SLUGS

  • 15 Replies
  • 4787 Views
*

wapello

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: Isle of Wight
  • 366
SLUGS
« on: February 10, 2018, 13:37 »
 My cauli's  and cabbage are rubbish being eaten,,,,,
 My Q is is there any flowers i can plant with the veg to "scare off bug etc"
Colin

*

greenjay

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: monmouthshire
  • 480
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2018, 17:14 »
i don't know of any plant that will frighten them off.
there are definitely some they like more than others.
on lifting some carrots today and noticed fresh slug damage/presence.
not enough hard frosts this year!

*

Christine

  • Guest
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2018, 18:36 »
I believe that enough hard frosts is the best cure as it reduces the breeding population at the start of the season. Trouble is that last winter was a soft winter so there's an awful lot more than usual that are in need of a deep freeze.

*

J_B

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: Berkshire
  • 236
  • Farmer J
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2018, 09:50 »
cheap value beer  does the trick

*

rowlandwells

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: northamptonshire
  • 3150
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2018, 19:56 »
I agree slugs where rife last year as said mild winter lots of slugs I used plenty of blue pellets on covered plots where the birds can't get at the only problem is rain tends tended to dissolve the pellets quicker so what I'm going to try this season  is pellets in plastic  cut a plastic bottle in half put a few pellets in the half making sure the it tips down as not to get any water in it

and the brassicas will be planted in breathable ground sheeting trial and error comes to mind

*

Dev

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: Hull
  • 158
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2018, 04:07 »
I'm afraid slugs are always going to be a potential problem, and you can never eradicate them completely. I have found that the only way is to attack them on a number of fronts - beer traps as long as you empty them regularly, pellets where produce is netted from birds, halves of squeezed oranges, and oriental greens - they will always go for pak choi and Chinese cabbage before anything else, so sow some amongst your other crops and then have an evening with a torch and a knife. Don't get arrested though!

*

rowlandwells

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: northamptonshire
  • 3150
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2018, 10:54 »
just to add if its any consolation the field next to me was set with rape seed last year as it grew so the slugs went to town on it despite several lashings of slug pellets some of the field looks bare no plants whatsoever now the pigeons have started feasting on it

maybe it will be ploughed up in spring and re set with something ells? :unsure:

*

al78

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Horsham, West Sussex
  • 1338
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2018, 08:54 »
We haven't had a lack of frost here in Sussex, but I have reduced slug damage by applying nematodes just before sowing or planting out (March/April), and putting copper rings around seedlings. A second application of nematodes applied late spring/early summer to reduce potato damage.

*

lettice

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Sunny South Coast, Hampshire
  • 1531
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2018, 12:42 »
I think of it as a a multiple deterrent battle.
For me, last year was a very light year for slugs/snais.

Slugs -
Can easily be dealt with by nematodes. Make your own in a lidded bucket, saves buying them.
Done that with my ground sown vegetable crops and potato crops for many years now and never seen any damage.

Snails along with slugs -
Use sunken beer/yeast traps using either a value brand (supermarket value 4x beer cans £1). I mix a teaspoon of yeast (easy bake that I use for breadmaking) with a teaspoon of sugar and a few pints of water). I do the double container method of traps as its a non messy trap that way. I use yogurt pots inside each other that have a reusable plastic lid.
Turn over grapefruit, orange, satsuma or similar skins and the next morning you will catch a few fellows underneath.
Early morning or evening with a torch. Walk around the plot with a bucket and pick them off the paths and ground if they have invaded (do not kill as you can use for nematodes). Always go out after a spell of rain as that brings them out.
Copper tape around the top edges of your pots and a criss cross on the bottom. I use the cheap rolls of copper tape from Amazon and it works as you never get the slugs sitting under the ridges of the pots or underneath the pots.
Copper tape around the outside edges of the raised beds.
Eggshells work wonders around around your seedlings.
Many say coffee Never found coffee to be much of a deterrent Myself and wary of using too much to upset the soil properties.
Check daily all the crevasses in your greenhouse frames. They do like to climb up and out the way during the day.
Also regularly check large stones, rocks or fallen tree bark that may be ornamental, but they love to cower underneath.
You will get some in your compost bins, probably all good as they work with the worms to break down the matter.  I have a shingle area around the bottom of the compost bins to stop them crawling out and about. But I pick the ones around the top of the lid and that you can see in the compost and pop them into my nematode bucket.

