the way l find to do this even though it is not very nice is put salt on them
Perhaps we should find a way of bribing hedgehogs and thrushes! ;D
bob flowerdew suggests scissors , yeuck ;D
I collect them in a pot and feed them to my hens :)
Its horrid this one.......but if you do the Bob Flowerdew one, either scissor or stab :-\, the other slugs eat their comrades instead of your plants.
Then the next night it might be their turn to be fodder for the others :-X
any more of these ideas l will try the stabbing the slugs there are so many in my garden l need to do something about them but l would like the birds to eat them but they do not seem to like them not sure what sort of slugs l have he he he he
::)
In late October go around the allotment and lift all those things; pieces of wood, pails, stones, in fact anything that could serve as a shelter for slugs eggs, and let the eggs just lie there and die. Saves a lot of trouble later.
Apparently there is something to do with a thing called a beer trap. Put some beer in a container with a lid on but leaving enough room for the slug to crawl in. (Do not fill it to the top). When you go back in the morning or a few days later it is full of dead slugs.
I've sprinkled coffee granules on them, and you can see immediate effect as well they simply recoiled from it.
I find a nice big wooden mallet is fun.
There's a beer trap a the end of my road, its called The Bull, catches me every time. ;)
the children love stamping on them. yuck
Get a wildlife pond with a nice few fat frogs - no more slugs! :P
the beer idea works I used it last summer, but to prewarm you its all gooey and yuck int he morning, but I caught tons last year
You are all wasting your time and beer. If slugs are present in the locality in any numbers they are going to eat your crops whatever you do. They are capable of traveling quite large distances in a few hours and they come equipped with an incredible ability to smell not only your nice delicate crops but also each other (or the lack of).
If it were possible to exterminate every last one from your plot today, by tomorrow there would be almost the same number present again. All the gardener can do is damage limitation. Drink the beer and you will care less about holy cabbages.
Abuse of various pesticides over a prolonged period has now reduced the natural predators almost to the point of extinction and slugs just keep on eating and breeding. To the best of my knowledge, frogs eat flies not slugs therefore have no effect on slug populations. Most gardeners want frogs but will happily bash slowworms with anything to hand and indiscriminate use of slug pellets has decimated the hedgehog population.
Beer slops on the plot simply attracts more slugs. OK you catch a few but you miss all the ones that had to go to the loo. Drink the beer.
For the really fat juicy ones, those with the orange fringe to the foot, I like to skewer them to the ground with a nice pointy twiglet.
If you dont secure the twiglet into the ground firmly, they can get away !
Of course, the secateurs work well, makes them just the right size for my local robin.
Hi,
Frogs defiintely eat slugs!:
http://www.uksafari.com/frogs.htm
don't think a little widlife pool would do any harm and also attracts insects etc - whcih has got to be good? ;D
I've just got two chickens and this morning it was drizzly and the slugs were ambling across the lawn.....at least they were until the chickens found them!!! They thought it was their birthday!
Louise
PS: Salt works too!!!
PPS: drink the beer - then you won't care about the slugs - hic!
;D ;D ;D Have a look at this website and maybe try some of the methods available.... not free but definitely organically friendly and if you choose to use the nematode system I can assure you it does work!!
www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=61_179&sort=1a&page=1
(http://www.animated-gifs.eu/animals-snails/0018.gif) (http://www.animated-gifs.eu/animals-snails/0043.gif)
That's fairly comprehensive... I prefer the torchlight search and stomp method myself!
;D
Transfer slugs into bucket using chopsticks
Empty bucket down neighbourhood fox hole
Toads eat a lot of small slugs, but one problem is that the great majority of the slug population is underground out of reach.
Anchor a few small bits of black plastic sheeting around and keep checking them in the mornings.You should find slugs underneath.You can then dispose of them any way you wish.
I pass this on without comment. It is from an interview in the Times with a guy from Bristol called Andy Hamilton, who with his twin brother Dave has just published a book called The Self-Sufficient-ish Bible: An Eco-Living Guide for the 21st Century.
"Chuck a load of slugs in a food mixer, blend them and then put the goo around your plants," he said. "They won't come near it."
Anyone else ever tried it?
I can just imagine my wifes face when I tell her Im about to blend slugs in her blender!! :o ;D ;D
How totally gruesome!
Old Bird
;D
chickens are best things for smaller slugs,mine love them!,uncover slabs and they go mad:)
I've yet to be plagued by them at my allotment but get loads in the garden chomping through my little veg seedlings while they're hardening off. despite the carnage they cause I just can't bring myself to kill them, I'd rather spend ten minutes flinging them over the hedge, although the neighbours must think I'm mad :-[
I have a special 'slug spoon' that I use – I bash them a few times with it first (like cracking a soft boiled egg) so that they shrink into a nice round shape for better aerodynamics. then I use the spoon to fling them as far as possible over the hedge and down the hill. to find their way back they have to negotiate several back gardens, a row of garages (they make quite a satisfying thonk if they land on the roof) and quite a steep grassy slope ;D
Up until now, I've tried to be nice, tried to get rid of them humanely. However when I get my hands on the little toerag that ate my very first ever Nasturtium that I planted 3 days ago, I think I may turn into a deranged slug killer. I was very proud of that Nasturtium!!! >:( >:( >:(
They do return when you throw them, as they have quite a well-developed homing instinct. When I was about four, I could never understand how it was that throwing snails over the garden wall didn't seem to get rid of them at all!
