Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Alstroemeria and slugs

SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
in Plants
Can anyone tell me if alstroemeria are particularly prone to slug damage. I planted some a couple of years ago but they never did much and I didn't see them again. However today I found something growing in approximately the right place and wondered if the reason they didn't come back previously was that they had been eaten before I saw them. 

Posts

  • pitter-patterpitter-patter Posts: 2,429
    I’ve never had problems with slugs eating the alstroemerias in my garden. Not even the slightest nibble. Maybe it just needed some time to bulk up. Mine have spread considerably, so I had to dig some bits out.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Slugs love mine. I have to protect them in the ground and in pots. However, they are determined growers and usually come through.
  • justflowersjustflowers Posts: 143
    I've never had a problem with slugs on Alstroemeria - but our garden is very dry. The shoots emerging in you photos definitely look like Alstroemeria, so good luck with them!!
    You could try putting some grit around them or some beer traps to deter slugs.
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I have never had a problem with slugs eating my alstroemerias, once I got them growing. It took about 3 years before they began to perform.
    Looking at the shoots in your picture, they look like hostas to me. Now there is a plant slugs adore.
  • Tanty2Tanty2 Posts: 231
    Like others, I don't have a slug problem with my alstroemeria but I do have alstroemeria which took two or three years to do anything at all.  I assumed they'd died, but it turned out I'd bought plants which keeled over with exhaustion after being mailed out and took a good long time to recover.  Didn't buy slug repellent, just changed to a better alstroemeria supplier :)  Now that yours have appeared, though, it might be a good time to put in some low support for them as they get started.  Also, as this is their first season above ground, it might be a good idea to mulch them in November(ish) to give them a bit of help through their first winter.
  • SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
    Thanks for the advice, I hadn't anticipated any difficulties with them, my understanding was that they "grow like weeds"  so when they didn't do anything in 2 years I thought I'd lost them.
    I hope this year they will be worth the wait. 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    They don't grow like weeds for everyone, they need a sheltered spot and good soil that drains fairly well. If they have exactly what they need yes they can take over.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
    Ah,  they're probably not keen on my horrid clay soil then. 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Suesyn I have grown A Indian Summer in my improved clay soil but it was also in a south facing border. In autumn I gave it a thick mulch which helped it through the winter. Then I decided to grow it in a pot so that I could pick [pull the flowers] and this was a better option for me.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Sign In or Register to comment.