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my strawberries were doing fine, that was until it rained. the rain seemed to bring out all the slugs and wood lices which decided to eat my strawberries. Now im stuck between a rock and a hard place... if i take the strawberries off the plant when they start turning pink then they wont ripen, if i leave them to go ripe the slug get them.  ??? is there a organic way to sort them out? I was thinking about putting down black polythene next year with straw on top, may be that will work ::)

QuoteI was thinking about putting down black polythene next year

Then if we get a dry year next year you will have created the ideal moist hideout for the slugs/snails to rest during the day after feasting on your fruit.

Personally I would not go for the polythene I think it can make matters worse!

If it is any consolation I am suffering in a similar manner so its simply a case of ;...........the slugs/snails win this year..........next year(like last) .........I win!!

we're growing our strawberries through black plastic, maddie, then with straw on top..we've lost a few to slugs but have had a fantastic harvest, if the strawberries manage to hide in the hole not on the straw, more are eaten  :)

Quote from: maddie on June 20, 2007, 16:16:41my strawberries. Now im stuck between a rock and a hard place... if i take the strawberries off the plant when they start turning pink then they wont ripen, if i leave them to go ripe the slug get them.

I disagree maddie....we frequently remove fruit when it just starts turning pink, for the very reasons you stated. We find they ripen quite successfully indoors, usually within a day or two, and out of harms way from strawberry predators.

thanks for all your comments, I'm gonna have to think about what im going to do next year

I'm moving mine up to the plot next year, I need the space here. Just a thought, TG, would it work to sprinkle slug pellets under the plastic?

I suppose it would depend on just how many you grow, but have you thought about growing them vertically?  In those plastic tubes that you can sling over a support ... a pergola maybe ...  ??

I didn't think woodlice were pests. ??? ??? ??? :-\    ;D ;D ;D

I Have my strawberrys in an old metal wheelbarow and so far they have not been attacked.

I did not think that woodlice ate strawberrys...

I've had problems with ants nests - they built their nests under the strawberry plants and help themselves when the fruit are ripe - and bl***y slugs too. I've been picking slugs off too (sometimes 50 or more per night) and drowning them in cheap beer - what a way to go - but haven't found a solution that works for the ants yet, as I don't want to risk ant poison so close to ripe edible fruit. Next year I'll try and dispose of the ants early in the season before the fruit comes along.

We've still had a reasonable crop of very tasty strawberries. Just need to remember to pick them regularly, the slugs do more damage if you give them enough time and let the fruit get overripe.

Why don't slugs eat weeds? Why is it only ever the stuff you carefully nurtured and planted, while the weeds grow unhindered and uneaten at full speed?

I'd love to have a list of "slug-proof" veggies, which would need less slug-proofing, while keeping the plants which slugs love in a more protected environment.

In my garden I've found onions, sweetcorn, garlic, peas/beans and (once past the early 'soft' stages) pumpkins/courgettes to be relatively slug-proof, and tomatoes pretty much so, while they destroy the brassicas, salads, strawberries, basil and a few other herbs, and surprisingly even decimated my chilli plants too (well, I did put them in a rather daft place, asking for trouble really).

BFDan, I'm told by the manufacturer of ant powder that the ants are only on the crops because they are after the secretions left by blackfly. If you get rid of the blackfly (by fair means or foul) the ants will clear off of their own accord.   ;)

Either take a large mallet with you, or put your strawberries high up out of a slugs reach and put a gravel/egg-shell/copper barrier around them.

A copper plated egg-shell table might do the trick.

With all this rain the garden and allotments are just hoaching with slugs snails and woodlice. One of my lads (out smoking in front garden) inadvertently stepped on a snail  and then walked the squish into the house. Every time I lift up a plant pot there's a million woodlice crawling about.

Like wise.  :( :-\ :'(

Yup, same here, the peas didn't stand a chance this year, both at home or on the plot.

Sent the kids out into the garden with a bucket of salty water, they must have found over 100 of the most brazen snails, but don't think it has made even a dent! >:(... ::)

it's like invasion of the cybermen this year,