View Full Version : Natural Anti-Slug.
Matthew.Passmore
15-07-2009, 19:45
I'm currently growing and nice patch of strawberries which are producing lots of fruit my only problem is that the are being munched on by slugs before they are fully ripe and ready to pick :aargh4:
are there any natural deterrents? I don't want to put commercial slug pellets down as they are very toxic and I have a dog and a bad for the environment.
Cheers.
In descending order of effectivness..
1. nematodes.
theres a particularly nasty wee worm that eats slugs from the inside until they explode (very satisfying). it is approved by the soil association and you can get it here...
http://www.nemaslug.org.uk/
2. Paying Kids 5p a slug to harvest them.
2. Beer traps.
http://monsterguide.net/how-to-make-beer-traps-for-slugs
3. egg shells.
4. copper wire
5. WD40
Matthew.Passmore
15-07-2009, 19:54
very good, thanks.
chickenofthewoods
15-07-2009, 20:40
Finely chopped fresh chilli peppers sprinkled around the plants?
w00dsmoke
15-07-2009, 20:50
Encourage hedgehogs to live in your garden. If it's big enough and you don;t have any then the rescue centres may be able to give you one or two to live in your garden.
WS
Matthew.Passmore
15-07-2009, 20:56
Encourage hedgehogs to live in your garden. If it's big enough and you don;t have any then the rescue centres may be able to give you one or two to live in your garden.
WS
I would like to do that but I don't think it would help my strawberries as they are growing in raised beds about 2 feet high, don't hedgehogs eat strawberries?
I have the same problem and even though I have newts, toads and the occasional hedgehog in the garden, the slugs were winning :( I gave in and bought the wee blue pellets but they are in little domed traps that keep them dry from the rain and stops anything but something slithery like a slug or snail getting in.
I just go along in the morning and pick the dead ones up so that they don't poison anything else.
Seems to work, but I only use them in the tubs full of things the slugs adore, like my pansies, strawberries and so on.
The beer traps work too, but seem to end up full of beetles :rolleyes: swimming lethargically around, and the hedgehog seems to delight in getting into them.
I hate the idea of poison, but I really had tried everything else and nothing was effective.
Jaggy gravel, crushed shells, copper tape, aluminium powder and gel, :( the blighters just kept coming.
Found edible snails in the compost heap last year.......kind of hoped they'd outdo the others and at least I could kind of crop them for folks who like them, but the tiger slugs and the grey backs and the yellow banded snails won out :sigh:
cheers,
Toddy
Matthew.Passmore
15-07-2009, 21:36
It's not the big ones I'm having problems with, it's little ones about 5mm long so I wouldn't be able to go around and pick them up.
I think I may give the nematodes a try.
Ah, those sound like hatchlings...........somewhere you have a hidey hole that the slugs are using to lay their eggs.
Might be worth having a look around. If you can stop the eggs you stop the slugs :cool:
I found them inside upturned clay plantpots, cool and damp, down the side of the bricks I used to edge one of the beds and inside the bottom of the big planters among the broken crocks I put at the bottom..
Good luck with the nematodes, they had no effect on my garden at all :(
Just had a thought, there are little black slugs that actually live in the soil, keeled slugs, dreadful things, guzzle my root crops like radishes and beets :sigh:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0700/slugs.asp
cheers,
Toddy
Matthew.Passmore
15-07-2009, 21:49
Ah, those sound like hatchlings...........somewhere you have a hidey hole that the slugs are using to lay their eggs.
Might be worth having a look around. If you can stop the eggs you stop the slugs :cool:
I found them inside upturned clay plantpots, cool and damp, down the side of the bricks I used to edge one of the beds and inside the bottom of the big planters among the broken crocks I put at the bottom..
Good luck with the nematodes, they had no effect on my garden at all :(
Just had a thought, there are little black slugs that actually live in the soil, keeled slugs, dreadful things, guzzle my root crops like radishes and beets :sigh:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0700/slugs.asp
cheers,
Toddy
I'll have a look around to see If I can find a nest but I think it may be the small ones that live in the soil as I have never seen a big one around. I've only just got the birds off :p
w00dsmoke
15-07-2009, 22:35
I would like to do that but I don't think it would help my strawberries as they are growing in raised beds about 2 feet high, don't hedgehogs eat strawberries?
I've netted my strawberries with a midgie net as the slugs can't get through that. i also pegged it down. No worries, my net cost around a fiver. Problem sorted.
Now I always plant a sacraficial bed of lobelia as the slugs always eat them all when I first plant it. Next year after experimenting with the midge net, I'll do the same with the lobelia. Encourage hedgehogs in and they'll eat what's around. I also use beer traps early on and they really do work but you need a lot of them and you need to regularly top them up. Not much chance of you lot giving your beer up to slugs! :lmao:
And if you are still really desparate try coarse salt, slugs will not cross it.
I grow plants on and around a drystane dyke that I built and this is a natural harbour for slugs/snails, I had hundreds of them. I'm now winning:lmao:
I seem to remember something on the tv about using used coffee granules out of a filter machine or cafetiere (sp). I can't think whether it was something to do with a dislike to the caffeine or it was the texture of the coffee.
