[SweetPea]

Hello everyone

I'm new to both this board and to gardening too!  My partner and I recently moved from a flat into a house that already had a designated veggie patch and a (rather old and leaky) greenhouse.  I'm keen to start growing my own vegetables so a few weeks back I dug the plot over, dug in some manure and planted potatoes, carrots, lettuces and various herbs.  The greenhouse gained some tomatoes and chilli peppers.

A good few seedlings have poked their heads out now and on the whole, all looks good  However, I've noticed that a lot of the herbs and some of the bigger seedlings have little nibbles out of the leaves as though something has been snacking on them!  I can't see any obvious insects or slugs so I'm at a loss as to how best to limit this kind of damage.  I'm quite keen not to resort to an insecticide but if I can't see what is eating my plants is that my only option?

I'd really appreciate your advice.  Thanks!

[Phoenix]

Does sound like slugs to me, try putting a glass or something in the ground filled with beer and that will catch snails/slugs

Love the name by the way lol

[John]

Hi Sweetpea - welcome aboard.

I'm afraid that the tastier your veg the more wee beaties creep out to eat them!  It's  not going to be caterpillers yet - bit early for that joy. I suspect that it's the slugs and snails. Slugs are very sneaky creatures. In the day they hide away under stones and then the ooze out at dusk to munch away.

If it's a consistent problem across most varieties, I'd bet on slugs. If you use slug pellets do use them sparingly. Too many pellets are not as effective apparently rather than more effective as seems logical.

You can get safe pellets which are much better for the environment now from The Organic Catalogue or you could look at the many other remedies such as beer traps.

[SweetPea]

Hi Phoenix and John,

Thanks for the replies! I've been down in the garden this morning and whilst I still can't see any slugs, there are definitely snails about.  I've even kicked a few out of the greenhouse.  Daft as it sounds, I didn't really equate snail damage with slug damage (well, snails are so much cuter aren't they? ) but it looks as though they could be our culprit.  I've had a read through some of the other threads on here and have set up some beer traps.  Hopefully by the morning I'll have some slugs and snails in ale to show for my efforts!

I'm fast coming to the conclusion that gardening really is all about trial and error and learning from experience!  Thanks again for your help  

[John]

I'm fast coming to the conclusion that gardening really is all about trial and error and learning from experience!

Yes, and that's a great part of the fun and why I enjoy it so much. Each year is a new challenge with different conditions to deal with and so on.
This year I'm concentrating on brassicas, which have been a real weak spot. So far they are looking brilliant, if I say it myself. But - and it's a big but - will I get a good crop in the end. Better than Eastenders any day

[GrannieAnnie]

ANYTHING is better than Eastenders!!!!! lol

[John]

Did I hear that Dirty Den had died? The only soap I follow is....
The Archers
Although I must admit I missed an episode in1977

[GrannieAnnie]

LOL, yes, I think someone killed him properly this time!  My daughter occsionally tells me what's happening, but as I never watch Eastenders, I haven't the foggiest idea what's she's on about!!!!

[SweetPea]

Last time I watched Eastenders on a regular basis, Tiffany was still in it  

An update on the beer traps - I set up a few of these last night and checked them this morning.  They were all full of tiny slugs!  Perhaps it's because they are so small I didn't notice them before.  Anyway, I've left the dead ones in there (I read that these will attract others) and hopefully I'll see a reduction in damage to the herbs and lettuce.

It's not all good news though - my lovely final chilli plant was nibbled back to the stalk during the night  I've lost two already.  This is in the greenhouse - I did set up some traps in there too, but caught nothing.  I do have a few ants wandering about though, so perhaps they are causing the problem.  My poor chilli looked like something had sawed the leaves off!  Fortunately I have cucumbers and chilli plants from seed growing very well indoors, so all is not lost, but I do need to try and sort the greenhouse out before I lose anything else.  It's rather old and leaky - my plan at the moment is to pull everything out of there (old bags of compost from the previous owner, etc), clean it down, reseal the leaky frame, etc... that's a job for a sunny day

[Heather_S]

i use plastic bottle cloches or just 4inch rings cut from plastic bottles (milk/soda) to put around each baby plant. The only plants I've not done this for at the moment are my brassicas but I'm seriously considering it right now (getting worried!) and my pumpkins. I read slugs and snails leave pumpkins alone because they're too fuzzy for them to bothered.

[SweetPea]

That's a very handy tip Heather_s, thanks!  I just wish I had done that with my chilli plants

I'll make sure to cloche the new lettuces though!  

[Heather_S]

Oh almost forgot, the posh slug pellets .. the iron/phosphate safer ones are available at Homebase. But buying from Organic Catalogue is a good cause if you're into funding research for organic gardening in the process of killing some slugs.