Slugs !!

PADRAGON

Hello all.I'm looking for advice about slugs.I have a patch of strawberries and i cant seem to keep the damn slugs away.I was told to dig a trench around the strawberry plants and fill it with pine needles,will this work? I want to protect the strawberries without insecticides,and without killing the slugs,if possible.

Oldtree

the only way to do this without killing them is to put the strawberry plants in pots on a raised table, in my case in a polly tunnel, and even then I've had to use a large tray and fill with water and support the strawberry pot on top of other smaller inverted pots in the moat! and second tray for water for plant. This also allows the strawberrys to hang over the edge.

strawberry pot
tray with water for plant
inverted support pots
large tray with water as moat
up on table in polly t

I never get undamaged strawberrys on my outside plants, nomatter what orgainc and non lethal method I try, and I think its safe to say I've tried them all.

Along the same lines with planting peas outside, I wait for a period that will be dry for at least 2 weeks, plant loads of pea seeds and hope for the best. There are less slugs and snails during the dry spell and this gives the peas a chance to get going, they dont seem to bother with older plants. generally grow my peas in pots too.

magicbastarder

you may as well kill them if you intend to starve them of their food!
beer traps. they'll die happy.

falcon42

surround the plants with seaweed,slugs dont like salt.

mitosis

Do they eat tomatoes? Something has been munching big bites out of a couple of mine, but never sticks around to be caught!

Oldtree

magicbastarder wrote: »

you may as well kill them if you intend to starve them of their food!
beer traps. they'll die happy.

Dont think you get the op's idea of not killing them, those wonderful little composters do a great job. plenty of food for them without needing to plant more for them in my garden so I work around them. Hedgehog needs somthing to eat too. My view is I am not going to die without specific produce so why should I kill something for my hobby???
Dont drink so no spare beer here.......... :rolleyes:

dont think they eat tomatoes as those large snails that make it past the moat into the tomato pots in the polly t dont seem to do any damage, whereas they do on the courgettes and peas and beans.

magicbastarder

slugs and snails are actually a very minor part of their diet; i don't know if this year would be an exception, with the abundance of such prey though.

Oldtree

minor?!?!? so they wouldnt starve without them in your garden then? :rolleyes::)

magicbastarder

well, i heard that on springwatch, i think; i just googled it and found this:

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/FAQS/the_basic_facts.htm

Technophobe

They do eat tomaotoes too..I have seen the proof...:rolleyes:

Oldtree

I grow mainly cherry tomatoes, gardeners delight, maby they dont like cherry tomatoes.

Interesting website, I wonder how they carried out the study of a hedgehogs eating habits?

maringo

If you put some sharp sand on the patch I find it keeps them off apart from the odd one. You can get it in Woodies - its not builder sand but the sand you use for cuttings. The sand seems to keep the ground fairly dry which e slugs & snails don't like

redser7

It scrapes their bellies and sticks to them

the great purveyor of mediocrity

Going outside periodically, be it during the day and especially at night with a torch and a weapon is the only really effective method that I have found and I have tried pretty much everything.
They have caused havoc in my garden this year. They have munched an awful lot of stuff, even flower bulbs, bedding plant seedlings, sunflowers, morning glory, herbs, almost everything.

Anatom

A scissors works I find. As does, a brush and pan and dumping them straight into the compost bin. I don't think there's any way of keeping them out of your plants completely although this year I have put down slug killer which certainly worked until it was washed through by the constant rain!!

Does anyone know what function slugs fulfill in the world order of animals? What (apart from hedgehogs, and I have none of them around) eats them?

Mo60

Anatom wrote: »

Does anyone know what function slugs fulfill in the world order of animals? What (apart from hedgehogs, and I have none of them around) eats them?

Birds find slugs quite tasty, which is why you are supposed to be careful regarding the use of slug pellets. Although I have not found any dead birds after using the pellets.

