[davmabz]

hi everybody it wont be too long now!!

I,ve been thinking about slugs, this is my 1st allotment and growing season, the thing is I,m worried about slug pelletts, because they dont only kill slugs n snails, but any bird etc that eats them, they are very toxic and I dont really want them on my plot.  So what do you use to keep slugs n snails down?? 

thanks

[peterjf]

best to check previous posts , type slugs in th the search on this site ,

[rhysdad]

hi everybody it wont be too long now!!

I,ve been thinking about slugs, this is my 1st allotment and growing season, the thing is I,m worried about slug pelletts, because they dont only kill slugs n snails, but any bird etc that eats them, they are very toxic and I dont really want them on my plot.  So what do you use to keep slugs n snails down?? 

thanks

Use these:

http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/v3/advanced-slug-killer-p-6342.html

Certified organic and no secondary poisoning. 575g pot cheapest in Homebase at £3.48 i beleive.

[harry]

I've just bought some from home base

[viettaclark]

Does anyone else who uses these organic pellets find they go mouldy after a while, sprouting long mildew hairs??
Someone said they are mainly bran which swells up in the slugs' tums and they slope off somewhere and die of rupture.
Is this true?
So can you just use bran? V. cheap!

[JayG]

As I understand it the bran is the attractant to the slugs or snails, and Ferric phosphate the active ingredient, so I would say that bran alone would not work (think we would have heard by now if it did!)

Quite informative article here (with an intriguing hint that they don't work as well for slugs as snails!)

Not found that they go "hairy", perhaps your soil is wetter than mine?

[Epona_4]

hiya last year for the first time i used nematodes in combination with 2 ducks and a drake! who are avid slug and snail hunters!
a few months before someone had thrown a bag of slug pellets over my fence....(goodness knows why) and my dog ate some.....i nearly lost him and the vet said  it was only because he was young and fit he survived.....he was in doggy intensive care for 4 days. the vet said they are made to be paletable by any animal birds hedgehogs anything that comes across them really, my point is i suppose please please think carefully before using them thankyou 

[JayG]

They were probably the more common metaldehyde tablets though which certainly are poisonous to other animals; the organic ones should be much safer if eaten by animals (not recommended though of course!)

[Puenktchen]

Hi

I have used these organic slug pellets with ferric phosphate for the last years and it is working very well. Hardly any slug or snail damage. But I found that it is working best in spring and early summer, late summer and autumn the slugs and snails seem less affected. I don`t know why, maybe they get used to it?

Some also got mouldy especially if it was moist and rather cold. I think they are not as efficient anymore as without mould.

I am not an adherer of killing animals, but I also want to eat my vegetables myself, I don`t grow them for the slugs. And the organic slug pellets are much better as the slug pellets with methaldehyde.

Puenktchen

[Epona_4]

yes i think you are right, was a terrible terrible thing watching my boy fitting and not knowing me when i visited him the vet preparred me for losing him we really didnt think he would pull through bless him but he did  

[Puenktchen]

yes i think you are right, was a terrible terrible thing watching my boy fitting and not knowing me when i visited him the vet preparred me for losing him we really didnt think he would pull through bless him but he did 

This is really horrible what happened to your dog. Everyone who uses the common methaldehyde slug pellets should read this and think twice about using them. I don`t want to know, how many hedgehogs, birds and other animals die each year because of people using them.

Ferric phosphate, the active component in the organic slug pellets, is ubiquitous in nature. Slugs and snails are much more sensitive to it than other animals, so it should be safe for them (the other animals). Slugs and snails stop eating after eating the pellets (ferric phosphate interferes with the calcium metabolism in their gut I have read in the internet) and die after 3 to 6 days. This is not nice, but at least no other animals will be harmed (hopefully).

Puenktchen

[BostonInbred]

Theres several organic, non toxic ways to fight slugs, one way is Diatomaceous earth, you just put a small ring on the ground round each plant and the slugs refuse to cross it, or garlic slug barrier, you spray plants with the liquid version and they then taste horrid to the slugs, or you spread the powder on the ground and the slugs wont go near it.

Please note the biggest casualty of chemical slugs pellets are hedgehogs, which is madness because there  a gardeners friends and also eat slugs!!!

[moose]

There have been a number of articles in magazines about using bran. One did a test of several different slug treatments/deterrents and bran came out very highly recommended. It does need replacing after heavy rain, but it is cheap to buy from animal feed shops.

[davmabz]

Heres an artical from this months wag magazine.

slug pelletts

They usually contain metaldehyde and are extremely dangerous because they taste nice and even small amounts can cause fast and painful death for any dog / creature eating enough of them. Even if the dog recovers from the intial posioning episode they may die weeks later from liver failure!.
So lets all try and use some other method of slug n snail control.

to the mother! :happy:

[mumofstig]

davmabz......the slug pellets on the link above do not contain metaldehyde!