My veg patch has been detroyed by slugs - any advce???

[mabel1973]

I have worked really hard turning a lttle piece of our garden in to a veg patch, and I am not sure whether it s the weather or just that we are prone to slugs (we have only been here 2 years so am not sure about the condtions yet), but almost everythng I have grown has been eaten. My peas, sweet peas, all my lettuces, rocket, courgettes, the only thngs survivng seem to be my carrots, beans and onions.

I can't use slug pellets as we have 2 chckens roaming in the garden ( I can vouch for them that they are not guilty of eatng the veg), I just don't know what the answer is?
Has anyone used nemotodes? do they work?

Buy from the grocer ?

Very simple and free and it works: (from my mother in law who has totally slug free and beautiful plants): Get a torch and a good pair of stomping wellies and keep them ready by the garden door. Every night before you got to bed go out and squish all the little fellows. After 10pm is the time to go. It's quick for them and it's totally environmentally sound. The birds will be very grateful and eat them up. No nasty chemicals at all. If you're a Hindu though, it is storing up some bad karma for many many (albeit brief) rebirths. After a couple of nights you probably won't have many or even any. It takes less time than faffing about with slug pellets. And your husband or older children might enjoy doing it for you. Good luck.

DH did physically remove some last week, there is no way you would get me touchng them, even in wellies, I cannot bear them and have a bit of a phobia about them!!! As for getting the kids to do it, my eldest s 2.5 and whilst he would willngly volanteer to do it, he s usually in bed by the time they appear

I have never had them as bad as ths before, n my prevous gardens - could it just be the weather? or do have to accept that tryng to grow veg in this garden is just not going to happen?

if you use real coffee, then the grounds are really good sprinkled on the soil to protect against slugs - they don't like it!

You don't have to touch them. Just squish them where you find them and leave them. The birds will eat them. I know they're ugly little things. And I'm a vegetarian, so if I can do it, so can you! I must admit, I find it easier killing snails, though. But my husband claims he's found new slugs eating the carcasses of the ones we squished the night before. So have no guilt. They're cannibals.
Try it! Find your inner Terminator, baby.

urggghhhh! the thought of them eatng each other is revolting.....
flies i can kill and wasps......slugs are just too gross to soil even the bottom of my wellies.

I mght try the coffee though.....or just send DH out wth the torch, he'll probably enjoy it.

if you don't like your neighbours then toss them over the fence???

Mabel - I use beer in little dishes and bottles, which the slugs seem to be attracted to and eventually drown in.

Of course, you may also end up with squiffy chickens, but at least your veg wont be ruined.

I haven't read whole thread but I used to split a lemonade bottle (plastic) or similar and bury this then put beer in. you won't need to add water in this weather. At least they die happy

They DO eat their dead.
And other dead things too.

They ARE evil. I hate them!

Oh and coconut shell grounds deter them too.

thank you. won't gve up hope, I still have time to plant some more lettuces at least, i'll have to gve up on everythng else for ths year. not sure how DH wll feel about donatng hs precious beer to the little suckers though.

Crushed eggshells are meant to be a barrier they can't cross as well.

Nasty snails just ate 2 of my butternut squash plants.

If you spear them with a prong of a garden fork they make a very satisfying 'popping' sound!

don't want to thnk about slugs poppng !!!!!

not as bad as blowng frogs with a bicycle pump which i believe my ex-boyfriends dad told me he did as a boy

it is a terrible year for slugs unless you are a slug of course!

best route is lots of different strategies all at the same time - beer traps will sweep up roaming population especially the little ones that do lots of damage; copper rings round important plants, crushed eggshells or shells in a thick layer on pots; coffee grounds you can get from starbucks make a good barrier/deterrent almost anywhere. good luck

if you have chickens u can use crushed egg shells, you'll have a plentiful supply.

I throw (used to)mine into next doors empty garden they have loads of plant growing that they left, also snails seems to 'catch' the wall as they fly lol

Damm, I'm in married quarters and they've dared to move someone into my slug garden house. back to beer in a bottle lol

I used nematodes for the first time this year - got them online from the greengardener. Seemed very successful and will use them again - we've just moved to Scotland so now have a big garden to manage. I found beer worked okay but cost too much money, even cheap stuff! Stomping also works if I'm in a violent mood. Am planning a veg patch here so will need to keep on top of the slug slime. Are chickens easy? I was wondering about having some too.

aaargh I hate slugs. the little invertebrate bastards.

We flick ours from long plastic beach spade into field at the back-they can really fly .....................

I can vouch for the popping sound from the garden fork. In an utter fit of rage at the blighters one night I went on a bit of a slug homicide spree

Someone once told me their gran used to go out with a torch and snip them with a pair of scissors - they just sort of ooze [barf]