Slugs

Minder

We spend many weekends planting up pots, hanging baskets and window boxes, not to mention our first attempt at a vegetable patch, only to discover that the slugs and snails were having a banquet on all the young shoots. My hostas look like swiss cheese plants and the veggie patch is a collection of sticks.

So we went to war on the slugs. I bought some beer traps, other traps and some nematodes. The literature that comes with the traps says that they will clear an area of two square metres. I am astonished by the volume of slugs that the traps collect. I fill them with Tesco own brand bitter at 23p a can, it usually lasts a week before it is too full or moldy. I also bought some traps that come with a bait for slugs and snails. All the traps have lids to stop the bait washing away in the rain.

The nematodes are tiny worms that infect the slugs. They are made up in solution and watered into the soil. We will see how effective these are - but at the rate we are trapping, there won't be much left to infect.

As I said, the volume is amazing, we must be getting 50 to 60 slugs from the beer traps before they need emptying and the smaller bait traps have four or five in each night. All chemical free and organic:D I wash the beer traps into a bucket of water before pouring the contents down the shore in the garden. It might be too late for my veggies, but the small lettuce plants I bought at the weekend will have a fighting chance.

MJOR

Minder wrote: »

We spend many weekends planting up pots, hanging baskets and window boxes, not to mention our first attempt at a vegetable patch, only to discover that the slugs and snails were having a banquet on all the young shoots. My hostas look like swiss cheese plants and the veggie patch is a collection of sticks.

So we went to war on the slugs. I bought some beer traps, other traps and some nematodes. The literature that comes with the traps says that they will clear an area of two square metres. I am astonished by the volume of slugs that the traps collect. I fill them with Tesco own brand bitter at 23p a can, it usually lasts a week before it is too full or moldy. I also bought some traps that come with a bait for slugs and snails. All the traps have lids to stop the bait washing away in the rain.

The nematodes are tiny worms that infect the slugs. They are made up in solution and watered into the soil. We will see how effective these are - but at the rate we are trapping, there won't be much left to infect.

As I said, the volume is amazing, we must be getting 50 to 60 slugs from the beer traps before they need emptying and the smaller bait traps have four or five in each night. All chemical free and organic:D I wash the beer traps into a bucket of water before pouring the contents down the shore in the garden. It might be too late for my veggies, but the small lettuce plants I bought at the weekend will have a fighting chance.

Good on ya! I planted my herb garden and the little b*stards have been dining alfresco since...... I moved them to pots and that seems to have kept them away... Will definately try the beer traps though.... Drunk as a slug lol:eek:

r3nu4l

Some good info there, thanks Can you buy these traps online or just in a garden centre?

Minder

The literature that comes with the beer traps is hilarious - It describes how the slugs are attracted by the scent of the beer and enter the trap, then become confused and can't get out again and you can throw them away.

Rubbish! Is drowning in beer such a horrible way to go? Who's sensitivities are being protected here? Will the Society for the Protection of Slugs be up in arms over the massacre of these gastropods?

r3nu4l wrote: »

Some good info there, thanks Can you buy these traps online or just in a garden centre?

I bought them online in the UK (I live in Kent) - The Organic Catalogue - The nematodes are becoming more popular for gardeners - I believe they were developed by the potato growers, their crops can be devastated by slugs.

r3nu4l

Minder wrote: »

I bought them online in the UK (I live in Kent) - The Organic Catalogue - The nematodes are becoming more popular for gardeners - I believe they were developed by the potato growers, their crops can be devastated by slugs.

I live in the UK too!! Start posting on boards.org.uk dammit!!

Funny I have been growing potatoes for the past two years and haven't had a problem with slugs or snails eating them but right now I'm removing up to 30 large snails a day from the garden (by hand) and very few slugs.

As for nematodes, when I was a lab scientist, the lab next door was a nematode genetics laboratory, I know a lot about nematodes, I'm sick of hearing about nematodes at this stage That said, yes they are great biocontrol agents. It was the lab next door to mine that found the gene that allows nematodes to survive while dessicated

bbam

We've used Nematodes a few times... Excellant control and decent last from the covering....

r3nu4l

...and the nematode work goes on in NUIM
PhD Studentship vacancy

Minder

This is the blurb for Nemaslug - available in many online retailers in the UK.

Naturally occurring microscopic nematodes which seek out and kill slugs, reproducing inside them. Easily mixed with water and applied with a watering can, giving protection for up to six weeks.

Apply when slugs are active, and ensure the soil is moist for optimum performance. For best results the soil temperature needs to be between 10oC and 25oC, so we will supply from April, starting in the south, until September. It kills mainly young and small slugs under the soil surface (90% of the population), rather than big slugs on the surface, for which additional controls may be needed (see the Pest Control Products sections). However, it does mean that the young slugs do not mature and breed, giving a much reduced slug population in the future. Use before the expiry date on the pack, and keep refridgerated until use.