Our problem isn't slugs - but snails. Millions of them from titchy ickle five pence size up to wagon wheel size.
Our lottie is right on a river so I guess that's what attracts them.
When we dig the soil up one end, it's like the seaside - millions of shells. Can't do anything other than pellets.
Shove them in the dalek with the lid firmly closed, stick them in the water butt, making sure they don't come up for air or throw them in the pond..these methods work just as well for snails ;D
and the stomping method gives avery satisfying crunch!
;D
I had to partake in a mass murder of slugs today eagerly helped by some blackbirds ;D
My new lottie had masses of daffodils at the bottom end (26ft by 6ft bed full to bursting). I was going to leave them there until I needed the bed for planting but on close inspection today I discovered they were being a slug haven, providing homes for hundreds of the slimey buggers :o The daffs had to go ;)
they ain't that much of a problem on my allotment, but if they are a problem, you can sort them out easily.
a bucket, laid on it's side, with some horse bran in it (a dit like porrige, but drier, and more flour-like).
the little blighters smell it for miles, they crawl in, and dessicate! can't get the slime to travel out again!!
they have to be replenishad daily, (morning dew) but only cost pennies.
rgds, tonybloke
l have just found a book all about slugs so l thought l would put one of the pages on her so here goes
prepare the battleground
there are many approaches you can take to minimize the chances of slugs thriving in your garden. Start by eliminating their favourite habitats.
1. prune shrub branches that touch the ground.
2.trim grass edges, as slugs hide in the overhang.
3. remove excess mulch.
4.check out their favourite hideaways-under decking, around compost heaps and bins, anywhere dark and moist.
5.spring-clean your garden regularly, and hoe your weeds as slugs and eggs hide under them, as well as under earth clods.
6. encourage slugs predators-many creatures are known to feast on the odd slug or two, including moles, hedgehogs, frogs, salamanders, carnivorous beetles and millipedes
7.plant tender seedling somewhere safe away from the prying eye of the slug, or protect them by surrounding them with the cardboard centres of toilet rolls.
will try and put other one on some time
Quote from: tonybloke on April 03, 2008, 22:08:12
they ain't that much of a problem on my allotment, but if they are a problem, you can sort them out easily.
a bucket, laid on it's side, with some horse bran in it (a dit like porrige, but drier, and more flour-like).
the little blighters smell it for miles, they crawl in, and dessicate! can't get the slime to travel out again!!
they have to be replenishad daily, (morning dew) but only cost pennies.
rgds, tonybloke
Bran works a treat..........£4 for a huge sack :D
Quote from: sims girl on April 03, 2008, 22:46:01
3. remove excess mulch.
Not much help if you're into no-dig (or minimal dig) gardening with layers of mulch everywhere! I like the idea of using toilet roll centres though, and it's a good point about predators. The more cover you have round the garden, the more slug-eaters you're likely to have.
:'( Why Crystalmoon... I know they were a slug haven now but at least you knew where most of the B*******d's were... and those daffs would be really cheerful at the start of evry plot year..
;D
I got told off for using bran, one of the older plot holders says it encourages rats :o :o
On gardners world alan did a test on things people use to avoid slugs, he tried nearly all the methods discussed here, and the results were that no matter what you do slugs will find a way, they even crawl over the eggshells, broken stone and everything. I have tried all sorts, but I make it a game with my kids, we go outside early morning and late enving and hunt slugs. Fo every slug they find they get 5p, and a trip to the sweetie shop, trust me they never come back empty handed and they have great fun.
Quote from: star on April 02, 2008, 21:27:51
Its horrid this one.......but if you do the Bob Flowerdew one, either scissor or stab :-\, the other slugs eat their comrades instead of your plants.
Then the next night it might be their turn to be fodder for the others :-X
yeuch! i've never heard this before! thanks for the info Star!
I read a letter in this month's RHS magazine, where a chap quoted from a hundred year old book suggesting strewing cabbage leaves around to attract the slugs. Lift the leaves up in the morning and collect up the slugs and destroy. He reckoned it works a treat. (SAame as the black plastic suggested above, really)
Only thing I've found so far is to use plastic bottles with the bottoms cut off as cloches. They work a treat, but I never have enough and eventually you have to take them off and let your plants fend for themselves...
I tried that one year, and the slugs ate the plants the moment I took them off. I still haven't really solved that one.
1 Coffee grinds
2 crushed egg shells
3 copper wire
4 beer
5 bran
6 frogs
7 hedgehogs
8 chickens
9 toads
10 lime
11 salt
12 yeast
13 atom bombs