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Slugs have eaten lilies to a stump should I dig up the bulb?
EmmaJH
Posts: 11
So of the 20 or so lily bulbs planted this year only two have survived the slugs. I have tried picking them off at night, placing copper rings around the shoots, placing crushed garlic in the ground. Nothing has worked. Most of my lily bulbs have now been eaten to a rapidly browning stump and my question is should I lift them from the ground?
0
Posts
Emma - you have nothing to lose. They can be more tricky in the ground if you have a lot of slugs. I know only too well!
If you can get them out and pot them up, it'll generally be easier to protect them, especially if you don't want to use any chemical products. You might want to keep them potted all the time, or experiment next year with some in the ground and some staying potted.
I tend to grow them in pots, but I planted out a big pot of them this year and they've been fine. We had a drier spring though, and there was definitely fewer of the slimy bu**ers around than usual !
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...