hello everyone as we all probably are at the moment (thanks to the ridiculous weather )i am being plagued by slugs.now i dont mean common big black or even the leopard looking type i mean tiny little black *&%ing things .they are totally obliterating my strawberry patch .ive tried pellets ive tried squishing them .is it worth using nemotodes maybe .has anybody else managed to vanquish them in the past as im truly at my wits end with them please any ideas gratefully received n8r ..... ??? :'(
My sister swears by lurking with scissors and snipping them in half. Said she had 40 of them in one morning recently.. cannot bring myself to do this though. They have decimated most of my veg too, I just wish they were edible!
I've started to leave lettuce leaves lying around plants that show signs of first nibbles..in a hope that they will go for the lettuce instead of the plant..hopefully they hide underneath so they become easy pickings for me.. ;)
& the chickens will have a feast Goodlife ;D, win, win.
Yer the chickens are more than happy at the moment as slug filled strawberry is obviously a delicacy to them lol.the slugs im having trouble with are tiny little things so conventional deterants are seemingly unaffected .has anyone used nematodes or would it be to late to start using them ........n8r
My chucks won't touch slugs!! Even when I tried chopping them up for them they left them!
OH and I bought a wire stripper as we have masses of old wire in a box in the garrage, you know what its like, don't throw it away as it may come in useful, that has been going on for 20 years so we have accumulated
rather a large amount. We are going to strip the wire and use it round the brassicas, as they say that slugs and snails won't go near copper. If it doesn't work we can always sell it to a scrap merchant. Slug pellets have been a bit useless as the rain just washes them away. Never tried nematodes as they seem a bit expensive and I believe they can be a bit temperamental if conditions are not quite right for them, but would like to hear if anyone has been successful with them.
Same problem here, just been upto the plot to find 12 nice ripe strawberry's eaten by slugs and twice as many slugs munching on them, i did bed my strawberry's with straw as was told slugs don't like this!!!!! wot a load of tosh that was!!!! ::)
gone back to pellets now lets see how that goes :-\
Quote from: queenbee on June 17, 2012, 21:07:53
OH and I bought a wire stripper as we have masses of old wire in a box in the garrage, you know what its like, don't throw it away as it may come in useful, that has been going on for 20 years so we have accumulated
rather a large amount. We are going to strip the wire and use it round the brassicas, as they say that slugs and snails won't go near copper. If it doesn't work we can always sell it to a scrap merchant. Slug pellets have been a bit useless as the rain just washes them away. Never tried nematodes as they seem a bit expensive and I believe they can be a bit temperamental if conditions are not quite right for them, but would like to hear if anyone has been successful with them.
Conditions have been perfect for nematodes this year... I'm expecting them to make a full life cycle in my spuds adn turn it into a minefield for slugs underground for the rest of the summer....
My 'slug pubs' (jam jars filled with out of date beer) seem to be doing ok in catching small slugs near the brassicas. Trouble is, the old beer was found in my mother's garage and is running out :-\
I built a stand in my cold frame with legs and put copper tape round them to stop the slugs getting at my seedlings. I think the slugs in my garden must have been on the SAS training course cos they still got to them while I was on holiday :( I am also looking at the nematode solution as my strawbs have straw and pellets but still they are still getting munched. Any I find get removed to the compost bin where (hopefully) they can do some good.
My slugs have been twice as active as usual, and with things hardly growing in the cold weather, the damage has been far more than usual. Even the broad beans have a lot of gaps.
My "slug pubs" have been 100% successful this year. They love the cheap nasty beer the best.
I picked mine up from ebay. At £10 for 12 (inc post), they have paid for themselves already.
Worth a try if nothing else is working
Have been putting out bowls of out of date beer even a few bottles and next day there thick with dead white / light brown slugs :( have lost nearly everything
I tried slug pubs a few years ago, but was upset to find a dead newt in one, so I haven't used then since!
I've been using the nematodes for a few years now. They work to an extent, especially on the slugs that live in the ground and like to eat things like potatoes and carrots. I still resort to slug pellets above ground though. I wish I didnt have to, but other wise there would be nothing left!
KittyKatt