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Gardening woes
A very sad day...
I noticed when I got home from work today that the little buggers have chomped every single leaf off my clematis President- every last one! I'm distraught 
Will it survive without any leaves and will it grow some new ones? It's a young plant and I had only recently potted it up into a one litre pot.
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Posts
Thanks Verdun
Hi Ian
Yes, I've caught plenty of the blighters in my beer traps too (they're partial to a bit of Old Speckled Hen
) and I've tried slug pellets and have been frequently out snail collecting in the rain before disposing of them in my brown recycling bin. But for every 50 I drown or collect in the rain I seem to have another 50 replace them...
To add insult to injury I discovered this morning they have chomped my last surviving hollyhock- I grew 50 from seed last summer and this was my last one that had survived the winter
I'm start to think that nothing short of a nuclear weapon will rid me of them!
I was out last night collecting slugs/snails to protect the dahlias I just planted out. (A bit earlier than I wanted to plant out but I'm going on holiday tomorrow and wouldn't be able to water). I went out this morning to see that they survived and they were all fine... except the one that I stepped on by mistake! The slugs would probably be less damaging than the gardener.
Oh Dear!
I can't believe it, they've done it again!! Every single leaf that had grown back on my President has been chomped. They've even managed to get across the copper tape to strip the bottom leaves of my dahlias
It's been a dreadful year for slugs. If you can, dig it all up with as much root as possible and put it in a pot with good John Innes 3 compost and nurture it. Check its soil for hidden slugs and use slug pellets to protect it form new ones.
If you can't dig it up , feed it again with liquid tomato food. Mulch it with a deep layer of coffee grounds if you can or sharp sand and sharp grit. Don't use slates as slugs and snails will hide there and come out when you're not looking.
Thanks Obelixx. I'm not sure if it's big enough to feed yet, I only bought it as a young plant this year - it's in a one litre pot at the moment?
I can believe it. I've never seen a year like it. When I go out at night there isn't a slug free space big enough to put down my wellie without stepping on them. Everywhere you look, there are more and more, chomping up everything that grows and even some very unpleasant things that don't. The best hope is for a very cold winter to finish some off.