Sorry -but to put things in perspective the amount of poison in blue slug pellets is enough to kill a slug but to assume that a bird or hedgehog will then eat the dead slug is a big leap and that the poisoned dead slug will then kill that is an even bigger leap - the animal would have to eat a lot if these to even get ill.
They are unlikely to eat the pellet as is a cat, dog or anything else-they just aren't that attractive
To feel to be made like social pariah because you use blue pellets is in my view not fair-what we use in our gardens is a personal choice-personally I would continue to use blue pellets,chemical sprays etc as necessary as these have been shown to be the most effective way of getting rid of pests
Sorry if I've upset anyone, everyone has a different way of looking at things, and what works for one gardener won't work for another one. I guess I'm just very lucky in having two (that I've seen) frogs in the garden, maybe more. Let's face it, we're all trying to encourage Mother Nature to do her stuff, and each person has a different way of tackling it. I hate both slugs and snails, and am just glad I've got something that will eat the little bu88ers, instead of them eating my plants!
Julie, I'm with you on this. There are obviously several reasons why hedgehogs in particular are declining in numbers, loss of habitat due to overly tidy gardeners and the concreters/gravellers of the world is one and poisoning/removing the food source is another. It's a vicious circle because with the predators gone, the prey items flourish. Like you, I don't try to tell people what to do or make anyone feel guilty but hope to inform and persuade at least some that poisoning is not a great solution in the long run.
Thanks, FloBear, I wasn't trying to tell people what to do (cos this normally puts peopole's backs up and then they go and do the opposite), I'm very lucky in having natural slug predators in the garden, and hope they stay. I can see why people use slug pellets, with this warm summer especially they seem to be all over the place (had to take evasive action with my pushchair to avoid a snail this morning, had I been wearing my wellies it would have been goodnight vienna), I just think there are better ways to deal with them than the pellets. I have used the growing success ones in the past, and try to avoid them as much as possible. If I see the slugs munching on food intended for my family, out come the garden scissors!
Surely all gardening is going against nature, we grow south american and south african plants and complain when they die. We train climbers to go where we want and force bulbs to flower at christmas. We complain about genetically modified food and also despair at people starving. We use chemicals and bees die, if we do not use chemicals harvests collapse. Are a few slug pellets such a major issue? We are all doomed.
Joslow, I think you may benefit from a wee drinky and a box of chocolates! I'm not one to complain about genenetcially modified food, as we've been 'genetically modifying' plants and animals for centuries, except back then it was called selective breeding. Now we can do it quicker by using genes, and do some pretty amazing things.
We have (in the western world) eradicated TB, rickets, smallpox, and lots of other childhood nasties. We are not doomed to die if part of us packs up (kidneys, pancreas), or if we get cancer, or from an infection. Our water is pure so we don't get typhoid or dysentry. If we're lucky enough to have a bit of green space we can grow veg in, we can grow it how we want, with/without pesticides. We can circumnavigate the globe, make energy from the sun, wind and waves. We still have some fossil fuels left, and are slowly getting to grips with recycling things.
Am I alone in thinking we are living in a golden time?
Hi The allotments in Tenby Wales are all suffering from the same problem with slugs ,in the Midlands we used to get beer slops from our local ,then place jam jars or cut down plastic bottles in the ground around the plants then fill them with the slops,the slugs are attracted to the beer and climb in ,they die very happy,and this is not a joke believe me Good luck
To make sure snails don't return, 90 feet (say 30 metres) is a minimum. To be sure, it should be 100 metres (300 ft). I will paste in here the research that showed this, and if it prints as coded rubbish, just take my word for it:
<Now, Radio 4 is launching its search for the next BBC Amateur Scientist of the year.
Last year, 70-year-old gardener Ruth Brooks won the award for her research into the homing distance of garden snails.
She found that Helix aspersa, the common garden snail, can find its way home from up to 30m away. But for gardeners to be sure that their snails will not come back, they should be moved over 100m.>
oh my i have a slug problem and half, loads of 20mm white slugs ALL OVER MY GREENHOUSE!!! my fault i had a new baby and neglected the greenhouse for a week and then went to check and they eaten loads of my marigolds my chillies etc but anyway got in ther spent around 2hours in greenhouse search and destroy mission lol, found litterally 100+ of these lil buggers!!! so i "exterminated" them, checked daily for a week removing maybe 20 a day there after now the whole place is coverd in slug pellets (its a sealed greenhouse no birds etc can get in) so hopefully on top of the prob, check my you tube "Gummer4england" on my progress with the slugs and my crops
Posts
they defo when more then 90'
Sorry -but to put things in perspective the amount of poison in blue slug pellets is enough to kill a slug but to assume that a bird or hedgehog will then eat the dead slug is a big leap and that the poisoned dead slug will then kill that is an even bigger leap - the animal would have to eat a lot if these to even get ill.
