A snail ate my courgette

[SunshineCake]

I'm so sad. I only noticed if ten days ago and was so proud. Then today I went to check on it and half of it was gone with a bloody snail sat there other side of the pot. Please help me save the ones that are on their way.

I decided it would be nice to grow some dahlias this year.
Little did I know they were like catnip to bloody snails!

My courgettes all seem to be getting to about 2 inches long then dying. Is that a pollination problem?

@NormaSnorks

My courgettes all seem to be getting to about 2 inches long then dying. Is that a pollination problem?

I've had a couple of these. I found a snail on one of the flowers which promptly fell off, and I blamed the snail.

@NormaSnorks

My courgettes all seem to be getting to about 2 inches long then dying. Is that a pollination problem?

Yes. To make sure they’re pollinated, stick your finger in a male flower (no baby courgette behind it) and wiggle it about a bit. You’ll be able to see the pollen on your finger when you take it out. Then rub your finger round the stamen inside the female flower. Job done.

Put crushed egg shells around them. The snails won’t go over them. Also, plant marigolds and borridge plants nearby as a alternative food/deterrent

It was a cheeky snail!

I hope you've put a gold sticker on its shell before rehoming it.

I can top that. The milkman left me a small load. It was raining. I brought my order indoors in the early hours of the morning and a slug had found its way into the wrapping of my loaf.

I re-homed the slug and the loaf went in the bin. I was refunded.

Nobody is going to refund you for your courgette I'm afraid.

Put crushed egg shells around them. The snails won’t go over them

Could you please tell my snails that? They don’t seem to give a shit ;)

The milkman left me a small load. It was raining. I brought my order indoors in the early hours of the morning and a slug had found its way into the wrapping of my loaf.

I remember when it was all blue tits and top of the milk, and atmospheric calendar pictures of cute robins which promised a future world full of organised nostalgia.

Now it's all slugs and courgetticide. This country is going to the dogs I tell you.

Easier way to pollinate courgettes: At the end of the day (so the bees have had their chance) take off a male flower, bend all the petals back to the pollen is exposed, and push it into a female flower, preferably on another plant, and leave it there. If you're short of male flowers, use the male flower to "paint" the sticky stigmas of the female flowers with pollen, and leave the male flower in the last one.

Slugs have been complete bastards this year. I found a hedgehog in the middle of the road the other day and introduced it to the smorgasbord that is my garden and it didn’t care.

Just look at this absolute unit. I think it scared the hedgehog off.

Copper tape really does work.

Wilko sell it cheap. It sticks as long as the pot is dry. Doesn’t work so well on a terracotta pot as the damp makes it peel off. Glazed or plastic pots or wooden planters are fine.

I have about 30 courgettes growing - guess another week and I’ll be picking.

Sorry!!!