[redwine@roses]

anybody had any joy growing strawberries in tubes,i am sick of slugs nibbling away at them on the ground. I saw some tubes in a garden centre hell of a price, was thinking on the lines of soil pipe with holes cut out and stood up in the poly do you think its feasible??any pointers will be gratefully accepted.

[sclarke624]

I've more strawbs nibbled this year than any other not sure of the culprit, but think slugs as slime on one of them as well as a bite taken out.

[Paul Plots]

I've more strawbs nibbled this year than any other not sure of the culprit, but think slugs as slime on one of them as well as a bite taken out.

Slugs are quite easy to control if you are happy to use the little blue pellets - I have problems with woodlice where strawberries are grown under glass.... Very hard to discourage those little many-legged-armoured tanks 

[sclarke624]

Aren't they dangerous for dogs though.  I think I remember reading that somewhere or reading that it didn't say that on the packaging and a woman lost her dog who she caught eating the pellets.  I couldn't take the risk.

[Zippy]

I used organic pellets until I realised that any slug pellets work by attracting slugs in and then killing them when they munch the pellet. The poison goes out of them long before the food pellet breaks down so you are left with lovely slug food all over the allotment to attract more in; same with beer traps - they attract more than they kill.

I have taken to laying yard lengths of floorbording down and weighing down 2 ft square pieces of black plastic and regularly turning them over and disposing of the slugs that hide under them. Easy to scrape them off into a bag in a plant pot with one of those wide plant markers you get in shop plant trays. then they go on their holidays to Land-Fill or Doo-Poo-Bin. Nothing to attract more in and my populations have gone down from 40ish to about 10 if I'm lucky.

Last year I moved my strawberries into a cracked water butt sunk into the ground for stability with a bird net over when fruiting - brilliant clean fruit and I don't think the slugs know they are there - too high off the ground!

Hope this helps.

[sarah f]

my strawberries got really badly nibbled to  and they were in hanging baskets, but i netted the baskets and are fine now

[8doubles]

The local birds did a bit of damage to the earliest strawbs but are getting fed up with them now and not bothering. Picking 3kg every other day, made the jam and strawbs in syrup in the freezer, i hope everybody comes back from holiday soon so i can give them away

If the 5-6 portions of fruit and veg per day is all strawberries the effects are dire.  

[Paul Plots]

Aren't they dangerous for dogs though.  I think I remember reading that somewhere or reading that it didn't say that on the packaging and a woman lost her dog who she caught eating the pellets.  I couldn't take the risk.

My wife was concerned that our kitten might eat the slug pellets used to protect summer bedding plants... solution.. cover the pellets with netting / wire mesh. This looks unsightly but it was either that  or the plants or the cat snuff it... Once the majority of sugs have had their supper and the plants have toughened up the netting can come off as by then the pellets should have mixed into the soil well enough not to be visible on the surface.....

With strawberries you risk birds helping themselves so I'd net them and use slug bait at least once at the start of the season. This way you keep the dog and the strawberries safe.