of gardening i have never seen any thing like that. I feel for you Eristic with a problem like that. If thats your onion what is your spuds like ?
I had slug damage on my onions and garlics this year. I didn't have any problem with them last year though. This year is such a good year for slugs and snails! I've lost so many plants. :( I nearly cried when I found my established Buttercup squash plant eaten by slug at the ground level... The plant was grown from one of the seeds SS kindly gave me last year.
I didn't realise they liked onions until someone mentioned it on here weeks ago, but with all the tops disappearing it made sense, I don't collect them just a nice layer of slug pellets, I had over 50 dead uns over two days plus a dozen snails and leave them there so the other buggers know whats coming to them. ;D ;D ;D
While we're on this topic... My Pink Fir Apple haulms are being eaten as soon as they show themselves above ground - does anyone know if they'll grow back? (and yes, it's definitely slugs or snails - the slime trails give them away!).
Cheers,
Rob ;)
If thats your onion what is your spuds like ?
Fortunately I haven't grown any spuds as there is not enough room. I have Jerusalems instead which once the plants are airbourne, outgrow any slugs. I'm also looking at Oca as an alternative to potatoes for the future. So far these seem pretty slug resistant as is any other Oxalis, but I have to wait to see what the yield is going to be.
If they're black - put 'em back
If they're brown - grind 'em down
Use bitter in small jars or paper cups placed near your plants and empty every morning - I reckon to get 20-30 slugs each day.
Don't use pellets or the birds end up eating them and they build up in their bodies. Hedgehogs only eat slugs if they are starving as it kills them if they have to eat a lot.
Crushed egg shells, copper collars are all worth trying if you have the time but beer slops (free from your favourite non-smokey pub!) is by far the best.
A shotgun doesn't work too well but it is immensely satisfying.
Jack
I've had a bit of slug and snail damage too, and that's on baby veg plants in my garden â€" am dreading planting them out in the big wide world of the plot and having them eaten to pieces straight away :(
I did accidentally stand on a slug the other evening (not barefoot fortunately, although I've done that before and it took hours to get the slime off :P) and I have to say it made the most satisfying wheeeeeeeeeesh noise as it burst!
For some reason, the slugs/snails have been bad this year. I have lost nearly all my sweetcorn, my garden sowings of heritage dwarf french beans (one remains), runner beans have been got at. Have I opened the Brassica Restaurant - special offer, eat one leaf, and eat more for free? I think there are more snails than slugs. Was vigilant going slug/snail hunting (even family outing!) in the early spring, but haven't felt like going out in the rain of recent weeks...
Best to go in or after the rain Multiveg...
;)
I thought it was rabbits eating my onions but they look just like yours. They're eating everything this year and even checking out my raspberries which they don't eat just leave slime all over the fruit. Yuk! Not quite sure how they do it as it's not just fruit touching the ground and the canes are prickly....must be a new breed of slug with wings.
This year I planted my shallots on the flower garden which seems to be white rot free-thanks to the slugs I have some nice spring onions >:(
Oh and if two messages cross I failed with my other,it was not worded the same but in essence said the same thing
News to me too, although they seem to be eating everything in sight in my garden this year!
Favorites are Rudbekia 'Herbstonne', dahlias (some but not all), Tomatoes (fruits in the greenhouse), Strawberries, knifophia (red hot poker) flower stems and of course hostas (despite copper tape on the pots). Plus they have also colonised the greenhouse and take a shine to any prized seedlings/young plants in there that take their fancy, including sweet peppers. However more obvious targets (such as lettuce and delphinium) have been ignored.
Arrghh!
And this is in spite of my 'kill on sight' policy. Whenever i find any they make close aquaintance with the sole of my boot!
QuoteI reckon to get 20-30 slugs each day.
You are either very lucky or missing many thousands. At just 3 to an onion that would be just 7-10 onions. What about the other 300 odd? The sheer scale of the problem is hard to quantify and I have better things to do than count how many slugs there are to a standard 3" flowerpot times 5-8 per daily visit (and still getting eaten out of house and home).
I have always gardened organically and am well used to taking collateral damage on everything planted but never so great as this year. Anyway, now for a funny.
As it was raining on and off all day today I took the day off to do shopping and such like and took my gardening clothes with me in a bag to change into later at the plot. After doing my usual pottering decided to get home early before the next downpour so went to the shed to collect my clobber and found a huge slug eating my shoes. Now that is taking the pi
ss. ::)
Quote from: Eristic on July 02, 2007, 20:17:18
QuoteI reckon to get 20-30 slugs each day.
You are either very lucky or missing many thousands. At just 3 to an onion that would be just 7-10 onions. What about the other 300 odd? The sheer scale of the problem is hard to quantify and I have better things to do than count how many slugs there are to a standard 3" flowerpot times 5-8 per daily visit (and still getting eaten out of house and home).
What?
Quote from: robkb on July 02, 2007, 15:03:51
While we're on this topic... My Pink Fir Apple haulms are being eaten as soon as they show themselves above ground - does anyone know if they'll grow back? (and yes, it's definitely slugs or snails - the slime trails give them away!).
Cheers,
Rob ;)
Rob, I'm doing pink Fir Apple for the first time this year and the slugs had all my tops too (for some reason my second-early Saxon weren't effected).
I thought I'd lost the lot but resorted to slug pellets and, blow me down, the spuds have come back with a vengeance. Some had no leaves left at all but they are all fighting fit now and are the best looking haulms I've ever had, so don't worry!
I'm constantly amazed by the way plants fight to survive...
How ghastly! It is a shame that slugs look so unappetising - Has anyone tried eating them? They may be the new "superfood" and we could all harvest the slugs and live like millionaires off our allotments! I mean if we eat smails - how different would a slug taste? They could even be classified as an organic vegetarian meal!
Think of the milions that we could all make!
;D
Some of my PFA have had the tops munched off before they got going. >:( :'(