Comments on: Plague of slugs.

By: Replanting and Slug control « Yurts And Things

Replanting and Slug control « Yurts And Things — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 02:18:54 +0000

[...] Plague of slugs. (workbike.wordpress.com) [...]

By: Karl McCracken (twitter: @KarlOnSea)

Karl McCracken (twitter: @KarlOnSea) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:16:46 +0000

There's only one way to be sure.

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:41:28 +0000

I’d pick slugs over brambles any day

By: Andy in Germany

Andy in Germany — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:52:28 +0000

Thanks for the tip Randall, and the video… I didn’t make it clear about the mulch, sorry. This season we are using a ‘kill mulch’ which has a cardboard base. The idea is that the brambles and other plants underneath are weakened and only a few make it through, and we can pick them off easily. To remove the mulch would mean cutting the cardboard, which would allow the light to get at the ground, which would let the brambles mount another takeover. I guess it’s a choice of what we’d rather fight…

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:39:52 +0000

Rake back the mulch and sprinkle generous portions around the bases of the plant stems. Labor intensive yes, but better than losing your crop. Disgruntled’s technique is the only other one I’m aware of that is effective. I suppose you could figure out how to attract robins and other bug eating birds..
In the mean time, pour yourself a nice dunkel weiss and listen to this classic track from The Orb:

By: Andy in Germany

Andy in Germany — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:02:40 +0000

Hello S of H: Thanks for the tips. We have plenty of slow worms and lizards of different shapes and sizes, an fire salamanders which only live at our altitude or higher. I’d not heard of nematodes (or more likey I forgot about them) but I’m concerned they’d be too effective and mess up the equilibrium if the cause masive destruction. to the slugs (would the natural predators move off because there no more food, preparing the way for an influx of slugs next year?). Chickens are a goal for a year or two hence, once we’ve secured the garden boundaries so they can’t eat next door’s plants…

Hi Randall: Thanks for the link: Anything on the surface of the soil is above the mulch, and the slugs go under the mlch (we think) to get at the plants, where it is damp. I’m not sure if diatomaceous earth would affect them much down there. It may make the clay soil less boggy though.

By: Andy in Germany

Andy in Germany — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:55:38 +0000

Disgruntled: The stem of the plant was intact, but devoid of leaves and covered in slime, with three slugs on the top branches. Now you mention it, they were orange whereas the others were black. Perhaps we have high altitude slugs here that go for potatoes.

Tony: I did the same with a stick a few times: not subtle but satisfying.

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 14:48:20 +0000

Diatomaceous earth sprinkled on the ground around the plants should help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_Earth#Pest_control It’s readily available at swimming pool supply houses and possibly lawn and garden centers.

By: The Snail of Happiness

The Snail of Happiness — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 13:31:47 +0000

You need a combination of solutions… nematodes, traps and hunting, plus encouraging predators (hedgehogs, frogs, thrushes etc) perhaps by providing suitable homes for them. Our chickens help immensely, but they are not an option for many people.

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 10:06:31 +0000

A sharp knife. A quick jab and it it an ex slug. Leave the corpse, not as a warning but the other slugs will feast on the remains in preference to salad. Gruesome but true. And then when you return you find more slugs in a group, so fat they can hardly move, which you stab. And leave the bodies. And then….. you get the picture:)