Slugs and snails everyone's bete noire! I won't use slug pellets on the allotment unless I absolutely have to and then only the ferric ones which are more wildlife friendly. I have heavy clay so nematodes less effective. Prefer slug resistant varieties of potato and planting mature more robust seedlings. In the garden barrier methods often need topping up or replacing frequently. Any overhanging plants and the little ******* abseil in! I use copper rings and spray pots with WD40.Copper tape doesn't last more than a season. Only way I can grow hosts is in.pots halfway up fence
Not read the thread through, but I tried copper tape on pots a few years back and it didn't seem to work.
I was reading GW magazine the other day and my fingers came across that sticky stuff they have used to attach the 2for1 booklet. It got me thinking. would something like that stick to slugs and snails if it was put round a pot? Double sided sticky tape even? I reckon if they made that clear sticky stuff a bit more stickier and put it in an applicator then it would probably ensnare the little devils on the sides of pots.
I’ve tried everything, sand, beer traps,pistachio shells, pet hair around the end of the plants (looks dreadful when wet like dreadlocks on the soil) copper tape and collecting tubs of the critters at night and throwing them in the bin. I’ve resorted to going around salting any I see as my garden is destroyed this year nothing will grow as it’s eaten the minute it pops it’s hesd up. I’ve snail trails on my patio mocking me every morning😂 I can’t use poison as I’ve birds in the garden and a dog.
I was looking up some plants in an old Geoff Hamilton book recently and came across his tip of cutting ring slices out of plastic bottles and sticking them in the soil around plants in beds. Anybody tried this?
yes, yarrow2, I recently found a bit of an old plastic ring from a downpipe so as an experiment put copper tape round it and carefully put it over a small delphinium shoot. I'm now waiting to see if the shoot survives. I have found that good circle of sharp Hort. grit around vulnerable plants seems to work as often as not and stops snails as well.
I have mulched my dahlia seedlings with grit and so far it seems to be working, I get through loads of it though as slugs and snails seem to love our heavy clay .
I use Slug Pellets all around the garden,.. long before plants produce new shoots so most of the slugs are eliminated,.. before new shoots begin.
When growth starts i then use Neem Oil and Liquid Soap,..a tablespoon of each in a Litre of water and spray heavily on a dull day.
Thereafter for plants loved by slugs and snails,..i still use Slug Pellets and the Neem Oil Mix,.. i get the odd slug or snail but no damage to plants as can be seen in the images below,..captured this week.
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I won't use slug pellets on the allotment unless I absolutely have to and then only the ferric ones which are more wildlife friendly. I have heavy clay so nematodes less effective. Prefer slug resistant varieties of potato and planting mature more robust seedlings.
In the garden barrier methods often need topping up or replacing frequently. Any overhanging plants and the little ******* abseil in! I use copper rings and spray pots with WD40.Copper tape doesn't last more than a season. Only way I can grow hosts is in.pots halfway up fence
I was reading GW magazine the other day and my fingers came across that sticky stuff they have used to attach the 2for1 booklet. It got me thinking. would something like that stick to slugs and snails if it was put round a pot? Double sided sticky tape even? I reckon if they made that clear sticky stuff a bit more stickier and put it in an applicator then it would probably ensnare the little devils on the sides of pots.
I'm now waiting to see if the shoot survives.
I have found that good circle of sharp Hort. grit around vulnerable plants seems to work as often as not and stops snails as well.
When growth starts i then use Neem Oil and Liquid Soap,..a tablespoon of each in a Litre of water and spray heavily on a dull day.
Thereafter for plants loved by slugs and snails,..i still use Slug Pellets and the Neem Oil Mix,.. i get the odd slug or snail but no damage to plants as can be seen in the images below,..captured this week.