Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: tomato-joy on January 07, 2007, 09:41
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Hi,
Someone suggested that I might get a whole heap of slugs under the plastic that I have put down over my weeded plots - has anyone else had any trouble with them in this way? and should I put down slug pellets? Or does it not matter if you have a few slugs (apart from the eeeuw factor when you peel back your plastic in the spring :) )
thanks.
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you will if its dark and mouldy under there and personally i say nuke em there used to be a row that birds would eat the pellets .well i have not seen a bird with bright blue feathers or lots dying around here in fact my pet blackbird( shaun cos he got little stumpy legs ) :D has been worming alongside me when i have put them down :) a few dark spots in the garden will colect them up over time so think on it heheh :twisted:
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i say throw away the plastic into the nearest skip .
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right! I shall prepare for war - any recommendations for what to use?
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am just starting out and have had so many conflicting bits of advice (still gratefull for it all though!)
I must admit to being tempted by the thought of not much weeding come the spring on the 2 plots that I have covered, as the others are not cleared yet. My poor allotment has not been loved for a few years, so much work to do on the others.
What damage would the plastic do to the plot? AND, I've got a bit of carpet over my newly built compost heap, which I am now worrying has got chemicals in and should not be used. :(
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they dont like salt (rock salt) if you dont want to use pellets or you can get eco friendly pellets.
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We`ve got 2 beds under plastic and the only difference is that when you take the plastic off you can se the little******** and intodece them to the base of your wellie.I do use some slug pellets but usually to protect seedlings that are under mesh ie carrots.I am begining to think that the hugh slugs are not the problem it`s the tiny little black ones that hide under the soil that do the damage.Welcome to the joys of gardening!
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Sorry but you will still be weeding once you take the plastic off all the little weed seeds will germinate but they are also easy to get out then!Expect controversy when it comes to plastic.
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would love some advice on eco friendly pellets - am hoping to be a green gardener...
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some folks use plastic some dont viki its upto you.i dont i see it like this
when you cover up the soil your making it nice and cozy for all those bugs,grubs,slugs n snails and seeds. so when you uncover come springyou will have a explosion of weeds and bugs n stuff,if its left open to the elements rain,frost,snow(soon) and wind ,then that will kill most if not all off.
like anne says its the soil slugs that pose another problem,you can get nemotode stuff to have a go at these (i have never used them its quite expensive).
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have a look at this site
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/
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I've been a bit worried about slug pellets as I presume that they are pretty toxic to other wildlife as well? I suppose I should love the slug, as much as I love the pretty birds...they are wildlife too, eh? :wink:
presumably with our wetter, warmer winters the slugs will be laughing and multiplying?
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I've been a bit worried about slug pellets as I presume that they are pretty toxic to other wildlife as well?
as this ever been proven ?
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You can get wildlife friendly slug pellets - so you needn't worry. If you throw some ordinary pellets under sheeting then the slugs eat them but wildlife can't see them / eat them.
Ordinary pellets can be pretty toxic to pests as well - dogs and cats can be pretty stupid over what they decide to eat.
Nematodes are supposd to be brilliant if used properly on the right soil type.
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Latest reports appear to show (and I'm desperately trying to find the link...) that hedgehogs are not affected by slug pellets. I use them in the garden and the chickens don't touch them.
Spinny
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john did you see a diference when you used them ?
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john did you see a diference when you used them ?
I ordered them last year but they didn't arrive so going to try them this year although they are NOT as effective on heavy clay.
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I use the friendly ones but since I don`t entirley believe all the hype I only use under mesh.The sad thing about these pellets is that you don`t get the little slug corpses to show it`s worked .I like the idea of nematodes but like others find them too costly.
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Latest reports appear to show (and I'm desperately trying to find the link...) that hedgehogs are not affected by slug pellets. I use them in the garden and the chickens don't touch them.
Spinny
Well after a few days of putting down slug pellets (blue ones) I found my family of baby hedgehogs dead beside them. Never used them since.
Jaycee
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I too will never use pellets of any sort. I chop up slugs I come across and leave them uncontaminated for other wildlife to feed on.
Slugs are only a potential problem in areas you are about to sow or plant out into - I wouldn't spend time worrying about them otherwise.
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cor blimey i never knew a slug could be such a row starter heheheh/ :wink: actually time to come clean i use beer dregs from the pub .. i did this ( nuke em on another site a while back and i tell you this granny was gonna beat me about the head with her surgical hose lolo.