Not tried them myself yet, although we've got hundreds of snails this year I should try really.
My garden is heavy clay soil, I compost everything I can to keep the levels of organic matter high in the topsoil. It's always damp, and there are always slugs and snails. I tried the coffee grounds, didn't work any better than the shells or gravel or the aluminium stuff.
Hadn't tried really fine netting though I have tried the fleece stuff. The ones in the soil just came up underneath.
I even have to regularly de slug the greenhouse. In there I have no compunction and I do use the blue pellets in little terracotta saucers. It gets too warm for the nematodes to work reliably there.
I used to put on rubber gloves, half fill a bucket with salty water and search the garden every morning and evening. It didn't matter how many hundreds I gathered there were always slugs the next day :sigh:
I think they just come in from the woodlands, the grass out the front, my neighbours, as soon as there's a vacuum in numbers.
Good to hear that some folks win the battle :)
cheers,
Toddy
rivermom
16-07-2009, 02:09
There is finally a solution, but it is rather expensive. There is a type of slug pellet called Ferramol, which is a simple iron compound. It kills slugs, and only slugs. It does not harm frogs or hedgehogs or birds or anything except slugs and snails. It gives them a terminal bellyache.
I have managed to grow lettuce this year. And the garden is full of happy wildlife, and pretty low on slimy critters. The only down side is that it can be difficult to get. And it costs way more than the poisonous alternative.
In descending order of effectivness..
2. Paying Kids 5p a slug to harvest them.
I see , so what you,ll effectively be doing is putting out a 'contract'? , subbing out some commission based wet-work to the local aspiring hitmen??
lol!
There is finally a solution, but it is rather expensive. There is a type of slug pellet called Ferramol, which is a simple iron compound. It kills slugs, and only slugs. It does not harm frogs or hedgehogs or birds or anything except slugs and snails. It gives them a terminal bellyache.
I have managed to grow lettuce this year. And the garden is full of happy wildlife, and pretty low on slimy critters. The only down side is that it can be difficult to get. And it costs way more than the poisonous alternative.
Sounds promising.....got to be worth a try, I hate using the wee blue pellets.
Thanks for the heads up :D
cheers,
M
davefish
16-07-2009, 09:05
My brother grows Strawberries in lengths of guttering attached to his garden fence - quite attractive when covered in loads of red fruit. somehow the slugs dont seem to bother climbing. he keeps the birds off with fruit cage netting.
gregorach
16-07-2009, 09:47
I seem to be having fairly good results with the nematodes in the allotment. I've also noticed that they seem to prefer the marigolds to anything else (except perhaps the brassicas and squashes), so a sacrificial marigold crop might be worth trying.
Toddy,
Why do you use slug pellets? To attract the slugs to the pellets so they eat them and die.
If you place the pellets next to the plants you are trying to protect you are attracting the slugs to the very place you don't want them.
Try placing the pellets away from the plants to attract the slugs away from the plants,It works for me.
The same applies to rat poison ,it attracts rats and so should be placed away from the foodstuffs you want to protect.
I see , so what you,ll effectively be doing is putting out a 'contract'? , subbing out some commission based wet-work to the local aspiring hitmen??
lol!
exactly, I have an after school club coming to the farm soon to enjoy the space. guess what 'game' I'll be getting them to play. :naughty:
I'm trying to recruit the local cub group too.
Matthew.Passmore
16-07-2009, 18:18
exactly, I have an after school club coming to the farm soon to enjoy the space. guess what 'game' I'll be getting them to play. :naughty:
I'm trying to recruit the local cub group too.
It's going to cost you a fortune in 5p's
Toddy,
Why do you use slug pellets? To attract the slugs to the pellets so they eat them and die.
If you place the pellets next to the plants you are trying to protect you are attracting the slugs to the very place you don't want them.
Try placing the pellets away from the plants to attract the slugs away from the plants,It works for me.
The same applies to rat poison ,it attracts rats and so should be placed away from the foodstuffs you want to protect.
I would need to put down so very much more if I did that.
This way I use tiny quantities and only near the vulnerable plants.
I've gotten hold of some of the iron stuff that Rivermom advised. B & Q £3.95 for the packet..........here's hoping :D
cheers,
Toddy
Bulldog72
16-07-2009, 19:21
Last year I tried a new tactic with the slugs and it really seemed to work - it's a bit smelly but worth a try. Take a few cloves of garlic and put them in a jam jar with boiling water, leave this to steep for a day or two. You'll then need a pressure sprayer [you know the sort used to spray pesticides - a cheap one will do] - fill with water as normal and then add a small cup full of your garlic 'juice'. Spray liberally on to whatever crop you want to protect after you have watered or after it has rained and you should find a marked improvement.
I can't guarantee it'll solve all your problems - it certainly didn't stop the little beggars eating my beans but it certainly seems to help. TBH I hadn't been using it this summer [life's been a bit hectic recently] and my potato crop has been chewed to pieces. I was going to start spraying again tonight but, as it's currently raining here again - maybe I'll wait until tomorrow.