Note: This does not control snails, and is not recommended for use in very heavy clay soil.

This pack treats 100 square metres.

For double pack sent 6 weeks apart see code BCSL4

More information from the producers of Nemaslug

NEMATODES AND POTATOES

Branston Ltd, one of the country’s leading potato suppliers, is helping their growers discover just how good Nemaslug is at controlling slugs. Based in Branston, Lincolnshire, with further production sites in Somerset and Scotland, the company has an annual turnover of more than £100 million and is Tesco’s largest fresh produce supplier, sourcing around 400,000 tonnes of potatoes a year.

Slugs are a serious and potentially very costly problem for potato growers, so Branston is keen to find an effective solution. Following successful field trials in 2006, Branston encouraged a number of their growers to use Nemaslug during 2007. The initial target was to treat 100 hectares with Nemaslug, but due to the wet and humid season demand increased to over 450 hectares.
“This year 30 of our growers tried Nemaslug and it was so successful that we are encouraging more of them use the product in 2008,” says Dr Andy Barker, R&D Manager at Branston.

Branston recommends Nemaslug to its growers and supports them to ensure its correct application. Keeled slugs (Milax & Tandonia spp.) are particularly problematic in potatoes as they are more active underground and therefore harder to control with conventional pesticide pellets. “Nemaslug works well in the places that pellets can’t reach,” says Andy.

Water is key to successful growth and also to enable nematodes to reach the slugs underground. When the weather is dry the nematodes need to be watered in well. In the garden, the judicious use of a hose pipe or sprinkler is sufficient to wash them in. Branston and Becker Underwood are collaborating to develop application through the standard raingun so that growers will be less reliant on the weather.

“We’re keen to encourage the use of Nemaslug, either as a continuous programme or in conjunction with other modes of control as part of our Integrated Crop Management strategy (ICM),” continues Andy. “As Branston supplies Tesco and follows the Nature’s Choice guidelines, reducing the number of slug pellets used is very attractive. Using environmentally friendly controls, such as Nemaslug, can help towards a greener environment and a more sustainable approach to slug control.”

crosstownk

Eggshells keep the slugs away. Apparently they wont crawl/creep/cross eggshells. Practical if the area is small but if the area is large then it could wreak havok on your cholesterol!!

old boy

soak your rubarb leaves i a container of water for 6 weeks, great protection for brassicas

NextSteps

Coffee grounds are meant to be good too, but - touch wood - I haven't had many problems this year. I've started using raised (concrete and plaster) beds - wonder if this could be keeping the numbers down? or is it because the garden was completely destroyed by renovations last year and the slug colonies (or whatever they live in) were destroyed or starved? Interesting.

Of course, I've been using the nematodes religiously too, so that might be helping!

6th

I used to make my own beer traps when I had a slug problem, it took a couple of minutes and was taking out 20/30 of the feckers at a time. A sharp knife, 2lt bottle and some tape did the trick. They can get in easy but its not to simple to get out.

Curvy Vixen

I wish I was nice enough to be organic but I'm really not. Lots of lovely blue slug pellets does it for me I'm afraid...:eek:

magicbastarder

the problem with those is that it kills the slugs and they lie out in the open, where the birds pick them off. and get poisoned.

brianthebard

i thought that was just ddt magic? ub mentioned
coffee grounds,which does work.i had some crap lidl stuff that i threw on the ground and it killed the slugs that were there.i like to think they died of a caffeine overdose. Posted via Mobile Device

The Sweeper

Coffee grounds do work - you could try edging your beds with the rinsings-out of the morning cafetiere... or if you're like me and drink instant because it's too much hassle, you can use beer traps and spend a year using the rinsings-out of Sunday morning's cafetiere.

luckat

Yeah, the blue slug pellets are bad management. If you kill your birds, you kill your best source of pest management.

If you insist on using the pellets, at least put them in under a slate propped up on a stone, so the slugs die there, then dispose of the slugs, carefully not handling them with bare hands or soak-through gloves, as the slug pellets are some fairly vicious poison.

The nematodes are the biz. There's also a thing called, I think, Sluggit, which soaks into the soil - but I'm not sure how that effects frogs and newts, which are also useful in slug control.

beolight

are there any parts of garden where slugs are actually benefical?

just in from stroll around back garden and the lawn is full of them was about to start picking them up when i seen a couple of them perched on top of some grass clippings

they can break this down

also what do people do with the slugs they pick off/catch

is putting them in compost pile a good idea

muggyog

Slugs dont care what green material they eat and unlike earthworms dont recycle what they do eat. They are eating machines and they only benefit hedgehogs ( which every garden should have )

Putting them in the fire is much better than the compost heap!!

