I have really many slugs in my compost bin. Every time I open the lid there are more than a dozen crawling around. And if I stir round in the fresh compost there are dozens more. SO:
1. Should I be glad they are there and not anywhere else?
2. Should I sprinkle slug pellets in the bin?
3. Any other helpful suggestions, comments welcome.
PS They are about 2 - 3 cm long and orange. They are called "Killer slugs" here in Denmark!
Tolerate them, they are breaking down vegetative matter, promoting the compost process.
Keep the area around the "dalek" clear of grass etc, making this a zone of containment. If planting near, double vigilance with pellets , and keep at it. Ensure the plot is generally free of hiding places, but create trapping sites, flat boards,tiles as "traps", regularly inspecting and empty.
Agreed - in your compost heap, they are beneficial. Outside it... WAR!
Adrian
Quote from: gray1720 on May 17, 2015, 10:40:53
Agreed - in your compost heap, they are beneficial. Outside it... WAR!
Adrian
Any found outside, put them inside = beneficial?
No stamp on the feckers. :tongue3:
Tub of salt being a more sadistic and fun approach though. :D
Allotment neighbour ask us to fling slugs into her new small pond to feed her tadpoles. Do they really eat them - and fast enough to prevent putrefaction?
Dropped a small slug into London daughter's nasty glass jug of poor little tadpoles, and they briefly gathered around it, ?chewing, but some leaves scattered on the top seemed to cause more chewing.....
So what do tadpoles eat?
Well, 50 years ago they ate cabbage leaf until their rear legs emerged, then had raw minced meat. Evolution may have occured since then. Also, apparently, each other!
Oh dear! Now I am really confused. Except salt wouldn't do the compost much good - and I don't have tadpoles! So maybe I'll go with the idea that they help the compost break down. Thought: If the slugs produce eggs will I spread them with the compost? Oh - double HELP! Gardening shouldn't be so complicated!
Quote from: Bonsai Si on May 17, 2015, 11:42:11
Quote from: gray1720 on May 17, 2015, 10:40:53
Agreed - in your compost heap, they are beneficial. Outside it... WAR!
Adrian
Any found outside, put them inside = beneficial?
Where's the fun in that?
But yes, I guess that's one way of looking at it.
Adrian
Quote from: gray1720 on May 18, 2015, 11:15:29
Quote from: Bonsai Si on May 17, 2015, 11:42:11
Quote from: gray1720 on May 17, 2015, 10:40:53
Agreed - in your compost heap, they are beneficial. Outside it... WAR!
Adrian
Any found outside, put them inside = beneficial?
Where's the fun in that?
But yes, I guess that's one way of looking at it.
Adrian
Well they do say a weed is just a plant in the wrong place and I guess a pest is just a creature in the wrong place also. So looking for a silver lining, if a slug can be put to good use...
That said, all Wasps must die!
I guess having a small nature pond on your plot may be an idea, if you can get frogs; they like Slugs, right? :D