[dionne]

Hello everyone..Does anyone know how i can keep slugs away with out using chemicals?? Ive tried clay cat litter, a shop bought slug stopper thats soap based,gravel,beer traps....I am not getting any were,during the summer i had nothing to show for my hard work,everything was eaten.I have since moved house,got the keys to my allotment yesterday and the first thing i started thinking was how can i protect it from hungry slugs???  :shock:

[WG.]

Slug pubs work for me - use the Search button to find posts with Slugweiser.

Welcome to the forums BTW  

[Lynne]

Beer is the only thing that's worked for me too. But at home I encourage frogs and hedgehogs to help out.

I'm afraid at the allotment I have had to resort to little blue pellets on occasion.

[paintedlady]

One year my garden got full of frogs, and the slug population dropped dramatically - either that or it just happened to be a bad year for slugs in general.

Unfortunately I managed to mow 2 frogs in half  :shock: and when I was giving the veggie bed a really good dig over (boot in, the works) with a gardening fork, the biggest frog/toad got well and truly impaled on it.  I was mortified.

I don't encourage frogs in my garden now - I don't mean to be, but I'm a frog killer.  I use beer traps now or slug pellets if it gets really bad.

[brucesgirl]

We use a copper clad material in our business which is usually used for printed circuit boards. We have loads of offcuts and next year we are going to see if they act as a slug deterrent. Will let you know if they are successful. If so, they will work out a lot cheaper than the strips sold by gardening shops.

[blackhobbescat]

I do think this year was particularly bad.  I have never seen quite soooo many slugs all in one place!  They even manage to get at the lettuce I had planted in a hanging basket to try to avoid the darned things!  

I have had some success with coffee grounds.  Although the really big ones were able to cross that from time to time.  

Hopefully next year will be better. I think your best bet is to try the hedgehog/ frog route, as I have managed to drown frogs before in beer traps  :shock:

You could go around your plot now, squishing all the eggs you find. That, if not only satisfying, may stand you in better stead for next year!

[muntjac]

put a load 2ft high rabbit wire around ur plot .then invite a hedgehog to move in ,. it will do the slugs fer ya .make a home for it and feed it cat food ,and it wil be fine  

[noshed]

Blue pellets

[milkman]

pair of scissors and snip them in half...it's usually fatal, then leave them for other creatures to feed off...

[woodsmoke]

I try not to use pellets but what I do is sow as much as possible in modules and pots and put plants out when they are as big as possible when they are less likely to be eaten.  If things are nibbled I leave them there in the hopes they will leave the other stuff alone, there are slow worms in the compost and a toad and frogs.  I shall dig a small pond this winter as well.  I prefer to lose a few things than use chemicals.  Also find that better to plant out the courgettes etc after May for some reason.  Also I plant flowers and herbs among my veg and I believe this helps.  I would persevere although it is frustrating to lose 12 kale plants overnight when it is too late to sow more!  I throw them into a bramble patch.

[carrotlovers]

Although not a lot of good in the rain, Table salt works well, as it dries them out...Must confess to using the blue pellets this year though, 'cos I was overrun with the blighters.

[GrannieAnnie]

We've got quite a few little frogs and toads, perhaps that's why we don't get too many slugs then.

[puravida]

Dusk raid every night with a torch and a skewer.
I stab them and then fling them over the fence.

Never going to catch then all but I'm sure it helps!

[dionne]

It has been a really bad year with slugs, i lost almost everything to them and that was just a small area in my old garden, the thought of putting lots of work into an allotment to lose everything again  :x not a great thought. I think I am going to try beer traps and sand and ash barriers?? Heard they work well. Good to hear what works well for everyone else xx

[agapanthus]

How about advanced slug pellets....they are supposed to be organic.....although lots of people say they are not.