Slugs

[ColaOlaLa]

Are slug pellets really that bad? Heard they are not good to use but I am sick of how many slugs and snails I have in the garden there is literally loads. Does anyone use slug pellets?

I guess if you poison the slugs you poison anything that eats the slugs. Birds, hedgehogs etc. Have you tried beer traps? what are the slugs eating?

We don’t really get birds in the garden because of the cat, and I’ve never seen a hedgehog, have to do something as they are just everywhere, will take a look at beer traps

Some types of slug pellets are poisonous to cats. You should definitely avoid any containing metaldehyde.

Here are various control methods suggested by the RSPB

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/organic-pest-control/non-toxic-slug-control/

The organic slug pellets are not too bad and are non-toxic. You have to make sure you wet them when you put them down.

I have used nematodes and find that they do work well, but they are a mighty faff to apply and it is expensive. You have to apply them everyb6 weeks to work properly.

Please don't use poison pellets. They affect wildlife terribly. Just because you haven't seen a Hedgehog in your garden, doesn't mean you don't get them! If you knew the damage and suffering they cause you would not use them.

I was sceptical of beer traps but it’s worked like an absolute charm. I got a couple of Tupperware pots, dug them into the ground and half filled with beer. Absolute slug graveyard the next day and works for a few days until you need to change them. Plants look amazing now. Draws them in like moths to a flame!

@SkeletonSkins

I was sceptical of beer traps but it’s worked like an absolute charm. I got a couple of Tupperware pots, dug them into the ground and half filled with beer. Absolute slug graveyard the next day and works for a few days until you need to change them. Plants look amazing now. Draws them in like moths to a flame!

What do you do with the tub full of Slugs though?! 🤢

Well I’m welcome to other solutions but If I can’t find one then I will need to use them because I have an infestation, how do I know my neighbours don’t use them anyway

I go out picking every night. It's what to do with them once I've got them that's the issue. At the moment I'm launching the snails over the back gate in the hope that the birds will find and eat them. Slugs are harder so I'm dumping them in the road. Hopefully they won't just come back.. OH came home with slug pellets today after I expressly said I'm not using them so I was a bit cross really.
I heard on another thread that Carol Klein goes out with scissors - groo! I really hate them but I'm not sure I can do that.

My garden used to be something of a haven for snails and slugs, it was impossible trying to get rid of them and they were savaging my plants.

One damp day I put down slug pellet all over the place and massacred them. Garden stank of rotting slug for a few days and there were a lot of empty snail shells, but it did the trick and years later they've not recovered. These days if I find a snail I just chuck it in the compost bin.

I won’t touch them, they really creep me out for some reason, it’s the shell 🤢

Yep it’s definitely a haven, if it’s rains they are all over my front door, makes me feel really grossed out

I try and grow things they don’t like. But if I find them, I squish them with a brick. It’s grim but I hate slugs. That slime that just doesn’t wash off ... [shudder].

My mum pours salt around her plants as it makes slugs explode! Not sure about the effect on wildlife though

Poor it down the drain!

Pour*

I fucking hate slugs but have too many pets for using pellets. Beer traps are the way forward. I cut the bottom off old milk bottles/cola bottles etc, bury them in ground so too is level with soil and half fill with beer. They drown themselves in multitudes.
Also wool is great. Drying apparently so kind of sucks the slime out if them....so any old wooly jumpers cut up laying around base of your plant can be a useful barrier.
Good luck.

Oh yuck @CheerfulBunny scissors

Thanks about the wool @MistyFrequencies. I've got some shrunken jumpers I can use. You know what I'll be doing tomorrow lol

I collect mine up after dark then the next day take them on a long walk with the dog and deposit them in a nearby wood. I have been know to squish smaller slugs though.

Plus I’m successfully encouraging frogs into my garden to help me with the problem.

Have tried nemoslug this year. Will report back later

When I find them I put them in a pail of salty water then When dead put them in the garden waste

Nemaslug worked for me, but it was a small courtyard garden.

To be honest, I've found nightly slug collections (with a torch and a strong stomach) and regular doses of Nemaslug seem to be much more effective anyway- the trick is to repeat the treatment at the intervals they recommend, I think its every six weeks.

I've got slow worms in my garden and haven't seen a slug for ages. I find the occasional empty snail shell though. And we get the occasional frog visiting from a neighbour's pond. (And this morning, the most beautiful dragonfly, which was an absolute delight.)