We grew celery for the first time last year it was wonderful but raviged by slugs.Does anyone have any tips how to keep the little devils off?we try to be careful what we use as we have a healthy wildlife population in the garden.the "safe"slug pellets don't seem very effective. ???
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Slugs are atracted to Celery why i don,t know we use more callories eating than growing it.
What i do even with self blanching cellery is to put a collar round it ( cardboard, damp course ) two thirds coverd and the other out of the top to draw the plant. I put my slug pellets arround the inside of the collar when i do this i also remove any side shoots.
As the plant grows i lengthen the collar and check regularly to see if i need more pellets or slugs have gotten thro.
Macmac, have you tried the nematode approach?
I don't have a lottie, but I've found *insert name of treatment* highly effective in the garden; the claim is that it lasts six weeks. What I do is treat once per year, kill the little bu**ers off & then place physical barriers in the path of any newcomers. (Coffee grounds & copper rings/tape work for me).
Welcome to A4A both of you... sh011s and macmac :)
Thanks for the welcome Saddad. :) </ unintentional thread hi-jack. >
thanks for all those tips ,i've got coffee grounds and copper tape i will have to source nematodes though they only seem to be available mail order.We grow our celery at home where we are more careful what we use , on the lottie some people seem to toss slug pellets around in vast numbers one woman feels the need to build "blue barriers"around her plants but she's such a grumblebunny nobody has had the nerve to advise her otherwise ::)
I find the ferramol based pellets effective, but they do take time to work. The 'ordinary' pellets leave visibly dead slugs in a slimeball, the ferromol based ones don't as the slugs die underground, and wildlife can still eat them safely.
I use a combination of nematodes watered in once in May, then the ferramol based pellets, and plastic bottle collars around all vulnerable plants until they are well established. I include courgettes, squash and sweetcorn in this category, because I've had slimies munch through the main stems of these plants and then you have lost them as they won't usually recover from that. I leave the plastic bottle collars on all season on those crops for extra protection.... ;D