Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[ubereglu]

Those ruddy slugs have eaten both my courgette plants.

 

Does anyone now of any organic ways of getting rid of them/detering them away from all of my tasty plants?

 

For the moment, my half eaten runner beans have had egg shells placed around their stems, what else can I do?

 

I've run out of availiable egg shells.

[PurpleHen]

My courgette plants have gone the same way

I can't let the chooks near them to keep the slugs away as then they eat the leaves

 

Sorry - not very helpful - just empathising

[The Dogmother]

I noeglu, I've had the same problem, I have used crushed eggshells, which seem to make some difference, but I've still lost some plants. I understand that co"Ooops, word censored!" grit is the thing to get, but haven't got round to it yet.

[Lesley]

As an emergency measure, you can sprinkle some salt - don't do it too often though as it won't do the soil any good in the long term. Only works in dry weather as well

[bunee1]

Have you tried the old beer or yeast dissolved in water in a pot below ground level...bit sad drowning them but think of all the yummy corgettes.....grated and fried gently in butter and garlic uuuummmm....see you've forgoten about the drowned slugs already!!!

[Budgies]

Hiya Noeglu! I was looking through some back copies of Gardeners World today and found an article where Monty was testing out slug deterrant devices - admittedly on pot plants and not in the soil as such (i've got hostas I'm trying to protect). However, neither co"Ooops, word censored!" grit, nor bran, nor crushed eggshells made a difference in his garden. Copper tape around the pots did deter them every time however

 

I know you can buy copper rings that sit at the base of a plant, but I think you would have to pop it on in the very early development stages. Good luck!

[Lesley]

Have you tried the old beer or yeast dissolved in water in a pot below ground level...bit sad drowning them but think of all the yummy corgettes.....grated and fried gently in butter and garlic uuuummmm....see you've forgoten about the drowned slugs already!!!

 

....and at least they died happy!

 

I forgot to mention slug traps - I sneak Carl's homebrew for ours when he's not looking

[SusannenoZ]

I went for a combined attack! Beer traps, crushed egg shells loads of poultry grit round each plant and some slug powder that you put round each plant that said it was ok for organic gardners and safe for pets.(expensive though!) and so far I've been ok, the beer traps trapped loads of snails as well as slugs.

[Trish]

I'm using beer traps which do help. I've also been told that oats sprinkled round the plant help but they do need to be replaced regularly. If you really want to go for the kill then you need Nematodes. They are a natural parasite you water into the ground and it kills the slugs, so organic still I guess. Try here

 

http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/foundproduct.lasso?product_id=218&-session=shopper:51B24C590eb9238F13uTq2207AA6

 

for more info

[PurpleHen]

Was trying to get a padlock open yesterday with WD40, and on the can it says you can use it to spray around plant pots to keep slugs away

Certainly not for an organic garden

But just thought it worth a mention

[ubereglu]

Seeing that I don't have any random beer lying around (I'm 13), I borrowed I book on organic gardening from the library, by none other than Bob Flowerdew himself.

 

Apart from finding out that he keeps/kept hens and ducks, unturned saucers with a little bit of rotting vegetation keep slugs under bay. The slugs go for the food and stay under there to have a feast and in the morning you can get rid of them.

 

In other words feed them to Henrietta, who loves her slugs and bugs!

 

I'll try this out later on in the week as it's lovely and sunny now. I'll maybe put some damp kitchen roll under it to to keep it moist and then the slugs shall hopefully stay there.

[peckham]

For the last few years everything has been eaten in my garden - but last year I went out every night and put all the slugs and snails in a bag... I did pop in some slug pellets in, but now I have run out..

 

Last year each night I filled half a tescos carrier bag full (disgusting!!! and I havent a big garden) but this year it has reduced amazingly...

Before the big collection I tried nemotoids but they didnt work for me...

And this year I am continuing with oatmeal, tescos cheap beer traps, diatom, copper ring tape on plastic bottles and even hen gravel around the tender plants...

 

BUT I still go out every few nights and collect the slugs and snails and this really is the best method I have found so far..

[melcotton]

you can buy organic slug deterrent from the garden centre which is safe for animals and children. It has stopped them eating my lettuce but I forgot to sprinkle them around my courgettes and they have had them overnight!

 

Mel

[The Dogmother]

Thanks for that Mel, I will have to look out for it.

[ubereglu]

This morning we went to Mole Valley and bought some bamboo canes for my runner beans which are coming on well and some slug pellet things.

 

They're called Slug stoppa and can be used by organic gardeners and are safe for animals etc.

They cost about £3.50 from there so I guess it would be about £4 at a garden centre.

[lightworker01]

Isn't putting down a bucket of beer okay? as long as your chooks can't get at it (god only knows what a drunk chicken'll be like )

 

Slugs love beer, and I think you can even get a product similar to the Drinker units that allow slugs to get in and drink the beer, but stops them getting out, so they drown in their favorite tipple.

 

Disgusting but apparently true

[The Dogmother]

I had some slug traps like that but never got round to baiting them

[swindon_clucker]

I saw that beer trick on country file a couple of days ago on a bit about jimmys farm seeing as its the summer holidays i didnt get up till half tenish and there wasnt much on but its actually quite intersting. Ive been told that picture on the omlet site looks like an older me so my brother and mum say

[Martin B]

Conrats on the signature by the way. Were my instruction easy to follow?

[swindon_clucker]

Easy as spelling Avocado heheh no they were easy to follow thanks

[Martin B]

Glad they were ok!

[Martin B]

I noeglu, I've had the same problem, I have used crushed eggshells, which seem to make some difference, but I've still lost some plants. I understand that co"Ooops, word censored!" grit is the thing to get, but haven't got round to it yet.

 

Does this work?

[The Dogmother]

It's supposed to, but I haven't tried it yet. I have to say that I have fenced off my herbs fromthe chooks and put slug pellets on the soil, then topped it with big pebbles so that the chooks definitely can't eat the pellets and the slugs can't get to the herbs What a palaver!

[Martin B]

Good luck with that Clare!

[ubereglu]

Have you tried copper wire?