(http://bestsmileys.com/angles/8.gif)
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I use plastic cups half filled with sweet tea or coffee.I sink them level into the ground wherever there is a need. Works very successfully. I empty the contents not too often either as it can be a bit smelly.If they look a bit unsightly in the garden at home I just put a dandelion or a lettuce leaf on top.
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cut the top of a yoghurt pot but leave 2 strips down the sides like a umbrella over the beer cup so it doesnt get rained in :wink:
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Well I used nematodes last year and they were brillinat, I think I used them in April/May time, and I never saw a slug all summer!
I did see Snails, but they weren't a problem, just picked them off.
I am new to this, but I haven't found many places supporting the use of these, there seems very little mention of them at all, I wonder why, seem like a pretty good secret to me!
I had an amazing crop of lettuce last year with no holes at all!
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I have had two 5mts x8 mts beds covered in black plastic since last november ,removed them today and while there were some slugs underneath nowhere near as many as i thought there might be,anyway once exposed the birds make short work of them.The reason i cover mine is encourage the worms to take down the manure i spread on the ground in autumn,lazy way i know but time is limited working full time.
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Don't worry about the slugs until you have to - they are actually much less of a nuisance than people perceive them to be. There are plenty of sluggy predators that also like living under plastic. If you've got a nice large sheet of black plastic keeping your plots weed free until you're ready to sow or plant go ahead and use it.
I won't rant on about so-called 'safe' slug pellets here 'cause i've done so somewhere else - the only slug management i employ is to simply chop them in half when they are threatening a vulnerable crop (eg. carrots that are less than 2 inches tall), leaving them dead in situ for the other wildlife to enjoy.
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Don't worry about the slugs until you have to - they are actually much less of a nuisance than people perceive them to be
I wonder if that has anything to do with your chalky soil, milkman?
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Oh you are tempting me to have a rant :twisted:
I was just waiting for someone to say that WG! - Yes for some inexplicable reason I've been chosen to be blessed with less slugs than anyone else - even within my own lottie site!!!
Actually I have as many slugs as the next gardener (I'm sure we could argue till kingdom come who has the most slugs).... maybe a few less because of all the predators I actively encourage...but I don't get hung up about slugs simply because the cultivating methods I use outsmart the slimy *.... I like to call it gardening 'smarter' but that sounds a bit smug doesn't it.
Anyhow logic would tell you that all the people using pellets or expensive nematodes should have less slugs - but they seem to need to apply the pellets season after season don't they?
Who is it telling you the pellets are wildlife friendly and safe? by golly gosh its not 'scientists' employed by the manufacturers is it?!!!
...rant now over...
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Calm down girl; I only said "I wonder if ..." :?
Anyhow, I use similar decapitation methods to you. I don't bait, I do use polythene around the place and you will see from the Bird thread that I have plenty of birdlife around to eat slugs.
The best predators I ever had was a flock / herd / gaggle of ducklings. They cleaned up all the slugs, then ate the beetroot and everything else they considered palatable. If they didn't eat it, they trampled it.
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the only slug management i employ is to simply chop them in half when they are threatening a vulnerable crop
Just curious how you manage to catch them all and chop them in half before they do any damage. Surely you must have to be on total daylight watch on all your crops :? Or am I missing something? Last year I planted a few lettuces and the next morning they were decimated before I even got outside and I am an early bird!!
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Surely you must have to be on total daylight watch on all your crops
Night time watch is much better.
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I do night time hunts but lost all my carrots when we went away for a weekend!This year it will be frienly slug pellets under netting and night patrol.It`s the mini black underground slugs thay cause the damage here often too small to snip and so small that you can`t remove them with gloves on!Last spring was late and wet tho` and slug problems ended here with the hot dry weather.
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Slugs aren't interested in the majority of my crops, allowing me to focus attention on a critical selection - in particular - carrots until they are 2 inches tall, which does involve daily patrols for a couple of weeks starting 10 days from after I've sown them. That's all.
The other vulnerable crops - runner beans, french beans, lettuce, brassicas, toms, sweetcorn etc. I sow in rootrainers, keep them in a slug free environment and transplant the plants onto the plot when they are a nice sturdy size.
That's not to say I don't lose the occasional veg to a slug - e.g my 3 spring cabbages matured far too early and were riddled with slugs. Ho hum. More food for the compost heap and plenty of other crops to eat instead.
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erm slugs under plastic............. does that qualify as a take away for birds?. try oyster shell as a barrier .oestra £6 a sack from poultry suppliers