We used to be surrounded by empty plots, 3 on one side, 5 on the other. Great for the kids, and bugs slugs and caterpillars that used to get thrown a considerable distance (thats the caterpillars etc, not the kids....hmmm......the catapult would have to be at least 4 feet..........nah)
anyway, now no more empty plots! oh no! what do i do with all the bugs??
I hate swashed caterpillars, yuck and snugs, yuck yuck, so even if there was a slug heaven, i do'nt want to send them there.
What do you do to yours?
sorry, what do you do WITH yours?
hmmmm... the 1st questions sound more interesting!
Depends squish catapillar,salt bath for slugs and a size 11s on snails.
Last resort slug pellets!!!
Squish caterpillars, (Unless they are "pretty ones, and I rehome them!), Cut slugs in half, (Evil laughter inserted here!), and the same as chrispea, enjoy the nice crunching sound of my size 7's on snails!
It is war out there suhayb, either them or your veg! ;D ;D ;D
Mine go to heaven, in a bath of beer!
Then they go on the compost heap.
Unless Mrs Cs toads and hedgehogs get them first.
I am very kind to animals of all kinds that's why my plot is a haven for them.. No plants just lots of animals ;D I could no more tread on a snail than swat a fly. I use beer traps for slugs and slug boxes with a bit of bait in as that way there's no hands-on murder involved. I prefer to leave snails for the thrushes that come to the plot :)
I have got the remains of a fermented bag of real ale in my shed - and slug pubs on the plot. You can make a simple pub with a lidded cream carton or marg tub. Cut inch-wide, half inch deep slots in the top, just under the rim, leaving half inch struts to keep the rim supported. half-bury, so the bottom of the slots is level with the soil, fill with beer (the smellier the better - apparently stout is best) and replace the lid to stop it being diluted with rainwater and prevent too much evaporation.
Check weekly for slugs, straining the contents into another pub and catching any dead ones. Put them out on the soil somewhere and something will recycle them!
Perhaps ought to pop this in tips...
moonbells
I can't kill 'em, no matter how furious I feel when they've munched their way through all my hard work. I don't maind sharing, but they often don't leave anything to share! Still, I feel guilty if I kill them so...
I put something tasty like a few lettuce leaves on a tile or piece of slate and leave it out in the evening. In the morning, the lettuce has gone and slugs and snails are huddling cosily under the slate. I then take them to my compost heap and introduce them to the banquet there. I usually find that most then choose to stay on or around the heap, contributing gastropod poo to the compost.
I can't say it completely solves the problem, but it definitely reduces the attack. I also seldom sow directly, planting out seedlings that are big and strong enough to cope with a little nibbling.
Clare.
Me, no qualms about squishing flies, squatting catterpillas, slicing slugs and stomping snails, but only on the allotment. In the garden, the ladybirds are in charge of the aphids, my thrushes are in charge of the snails, the toads make quick work of the slugs and the catterpillars are watched by the children! ;D
I go on slug & snail hunts when I get home from work in the summer at about 11pm.
I get my latex gloves, a bucket & a torch & hunt the buggers down.
They all go in the bucket & when I can't find any more I walk out into the road & bang them out in the middle & let the cars squish 'em! ;D
My Mum lobs her snails over the fence and on to the road, keep telling her one day some poor person will be walking past and get hit by a flying snail! ;D
You could really upset her and tell her that they come back home again. Someone did some experiments with snails and discovered that albeit slowly they tended to reutrn to their home territory.
Oh no Eric ! Any figures for the approx mph ?? ;)  ;D
I toss all beasties into the field ! Maybe I should chuck a can of beer over too, then again, if they're anything like the human male species they'd still roll back home eventually !!  ::)  ;D
I remember that Eric. Someone put a dot of paint on all the snails they found in their garden, then depostited them in the field/land beyond. Then recorded then speed with which they all started returning! I think they went and marked the returnees with a different colour and low and behold, they all slowly but surely came home!!!
My dad, big tough fella, couldn't bare to stand on them, not because he loved them, just couldn't stand the squelch. Me, nowt as satisfying! ;D
I will tell her Eric, and perhaps give her some small pots of acrylic paint!! She is madly jealous of the fact I have 2 thrushes regularly visiting my garden ;D Unfortunately I don't seem to get them on the plot :(
This may sound strange but I didn't get any slug problems on my plot last year.
At all.
Everyone around and about got the usual slug assault despite using slug pellets etc. I didn't use any deterrent chemical or otherwise.
I'd be really smug (and rich) if I knew why...
If everyone around you Terrance, used slug pellets and other traps, then the sluggies were all attracted to their plots and not yours. Slug pellets attract the slimey little bleeders, that is why I don't use tham and positively encourage all the other plot holders to sprinkle them generously! ;D ;D ;D
I hate killing slugs, have to do it with my eyes closed if I do.
But I rely on hubby, he goes around at night and spears them all, trouble is he doesn't get rid, and I have to look at kababed slugs the next day. Yuck.
I am one of those evil ruthless killers who have no shame. Just as twilight falls I get my broad based bit of wood (specially honed for the purpose) and go around the garden bonking them. I show no remorse. Strangely enough the population is quite small now probably thanks to the frogs and birds as well as me. I just hope when I go to heaven St Peter doesn't meet me at the gate with a list of all those I have massacred.
