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

Time for first nematode treatment?

JudyNJudyN Posts: 119
in Problem solving

We're overrun with slugs every year. I treated the garden with nematodes just once last year but not sure how much difference it made. This year I want to use a multi-pronged attack - mainly involving nematodes and nighttime forays with torch and scissors...

I've already seen signs of nibblage on some of the emerging plants - what would be a sensible time for the first nematode treatment?

Thanks in advance!

Posts

  • AuntyRachAuntyRach Posts: 5,291

    I too will be adding Nematodes to my armoury this year. From the reading I've done it says start in "early growing season" but I also read that they are inactive below 4 degrees (mind you - so are slugs!)  

    My garden and I live in South Wales. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,088

    I never found nematodes on sale for treating my last garden in Belgium so I would start on Feb 14th - easy date to remember - with thin scatterings of pellets around susceptible plants like hostas, daffs, clematis and day lilies.  

    If repeated weekly or after rain and sparsely so as not to turn the beds blue, this régime saved most of my plants from damage and I would have healthy hostas because it git the blighters as they emerged from hibernation or hatched and before they ate or bonked.   I used the wildlife friendly pellets, not metaldehyde.

    I think nematodes are expensive, have to be repeated regularly and only work above a certain temperature so I would only use them on specific treasures..

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039

    Far to early.

    Soil temperature has to be reliably above 5c.

    Up here that is not until April.

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • JudyNJudyN Posts: 119

    Thanks both image

    I did use some slug pellets last year but the wildlife-friendly ones didn't seem effective and I wasn't happy using the others (OH used them round some young clematis and the non-wildlife-friendly ones were far more effective but I'd really rather not use them).

Sign In or Register to comment.