[prakash_mib]

this is the document released by our water authority.
it is bit scary and I would like this to be a sticky in GYO and in general gardening (well atleast till the document is available).

http://www.bristolwater.co.uk/uploads/news/slug.pdf

[mumofstig]

A change to using the slug pellets that don't contain metaldehyde may be a good idea then They sell them in most places nowadays.

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/product/Pest%20Control_Slug%20traps%20and%20barriers/GPC-197.htm

[prakash_mib]

yep bought those (from BeeQ) after seeing johns video.
Thanks john 

[billathome65]

Oh well it will add to all the other toxic chemicals they add to our water supply purposely

I.E Sodium Fluoride to name one.

Like Radiation from damaged Japanese nuclear plants the powers that manipulate us all would have us believe that Sodium Fluoride and Uranium is good for you....

Am Off My Soap Box Now

Just research and don't just go with the official line.

Thanks for the link mumofstig. 

Bill

[Munchkin]

Harrod Horticultural: "They spend quite a high proportion of their life cycle underground so roots and root crops like Potatoes can suffer great damage from slugs. Seedlings and young plants can be totally consumed. If seedlings fail to appear they may have been consumed by slugs before they got the chance to germinate!"

I'm yet to plant my potatoes out and i have a horrid feeling they will get eaten up as soon as I do. I've gone through enormous effort with the organic soil and feel like I'd be ruining it with the 'organic' pellets even though they say they're organic. Does anyone feel the same?


(edit to clarify source of quote)

[billathome65]

I am of the opinion that anything that helps keep it organic is good. However our climate has to be one of the worst for attracting the destroyers of hard work. You either live with them and try to manage them naturally by introducing things that control or like me you get nasty with the safest alternative.

I put down pellets but now I got chucks I'm going to have to find one which is safe for my chucks.

Bill

[JayG]

Oh dear, that word "organic" again! 

Ferric phosphate (the active ingredient of "Growing Success" slug/snail bait) is of course chemically an inorganic salt but both elements are found naturally in soil.

That's why it is approved for use by organic growers despite being neither a "natural" nor organic substance.

Despite it being non-poisonous (other than to slugs!) I wouldn't let poultry near it because from what I gather they will gobble up most things with reckless abandon..................(space for chook owners to correct me here!) 

[Swing Swang]

Munchkin - can't say I feel the same way. Planting marigolds/poached eqq plants/nasturtiums as biological control rather than using chemicals makes be feel good and makes the garden look pretty. Long term barriers such as second hand builderes netting are very effective and seem to work out cheaper than a lot of pest/herb/fungicides so there is a real cost/benefit to me.  The price of fertiliser is going through the roof too, but I;ve alwasys used poop and compost. If something is really toxic I'd probably not use it (but I'm sure I could find caveats), but I'm happy to use non-organic spud fertiliser, slug pellets with care etc. etc. Actually I'd still use Derris, Creosote, etc. and home made concoctions if they were both legal and available, but they're not and I miss their passing.

[Munchkin]

Ferric phosphate (the active ingredient of "Growing Success" slug/snail bait) is of course chemically an inorganic salt but both elements are found naturally in soil.

That's why it is approved for use by organic growers despite being neither a "natural" nor organic substance.

I knew it would be one of those! lol. I'm going to plant a lot of nasturtiums...do they really work on the dreaded S&S?

[shokkyy]

I've been using those Growing Success pellets for years and they work very well. I have a garden full of hedgehogs, foxes, birds, toads, plus a food obsessed lurcher that hoovers them up along with everything else, and as far as I can tell they've never harmed anything. But my lettuces get picked with not a single slug hole in their leaves

[Munchkin]

So Ferric and phosphate are two separate elements that they've joined together somehow....by adding other stuff?

[bigben]

So Ferric and phosphate are two separate elements that they've joined together somehow....by adding other stuff?

Iron, phosphorus and oxygen.  Fe3(PO4)2

[JayG]

So Ferric and phosphate are two separate elements that they've joined together somehow....by adding other stuff?

It's technically a salt (of ferric and phosphate ions) in the same way that household salt is a salt of sodium and chloride ions.

It is only slightly soluble in water so is less likely to be leached through the soil into the water supply system, and works by interfering with the slug or snail's gut metabolism which apparently stops them eating almost immediately.................. 

(Well, you did ask!)

[Munchkin]

Thanks for the info. So if the stuff is slightly soluble in water then the plants will suck it up and it will get into my food?

[mumofstig]

This 'stuff' is already naturally in the soil anyway, and on that basis will make no difference to your veg