Oldtree

Mo60 wrote: »

Birds find slugs quite tasty, which is why you are supposed to be careful regarding the use of slug pellets. Although I have not found any dead birds after using the pellets.

quick search for you

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/4412/23/5/3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaldehyde

so quite easy to see the little feathered friends flying away to die unpleasently in the corner of a field out of you sight.
hedgehogs are shy creatures and unless you train them to feed from a dish its unlikely youll see them, and they too will crawl away to die unpleasently in the corner of a field out of you sight.

see no evil, do no evil..... :rolleyes:

Slugs and snails fulfill the function of composters a very important part in the dynamic of the cycle of nutrients between soil and plants. plants take nutrients out of the soil and slugs and snails recycle by eating debris and defecating, thus returning nutrients to the soil. Almort as important as worms. fairly straightforward really.

this is suppost to be an organic method that does not "kill on contact" and only kills the slugs and snails:

http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/node/816

But I still cant see any reason for killing them, I choose to work around them or use water barriers which they seem to naturally avoid.

redser7

Was thinking of using them in my compost bins to break stuff down faster. Then they would naturally die a happy death. Only catch is that they would reproduce and lay eggs that you would end up spreading around the garden in the compost. So was thinking I could empty the bins and spread the compost out on plastic during dry cold spells during winter to kill the eggs.

Mo60

Oldtree wrote: »

quick search for you

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/4412/23/5/3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaldehyde

so quite easy to see the little feathered friends flying away to die unpleasently in the corner of a field out of you sight.
hedgehogs are shy creatures and unless you train them to feed from a dish its unlikely youll see them, and they too will crawl away to die unpleasently in the corner of a field out of you sight.

see no evil, do no evil..... :rolleyes:

Slugs and snails fulfill the function of composters a very important part in the dynamic of the cycle of nutrients between soil and plants. plants take nutrients out of the soil and slugs and snails recycle by eating debris and defecating, thus returning nutrients to the soil. Almort as important as worms. fairly straightforward really.

this is suppost to be an organic method that does not "kill on contact" and only kills the slugs and snails:

http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/node/816

But I still cant see any reason for killing them, I choose to work around them or use water barriers which they seem to naturally avoid.

Thank you for scaremongering. I only use slug pellets very occasionally and tend to keep them out of birds way. I have 3 cats and 5 dogs that have never been affected by slug pellets.

We all have different ways of dealing with problems, but it does not mean we have to be lectured by someone with a different opinion.

redser7

It's not scaremongering or opinion, it is fact. It's called secondary killing. It is why pellet manufacturers put warning on the bottles. It is why slug manufacturers are starting to make pellets based on other poisons that are not harmful to frogs/hedgehogs/birds who ingest the poisoned slugs. If you used the dangerous ones the responsible thing is to go out the next day and removed the dead/dying slugs before creatures have a chance to eat them.

Oldtree

Mo60 wrote: »

Thank you for scaremongering. I only use slug pellets very occasionally and tend to keep them out of birds way. I have 3 cats and 5 dogs that have never been affected by slug pellets.

We all have different ways of dealing with problems, but it does not mean we have to be lectured by someone with a different opinion.

I deny being a scaremongerer or a lecturer, I have informed you of the facts about the poison in slug pellets and it is up to you what you decide to do with that information. The use of minimising language by you indicates that you are an intelligent being, and I hope you put a bit more thought into this before you again put forward the predictable defence similar to that of a smoker.

You use the pellets or you dont, there is no gray area there, "occasionally" dosn't give you an opt out. Neither does 'out of the way', there is nowhere out of the birds way in the garden. It is clear from research that dogs and cats can be badly affected by the poison in the pellets, so again no point in you denying that either.

My dog went into a garden and started to eat slug pellets but i got to him before he ate very much and I kept an eye on him afterwards and I'm glad to say no sign of ill effects, so I would guess that there is some sort of consumption threshold.

Our world is an ecosystem with everything in it having a role. It is up to you to see the role of everything in your garden and to then apreciate it. I do not force my values upon you only suggest or ask that you do what you can, as I do.