Locum - hadn't heard of using WD40 before - not sure I'd fancy it on me strawberries mind you!;)
My garden is heavy clay soil, I compost everything I can to keep the levels of organic matter high in the topsoil. It's always damp, and there are always slugs and snails.
Toddy, I've got pretty much the same soil and dampness situation as you on my patch.
Have you tried using wood ash as slug repellant?
It has to be old ashes, though (as in, maybe a year old or so), so as not "burn" the plants.
Works pretty well for me.
/ Karl
forrestdweller
17-07-2009, 04:50
have'nt tried it myself, yet, but one book about organic gardening suggested certain breeds of ducks. (and if they do'nt do their job you just eat them... :D)
I could go for that, I quite like ducks, but they indiscriminately mess everywhere and in the garden I walk about barefooted. :rolleyes: Thought about hens too, but we have foxes......and neighbours.
If I had space that wasn't quite so near other folks I think I'd have the hens anyway. Great compost you get from them as well as some of the best insectivores out there :approve
The only ashes I get are from campfires, the house is gas and electricity, and I don't think I'd ever get enough to make much of a difference. Neat idea though if I did have them.
cheers,
Toddy
Toddy, I've got pretty much the same soil and dampness situation as you on my patch.
Have you tried using wood ash as slug repellant?
It has to be old ashes, though (as in, maybe a year old or so), so as not "burn" the plants.
Works pretty well for me.
/ Karl
I didn't know that wood ash worked on slugs and snails. I used it last year it with burnt bone to increase fruit yeild. It works really well on strawbs
A catapult and brick wall is very gratifing way of dealing with snails::D I chuck the slugs on the compost heap where they belong. I have found pakchoi impossible to grow though, as it just gets eaten to stumps by snails dispite growing under pop bottles with egg shell.
tommy the cat
17-07-2009, 20:09
An interesting article folks....I guess a question that has plagued gardeners for years.
Dave
Toddy 'compunction '
what a great word you dont see that used on here very often!
Word of the day so far.
Matthew.Passmore
17-07-2009, 20:43
I might dig a Moat :D
I use a variety of slug killing methods but the best method I have found is, as has been mentioned in this thread, ferramol based slug pellets.
A popular and easy to find brand is called "Growing Success" Advanced Slug Pellets. These are harmless to children and pets and other higher animals. So you won't poison your cat, dog, frogs, kids or even earthworms.
This product is approved for organic use and although more expensive than regular slug pellets it seems to me to be more effective and weather resistant. There is no way I would use the conventional pellets, this is the only chemical I use on my allotments. Read about it here:
http://www.organicplants.co.uk/acatalog/info_AYR_SUND_SLUGPELLETS.html
You can buy it in lots of places including B&Q and Homebase.
My cat almost died from eating somebody's conventional slug pellets (she had to be rushed to the vet foaming at the mouth and convulsing) and other animals will die from them too so avoid them. Read about it here
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/Metaldeh.htm
I have children and pets visiting my allotments and other wildlife and I don't want them to come into contact with that nasty stuff.
I might dig a Moat :D
nice, you could fill it with beer. it'd be the ultimate beer trap. :)
Matthew.Passmore
19-07-2009, 19:01
nice, you could fill it with beer. it'd be the ultimate beer trap. :)
I could but I think I get fed up with fishing chavs out :P
Left over coffee granuals works a treat i use it over here in france cracking way to use the waste{if your a coffee drinker} not de caf the pucker stuff,it`s the taste and the granuals stick and envelope the gritters.
We bought the ferramol based pellets last week, and I'm delighted to report that they seem to be every bit as effective as the toxic blue ones :cool: I still only use them to protect specific plants but I'm well pleased.
cheers,
Toddy
hi all.
just for the record, the kids I mentioned earlier were at the farm today and between 30 of them managed to harvest 389 slugs in about half an hour. :cool:
The winner got a 2 kilo courgette for his splendid catch of 42 slugs. :D
with the added effect of our own harvesting, enhanced beer traps and nematodes we are now on top of the situation.
regards
Rob
The winner, relieved a 2 kilo courgette for his splendid catch of 42 slugs.
Did he get to keep the slugs?
;^)
Jim
If he asked he could have had them. :D
I believe slugs are excellent bait for chub fishing, does anyone know if there is a market for them as their is for worms in bait shops? :naughty:
i just put a net tent over mine's and they were fine..
fishfish
07-08-2009, 22:48
the problem i found with sacrificial crops is that to some extent they seem to actually attract the slugs.
have you tried a grapefruit trap?? simply cut little doorways in the eaten grapefruit halves to give entry to the slugs and snails,leave out overnight near threatened plants,they buggers cant resist the smell and will congregate inside,in the morn simply pickupthe full grapefruit halves and burn/chuck over the fence on yer neighbours veg! lol
i am an award winning veg grower and i can vouch for this method 100%,it keeps my 22lb show cabbages safe!