[shay]

Probably been done to death so apologies to those of you who have been on here for ages.

I have 3 plot next to each other, rather large at 5m by 25m each.

As I see it various options available to me with regards slug deterent.

Good old fashioned pellets which over the course of the growing season will cost a small fortune.

Copper tape which I could put around the edges and then still use pellets in the inside on a couple of occasions to get rid of any who have somehow sneaked in but again the tape will be costly.

Are there any other not so costly solutions which I can take onboard that are both effective and does not require daily intervention?

[Sadgit]

You can get pellets from Wilkos/etc and they don't work out that expensive if they are used in the correct way. i.e. scattered sparingly where they are needed.

[paintedlady]

key words:  not so costly, effective, does not require daily intervention

As Sadgit wrote, Wilkos slug pellets probably still the best option.

Alternatively frogs do an absolutely great job (personal experience of frogs in my garden - amazingly I hardly had any slugs so I suppose that meets your requirements  ) but frogs don't do well with slug pelletted slugs for dinner 

[Salmo]

Have you looked into Nemaslug as advertised at the bottom here.

Ask yourself where the slugs come from? Is there anything that you can do to make it less attractive to them? They need something to feed on, somwhere damp to hide and somewhere to lay their eggs.

[Sadgit]

Have you looked into Nemaslug as advertised at the bottom here.

Fairly expensive option.. but one I use for my spuds

[shay]

key words:  not so costly, effective, does not require daily intervention

As Sadgit wrote, Wilkos slug pellets probably still the best option.

Alternatively frogs do an absolutely great job (personal experience of frogs in my garden - amazingly I hardly had any slugs so I suppose that meets your requirements  ) but frogs don't do well with slug pelletted slugs for dinner 

Liking the idea of the frogs. Would I be right in assuming, you build a little pond, nothing major, give it some plant life and it will attract frogs and then the threat of slugs is minimal? Would a small pond in the middle plot (2ft x 2ft) be a decent size to attact enough to cover all three plots?

[woodburner]

They also like piles of rocks to overwinter under.

[paintedlady]

  Just to confuse matters, neither my neighbours nor I have ponds in the gardens but obviously it must be frog heaven for some reason (... slugs?).  After encouraging frogs on your plot, you'll need something to persuade them to stay, so I'd go for some shady, grassy, dark cool areas for them to hide in (they are still a meal for predators like birds)

[Greengirl]

I have a pond bursting with frogs at the moment, I also have hedgehogs & the odd thrush too & I'm still over-run with slugs & snails. This may not be your answer I'm afraid.

[Stripey_cat]

How about slug hunts?  Do you have kids or (childish) friends you could round up to help, with a prize for the winner?  Just make sure no-one is so drunk or competitive that they trample your seedlings!

[shay]

How about slug hunts?  Do you have kids or (childish) friends you could round up to help, with a prize for the winner?  Just make sure no-one is so drunk or competitive that they trample your seedlings!

lol...I have 4 kids of which 3 are of the age they could do that, however they are not quite theage where I could trust them not to trample the seedlings into the ground.

[Sadgit]

I found loads of frogs at the top end of my plot under old carpets/wood I was taking to the tip a few weeks ago, so we (my wife) made a pond for them all Hope they stay on our plot now!!!

http://www.sad-land.co.uk/2009/03/15/weekend-update/

[home made pie]

I think I've got a cunning plan to tackle my slug problem this year

I had a big problem with slugs last year.  My veg plots have brick edging which, although they look nice, they provide great places for slugs to hide and breed.  On Sunday eve I went out with a torch and was shocked beyond belief to see how many slugs were active  I hate the thought of scattering pellets in amongst the veg so I thought about it and this is what I've done

Monday - I put a thin line of pellets around the inside edge of the plots.  I also scattered loads of pellets underneath some small ground cover plants that I won't be eating (I realised this is where a lot of slugs are hiding) these plants are now known as traps !

Tuesday - loads of dead slugs, at least 100 but I stopped counting, a few big un's but most were very tiny baby slugs...that now can't breed 

Wednesday - about 1/4 as many slugs so I obviously got most on day 1

Conclusion - the defence wall of pellets worked well, the slugs were obviously hiding down near the brick edging.  Also I found masses of dead slugs under the ground cover plants, another great hiding place, I'm gonna keep these plants as traps and keep scattering pellets underneath.

I feel total optimism and I'm dead pleased I won't need to scatter pellets amongst the veg area, here's a plan of it all (sad I know but I was on a high today) the green circles are the groung cover plants where loads of slugs were hiding, the dotted blue line is my defence wall of pellets

Jan