Really fascinated to hear about them returning home, that could almost give me a soft spot for them, (Not)Â ;D busy_lizzie
Kind thought - slugs can only go to heaven if you squash them, drown them, cut them in half, or otherwise kill them. Please don't consider anything else. Do you think it's really fair to stop them going to heaven? Go on - give them their chance of immortality and blessedness.
All best - Gavin
AND ONLY THEN will whoever's up there DO something about the little b......s!!!!!!!
PPS Ooops - is s/he a slug? ???
I chuck my snails and slugs over the fence onto the railway embankment in the hope that they will like the green delights provided. However, come the first shower, you can see them all traipsing back over the path towards my garden.
Don't know what I will do up at the lottie yet.
Gosh BL!! I didn't know you had a fetish for SLUGS ;D ;D ;D
I suppose its one way to get rid of them...
Bonk & squash 'em to death - what a way to go !!!!!
Debs ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I must be very silly as I do not kill them. I remove them by hand and put them in a different part of the garden/patio. They have never really done a lot of damage other than chomp through my cosmos last year. This year, I will attempt to sow something that can be eaten and expect them to keep at bay !! >:( ::)
Guys!!! ;D ;D "Bonking" as in Geordie terminology "Hitting them". :) busy_lizzieÂ
.
You could mark the snails shells with Tippex put them in the compost bin then if they did get out and start ravaging your lettuce at least you'd know ;D
;D
Scissors is best, a good clean quick kill, if you sneak up on the snails you can cut there heads off before they pull them back in.
SLUGS ARE EVIL
im allergic to them
I could never do that it's sadistic. I use the beer traps. I know the end result is the same but I couldn't bring myself to cut one or tread on it. Ugh
Grubs 'n' things down the lottie go temporarily onto a large blue tray (nothing significant about blue - it's just what I happen to have).
If the robin doesn't get them by the time I've finished my stint down there then they get chucked into the neighbour's chickens. They last approximately 10 seconds once in there.
I'll ask the chicken owner if they're partial to slugs. If they are, then my problem is solved... (I never use pellets/poisons).
I just can't do it anymore.
I used to chop them in half with a firm blow of the side of the trowel. But I can't anymore. I think it's something to do with the Buddhist part of me. (Slugs don't go to heaven, they get reincarnated as bunny rabbits, if they are good slugs, or a disease if they are bad!)
I leave them for the toads, badgers, foxes etc to do the work for me. And don't grow delphiniums, etc that they like to much (my neighbour grows them, so I gaze at hers instead!) non-slug-proof veggies, such as lettuce, are grown in pots, with fleece covering. And I'll be watering my beds with coffee before sowing. Reminds me... how much do I need? Where's that post?
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,3036.0.html This help Aqui!
Thanks Doris.
I feed the slugs to the chickens but intend to put some of the frog spawn from my home pond into a sunken bath on the plot and let nature do its think.
Phil
Oooh,like the frogspawn idea. I dispatch slugs and snails with the 'slug dispatcher'. It's a kind of hand held pick-axe-cum-trowell-thingy. Great for seed drills and squishing nasties.
Bags
That's another job for tomorrow - sink something suitable for frogs - sound like a fantastic idea.
Will still be sinking a few beer traps though. :)
A4A Organic Gardening Book
Chapter 1 : pest control
Slugs snails and caterpillars
Equipment
Low Maintenance Technique
a marg tub and Beer (or a fermented bag of real ale)
Manual
latex gloves, a bucket & a torch (very satisfying)
Size 7-11 boots (crunch---ooooo)
a trowel (could I use a wooden spoon?)
a hand held pick-axe-cum-trowell-thingy (cool)
a spear (for spearing them of course)
Scissors (those poor snails-it makes me cringe, squirm and giggle all at the same time)
an evil laugh (optional)
a "Bonking" stick (no comment)
Ecological Control
Frog’s spawn
1 robin,
2 thrushes,
chickens,
toads,
badgers,
hedgehogs,
foxes (foxes??)
Chemical Control
coffee
Extras
a piece of slate,
Tippex
a road,
cars,
a railway
a fence to throw them over
Essentials
a dictionary of Geordie terminology
1Â large blue tray
Thanks too all.
Foxes eat slugs, snails and worms when other food sources are low - that is why they will somtimes grub up seedlings.
you mean when there is not KFC or old kebab scrapings that have been chucked over the fence by passers-by !h
Quote from: suhayb on March 25, 2005, 02:20:17
A4A Organic Gardening Book
Chapter 1 : pest control
Slugs snails and caterpillars
Equipment...
Sorry - did not read it properly before. Have now read it in its entirity - you have done a good (and funny) job collating all the information on these two pages.
Very funny suhayb Really made me chuckle ;D
I go for the Chucking Over The Fence For Next Door's Chickens option. The chickens love me for it.
But what are you meant to do with frogspawn?
leave it and get lots of wonderful froggies that will eat your slugs! ;D
Of course. How stupid am I? Don't answer that.
Bump or in BL case hump. ;D ;D ;D
Since I have murdered so many slugs I don't think they will have me in heaven so I doubt I will ever find out. Heaven is not so idyllic if it is full of my ex slugs. Are slug pellets allowed in heaven?
Slugs go straight to hell, where they bubble forever in a vat of boiling mucus. So don't worry about it. I slaughter them without mercy any time I'm feeling molluscicidal.