Crash and burn you slime balls:D

Minder

Having tried all kinds of traps, the nematodes and the copper tapes, I still managed to collect well over a hundred slugs and snails in a couple of hours last night in the light rain. Only gave up when my torch ran out of power. Someone suggested a bucket of boiling water and a pair of gloves - I agree completely. If I get a chance tonight, will try another round up. I am seriously hoping that I have made a dent in the slime ball population of my garden - doing that every night would be impossible.:eek:

AlanD

Here's a technique I use for killing the slugs which devour everything I've planted in the garden.

I get dog food, the pellet type and leave it out in little bundles around the garden. If it hasn't rained, I'll water the garden in the late evening so it's wet for the slugs to come out. They come out in fairly massive numbers to the dog food and then I salt them all. By morning the birds and my dog have cleaned up the mess.

Lure them out and salt them I say.

The Sweeper

Chickens.

I don't know why I didn't mention this before - (possibly because it's utterly impractical for most people?) but chickens are excellent garden pest control.

They will also make a dog's breakfast out of your flowerbeds if you don't cordon them off in some way, but they'll devour slugs, snails, earwigs, woodlice... And of course worms and the good insects too, but they will take care of your slug problem.

My neighbour has a bunch of free ranging chickens and says he hasn't seen a snail in two months. He does things like cordon off a flowerbed that he WANTS dug through, and pens his chickens onto it during the day. They eat all the greenery (weeds), devour all the insects (good and bad), aerate the soil with their scratching and crap nitrogen-rich chicken poo everywhere. He intends to cover the be-chickened bed with cardboard for the next two months until the spring, and then move them to the next bed.

Minder

Slugs are somewhat nocturnal, being prone to drying out in the heat of the day. So the window of opportunity for chickens to eat slugs is probably quite short. The nematodes are starting to work. I see the effect on any slug I manage to catch - there is a borehole on the back of the mollusc that is made by the parasitic worm. Second batch of nematodes arrived this week - and with rain forecast for the weekend, the timing couldn't be better. It will be nematodes again next march, to take care of the slimeballs.

CJhaughey

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Chickens.

I don't know why I didn't mention this before - (possibly because it's utterly impractical for most people?) but chickens are excellent garden pest control.

They will also make a dog's breakfast out of your flowerbeds if you don't cordon them off in some way, but they'll devour slugs, snails, earwigs, woodlice... And of course worms and the good insects too, but they will take care of your slug problem.

We have chickens and TBH they don't really deal with slugs that well, they scratch away and eat a lot of our vegetables but the slugs seem to remain, I think what happens is the slugs go into the soil and hide and the chickens are unable to scratch that deep.
Ducks on the other hand LOOOOVE slugs and will clear a garden of them no problem.
I have had success with a few small squares of dark polythene sheeting that I put around the garden and weighed down with stones, leave for a day or so and then remove and salt the slugs that have hidden there.

Irish Gardener

Minder wrote: »

there is a borehole on the back of the mollusc that is made by the parasitic worm.

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That hole is normally there on most slugs, it is the hole or pore that it breathes out of.
The nematodes do not create it but they do use it for entry though.
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Minder

Irish Gardener wrote: »

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That hole is normally there on most slugs, it is the hole or pore that it breathes out of.
The nematodes do not create it but they do use it for entry though.
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Okay - thanks. It did seem different, it was darker than the surrounding body and I only noticed it recently in my collections. Any idea how long the nematodes take to do their work?

Irish Gardener

Minder wrote: »

Okay - thanks. It did seem different, it was darker than the surrounding body and I only noticed it recently in my collections. Any idea how long the nematodes take to do their work?

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2 weeks + from time of watering.
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CCCP^

Somebody told me cucumber messes them up, but that might be ants. Speaking of ants, do they do any harm to a garden or are the a benefit? My sister is having swarms of the feckers with wings breaching out of her garden.

Honey-ec

Didn't know about the eggshells, but my dogs would just eat any shells left around anyway.

Having read this whole topic, I think nematodes are the way to go. I am almost ready to plant out a whole load of mint, basil, oregano and thyme that I have lovingly grown from seed, and there's no way I'm letting the slimey feckers destroy them all!

Oh, and ants don't do any harm, to my knowledge (I quite like, them, busy little things!) but the winged variety are very annoying alright.

GetGrowing

There's an organic slug pellet called Ferramol. I get mine from:

http://www.fruithillfarm.com/cat/ferramol.shtml

Ducks are also good at eating slugs - especially 'Indian Runners'.

MeerKat17

Apparently putting a line of copper around your veggie patch kills off all slugs and snails... it gives them an electric shock!