It is only a realistic expectation that we try to do our best to minimise our impact on the environment, with the thought of leaving a better one for future generations to inherit and enjoy as we have. In my mind all the tiny differences we make in our gardens add up to one big difference. A gardener is after all a caretaker.

magicbastarder

Mo60 wrote: »

Thank you for scaremongering. I only use slug pellets very occasionally and tend to keep them out of birds way.

you keep the pellets out of the way of the birds; but they don't eat the pellets. they eat the poisoned slugs.

Mo60

magicbastarder wrote: »

you keep the pellets out of the way of the birds; but they don't eat the pellets. they eat the poisoned slugs.

From my experience slugs and snails die where the pellets are and so, in my case, the birds cannot get to them.

Mo60

Oldtree wrote: »

I deny being a scaremongerer or a lecturer, I have informed you of the facts about the poison in slug pellets and it is up to you what you decide to do with that information. The use of minimising language by you indicates that you are an intelligent being, and I hope you put a bit more thought into this before you again put forward the predictable defence similar to that of a smoker.

You use the pellets or you dont, there is no gray area there, "occasionally" dosn't give you an opt out. Neither does 'out of the way', there is nowhere out of the birds way in the garden. It is clear from research that dogs and cats can be badly affected by the poison in the pellets, so again no point in you denying that either.

My dog went into a garden and started to eat slug pellets but i got to him before he ate very much and I kept an eye on him afterwards and I'm glad to say no sign of ill effects, so I would guess that there is some sort of consumption threshold.

Our world is an ecosystem with everything in it having a role. It is up to you to see the role of everything in your garden and to then apreciate it. I do not force my values upon you only suggest or ask that you do what you can, as I do.

It is only a realistic expectation that we try to do our best to minimise our impact on the environment, with the thought of leaving a better one for future generations to inherit and enjoy as we have. In my mind all the tiny differences we make in our gardens add up to one big difference. A gardener is after all a caretaker.

The use of minimising language is preferable to long winded opinions.

All drugs and poisons are dangerous if not used properly and warnings are given with both. Does this mean that we should not use drugs because they could be dangerous?

redser7

Mo60 wrote: »

From my experience slugs and snails die where the pellets are and so, in my case, the birds cannot get to them.

There's no shame in simply not knowing something. It's only fairly recently that I became aware of the problem with them. Other small creatures can get to them, even if birds dont. And there is proof now that the poison can enter ground water as as does glyphosate. Awarness of the dangers of using commonly sold products like these is rising. And in their current form they will probably be banned. It's just a process. Like the use of asbestos was once acceptable in construction.

Here in fingal red kytes were found dead, likely poisoned by rat bait and/or slug pellets used opened in the nearby allotments.

I don't think anyone was pointing fingers ...

Oldtree

Mo60 wrote: »

The use of minimising language is preferable to long winded opinions.

All drugs and poisons are dangerous if not used properly and warnings are given with both. Does this mean that we should not use drugs because they could be dangerous?

Too much for you to read then, so I'll keep this one short just for you....

There is a slight difference between drugs and poison and to be honest i fail to see the gardening connection you are trying to make between the two.

Poison spread wantonly into the environment is without any real controls, imo.

Mo60

Oldtree wrote: »

The use of minimising language by you indicates that you are an intelligent being, and I hope you put a bit more thought into this before you again put forward the predictable defence similar to that of a smoker.

I fail to see the connection here to gardening

There is a good and bad way of getting your point across. In your case it is the latter.

Oldtree

Mo60 wrote: »

I fail to see the connection here to gardening
There is a good and bad way of getting your point across. In your case it is the latter.

oh dear, come now junior....

Mo60

Oldtree wrote: »

oh dear, come now junior....

PADRAGON

Why cant we all just get along
Anyway thanks to you all it was informative and entertaining.
(i have an image of a secret meeting of slugs laughing at us)

zombiepaw

Two methods I find always work, the slug x beer trap, or a copper strip on the ground near the plants, it gives slugs a little shock and turns them right around.