Use pellets where they are away from reach of my cats, but have used sparingly last few years. Mainly on the lettuce or brassica beds.

I know some say otherwise, but never had any slug damage to my Spinach/Chard that grows in a raised bed and also to any type of Kale that I grow all around the plot.
Once past the seeding stage, never seen any damage to my Brussels Sprouts.
 If there was any crops that I think they do not enjoy in my area, those above would be them.

« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 12:49 by lettice »

*

erikaz1

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Location: North Wales
  • 97
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2018, 12:47 »
This year I'm going to have to think a bit harder about battling the slugs. Last summer I went out every evening with a flower pot and a stick to collect the little sods that were demolishing EVERYTHING. Mum swore slugs wouldn't touch the onions but she was either wrong, or I've got a strange breed of slug that love them. The problem I have is I have two dogs so slug pellets are a no go. What kind of success have people had with beer traps and short of getting a duck (or few), is there much I can really do?

*

Silva

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Location: Oxfordshire
  • 75
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2018, 14:29 »
Lots of good advice here. I didn't know you could make your own nematodes but having read an article about it I'm not sure I can stomach it! I couldn't believe how many slugs and snails I found when I started clearing the plot a couple of weeks back, despite the cold weather. I can sense all out war is on its way, although for now, I must confess I've just been stamping on the blighters...

*

Plot 1 Problems

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Worcester
  • 3611
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2018, 21:13 »
Never heard of homemade nemtode brewing, thanks for the tip! I'm not squeamish at all, so that's definitely going to be done this year  :)

*

lettice

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Sunny South Coast, Hampshire
  • 1531
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2018, 08:38 »
Never heard of homemade nemtode brewing, thanks for the tip! I'm not squeamish at all, so that's definitely going to be done this year  :)

A good video I find that explains it all nicely is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg1cosZY6k0

I place a brick in the bottom of mine along with a few inches of water, so there is a better resting place for the slugs. Along with some brassica leaves or greenery that the slugs and snails will eat and crawl over and up the sides of the bucket.
They will eat, infect each other, die naturally and fall into the water.
I use a pair of plastic tongs to pick the slugs into a small pot and then carefully again with the tongs place them on the brick in the bucket.
You will find when you open the lid, that some are at the top of the bucket, so be careful to not let them escape. Its worth too to topup the greenery when you add new slugs or weekly depending on the activity.
I have two buckets on the go, so take a month to keep topping one up, let it go untouched for another month and its ready to use.
Its not too smelly, if you make your own comfrey or nettle compost, that will smell more.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 08:46 by lettice »

*

Plot 1 Problems

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Worcester
  • 3611
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2018, 09:26 »
Thanks Lettice!

*

Alifink

  • New Member
  • *
  • Location: Chorley, Lancashire
  • 46
  • Don't follow me, I'm lost too
Re: SLUGS
« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2018, 12:46 »
One small point if using beer traps. A small stick in the beer allows ground beetles to get out of the beer.



xx
How to get rid of slugs?

Started by MrsR on Grow Your Own

20 Replies
4408 Views
Last post June 27, 2007, 15:44
by Sven The Swede
xx
Slugs

Started by Dantheman on Grow Your Own

16 Replies
4275 Views
Last post March 04, 2012, 15:25
by rowlandwells
xx
slugs

Started by vegypete on Grow Your Own

4 Replies
1877 Views
Last post June 07, 2012, 08:31
by m1ckz
xx
slugs already ?????

Started by topsy on Grow Your Own

7 Replies
2638 Views
Last post April 08, 2010, 13:13
by tosca100
 

Page created in 0.304 seconds with 54 queries.

Powered by SMFPacks Social Login Mod
Powered by SMFPacks SEO Pro Mod |