Organic Slug Pellets

[anascrecca]

Does anyone have any experience of organic or less harmful slug pellets that actually work? I've tried several over the years that haven't worked well. They are for a community project where the participants will be disheartened if all the plants get eaten (which I fear they will with all this warm wet weather we are having !)

Hmm, I wonder if it’s to do with the addition of EDTA. Might need a bit of further exploration. I agree that they do work though. Unlike the wool ones, copper tape, gravel etc. All failed in my garden!

i'm sure you think you know it all
No I don’t know it all. But up until recently I did volunteer at a wildlife rescue place and did see the aftermath of “organic” pellets.

savekevin what is the aftermath of organic pellets?

Going to try that, thanks Babdoc!

You’re welcome, Fillypants! I got the recipe from the letters page in the Times - an old South African chap said he’d used it to stop African snails, and recommended it for British ones too.
It doesn’t take long to make up a big bottleful, and as long as it doesn’t rain too often (ha!), it lasts most of the summer.
Feel free to experiment with the recipe - I imagine if you use more garlic and make a stronger brew, you’ll need less per watering can. Make sure you screw the cap on tight - it’s overpoweringly garlicky after a few months!

It’s a poison, so it causes confusion, convulsions, sickness and death.
The theory being that wildlife would have to eat a lot of poisoned slugs to be affected which is what makes it safe. However, on a wet year (like we had 2 /3 years ago) there was very little food about but slugs were plentiful, causing an increase in slugs being the main diet (it also caused an increase in lungworm in hedgehogs).
For me, it’s not worth risking it.

Fingers crossed the garlic recipe works for you op.

I asked because when I have used ferric phosphate pellets there has never been anything to see. Just an absence of slugs. With the old metaldehyde pellets there were slime trails and dead/dying slugs around, which I agree is undesirable.

I would be interested to know, however, how you can tell that a slug is confused?

Those sound like the symptoms of metaldehyde poisoning so I don’t know if there’s some confusion here. Ferric Phosphate essentially gives slugs iron poisoning and they lose their appetite. I think iron poisoning causes gastric symptoms in animals.

Returning a bit delayed, thank you for all your suggestions .I will be trying the garlic method first I think .