They are unlikely to eat the pellet as is a cat, dog or anything else-they just aren't that attractive
To feel to be made like social pariah because you use blue pellets is in my view not fair-what we use in our gardens is a personal choice-personally I would continue to use blue pellets,chemical sprays etc as necessary as these have been shown to be the most effective way of getting rid of pests
Just my way of looking at it
Sorry if I've upset anyone, everyone has a different way of looking at things, and what works for one gardener won't work for another one. I guess I'm just very lucky in having two (that I've seen) frogs in the garden, maybe more. Let's face it, we're all trying to encourage Mother Nature to do her stuff, and each person has a different way of tackling it. I hate both slugs and snails, and am just glad I've got something that will eat the little bu88ers, instead of them eating my plants!
Julie, I'm with you on this. There are obviously several reasons why hedgehogs in particular are declining in numbers, loss of habitat due to overly tidy gardeners and the concreters/gravellers of the world is one and poisoning/removing the food source is another. It's a vicious circle because with the predators gone, the prey items flourish. Like you, I don't try to tell people what to do or make anyone feel guilty but hope to inform and persuade at least some that poisoning is not a great solution in the long run.
Thanks, FloBear, I wasn't trying to tell people what to do (cos this normally puts peopole's backs up and then they go and do the opposite), I'm very lucky in having natural slug predators in the garden, and hope they stay. I can see why people use slug pellets, with this warm summer especially they seem to be all over the place (had to take evasive action with my pushchair to avoid a snail this morning, had I been wearing my wellies it would have been goodnight vienna), I just think there are better ways to deal with them than the pellets. I have used the growing success ones in the past, and try to avoid them as much as possible. If I see the slugs munching on food intended for my family, out come the garden scissors!
Surely all gardening is going against nature, we grow south american and south african plants and complain when they die. We train climbers to go where we want and force bulbs to flower at christmas. We complain about genetically modified food and also despair at people starving. We use chemicals and bees die, if we do not use chemicals harvests collapse. Are a few slug pellets such a major issue? We are all doomed.
Joslow, I think you may benefit from a wee drinky and a box of chocolates! I'm not one to complain about genenetcially modified food, as we've been 'genetically modifying' plants and animals for centuries, except back then it was called selective breeding. Now we can do it quicker by using genes, and do some pretty amazing things.
We have (in the western world) eradicated TB, rickets, smallpox, and lots of other childhood nasties. We are not doomed to die if part of us packs up (kidneys, pancreas), or if we get cancer, or from an infection. Our water is pure so we don't get typhoid or dysentry. If we're lucky enough to have a bit of green space we can grow veg in, we can grow it how we want, with/without pesticides. We can circumnavigate the globe, make energy from the sun, wind and waves. We still have some fossil fuels left, and are slowly getting to grips with recycling things.
Am I alone in thinking we are living in a golden time?
Hi The allotments in Tenby Wales are all suffering from the same problem with slugs ,in the Midlands we used to get beer slops from our local ,then place jam jars or cut down plastic bottles in the ground around the plants then fill them with the slops,the slugs are attracted to the beer and climb in ,they die very happy,and this is not a joke believe me Good luck
To make sure snails don't return, 90 feet (say 30 metres) is a minimum. To be sure, it should be 100 metres (300 ft). I will paste in here the research that showed this, and if it prints as coded rubbish, just take my word for it:
<Now, Radio 4 is launching its search for the next BBC Amateur Scientist of the year.
Last year, 70-year-old gardener Ruth Brooks won the award for her research into the homing distance of garden snails.
She found that Helix aspersa, the common garden snail, can find its way home from up to 30m away. But for gardeners to be sure that their snails will not come back, they should be moved over 100m.>
oh my i have a slug problem and half, loads of 20mm white slugs ALL OVER MY GREENHOUSE!!! my fault i had a new baby and neglected the greenhouse for a week and then went to check and they eaten loads of my marigolds my chillies etc but anyway got in ther spent around 2hours in greenhouse search and destroy mission lol, found litterally 100+ of these lil buggers!!! so i "exterminated" them, checked daily for a week removing maybe 20 a day there after now the whole place is coverd in slug pellets (its a sealed greenhouse no birds etc can get in) so hopefully on top of the prob, check my you tube "Gummer4england" on my progress with the slugs and my crops