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How to protect my vegetable plants
hammett193
Posts: 18
in Fruit & veg
This summer has been a disaster for me, most of my plants have died. The heavy rain a few weeks ago severely battered them, the lack of sun has meant little or no cropping. I have a range of pests in my garden that are causing me problems. I have a massive slug problem, as well as four legged and human pests (its a shared garden). The latter is particularly difficult to deal with. Sadly, no pellets exist to erase a human pest, especially one that's stoned all the time. All of this means I feel like giving up. But I will have one more go. I'm now thinking some kind of pop up greenhouse or shelter might work. I am limited to growing in pots, mostly 25cm diameter. It would be nice to lift the pots off the ground. Can anyone advise or recommend anything? Whatever I buy should be able to with stand the elements, and be my own space that other two legged creatures can be persuaded not to enter.
Regarding the slugs, I have used thick copper tape around my pots. I find the slugs still climb up, on weeds and bits of trailing plant. Thanks.
Regarding the slugs, I have used thick copper tape around my pots. I find the slugs still climb up, on weeds and bits of trailing plant. Thanks.
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Could you find space for on small portable poly tunnel, they have to be anchored down well so they don’t blow away, but I feel that as your battling with humans, there’s not much hope, you may be able to train a dog but you’ll never get anywhere with unruly humans.
My sympathies are with you.
Most people don't know how to deploy them properly - you shouldn't scatter a mass of it around your crop plant as that would be telling every slug and snail in your garden to head for that plant.
Instead, you should place just 5 or 6 individual granules in a ring pattern around the plant then scatter pellets in the direction you want the pests to go to - to lure them away from your plant.
You could also take pre-emptive action by scattering pinches of pellets into locations that slugs and snails are likely to hide or emerge from, obviously, away from your precious plants.
If scattering pellets seems wasteful then make a bait trap out of a plastic bottle. Use the bottle top as a container for the pellets and cut the base of the bottle to use as a rain cover with archway openings on the side for the pests to enter.