Slugs and my squashes!

[OMGTTC]

Hi everyone,

I’m a rookie gardener and hope you can help me with the saga of the slugs.

I’ve been growing some adorable squash plants and they’ve been doing so well (if I do say so myself). I planted them out in our raised bed a couple of weeks ago and the slugs will NOT leave them alone.

I’ve tried special feed which is supposed to make the plants taste disgusting (to slugs, rather than humans) and wool pellets. Before I stink the house out, is this garlic spray likely to work? www.siennahosta.co.uk/pages/garlic-wash-recipe

There’s a bit of a gap at the side of the raised bed, so I was thinking of blocking this up properly and then trying copper tape around the rim as well.

Does anyone have any non-violent suggestions? (I shall not be snipping them in half)

TIA! 🐌

Go out with a torch once its dark and evict them, especially if its been raining. I can't bear to snip them in half either, mine end up in the garden waste recycling bin! I figure there's lots in there for them to eat that I don't care about 😁
You'll have to do this pretty regularly to keep on top of them, they seem to multiply like rabbits. I've also had some success with applying nematodes and copper tape, but to be honest you do seem to have to come at it from all angles to have any chance of success!

Thank you, @Wildwood6 😊 I might have to recruit DP to help catch them in the act, maybe I can spot them and he can pick them up. He thinks my aversion to them is quite amusing and un-feminist 🤨 I agree about tackling the issue from all angles, they’re certainly persistent!

Can he explain why it's un-feminist??

I have tried the garlic spray. I think it's working? It's hard to tell. But it's not too smelly actually. Just smells like you've been baking garlic bread.

Sorry, @posalie, just a joke. I’m really squeamish about slugs and can’t pick them up, so I have to ask him to do it for me.

Thank you re. the garlic spray! I’ll give it a go.

Oh haha I get it now! Sorry my mind went somewhere strange where your DP was likening slugs to women or something! 😳😳

I agree about going at them from all angles! They are destroying my pepper plants this year. I'm using garlic spray, going out after dark to collect them and bring them to the park (this seems the most effective) using copper tape (don't think this helps) I've also just ordered a bag of strulch for the most vulnerable plants so will update you with the results of that. I sometimes leave cucumber slices the other end of the garden so they go after that instead! Also, I know its a bit late for you now but I try and grow them inside for as long as possible so they're bigger stronger and can withstand a bit of damage when they're planted out.

It’s war and you need to arm yourself with as many weapons as possible. Unfortunately too many of the tactics (egg shells, copper tape, beer traps etc) just don’t work and can be pretty messy.

after many years of trying I’ve arrived at the following strategy:

• Removal and rehoming - go out at night especially after rain, with a torch, and scoop every slimy blighter you see into an old Tupperware. Empty contents of Tupperware at a remote location of waste ground AT LEAST 100 Metres away from your garden. They have homing instincts and will return if you only put them at the back of your garden or chick them over neighbours fence. Do this well in year 1 and you see benefits in year 2 as you will have removed potential breeders.

• put seedlings in pots and up high until they are a bit tougher to be planted in beds.

• create areas where slugs and snails will congregate eg some upturned pots or a bag of cuttings. That way you can find a load in one place and pick them out easily.
• accept that slugs and snails will always be there and plant some very attractive sacrificial plants in pots like hostas, to act as a magnet, and again encourage them to the same meeting place.

good luck!!

I watched a YouTube video yesterday about using copper pan scourers cut into strips and spread around plants as a deterrant. I've ordered some from Amazon to give it a go.

I got plastic cloches from Amazon. I had to trim them so they sat flat on the uneven ground but they have definitely helped the plants establish.

Thank you all for your ingenious ideas! I’ll look into the cloches, copper scourers and distraction plants etc. Garlic is boiling away as I type!

Re garlic, sieve really well or the bits will block the holes in your sprinkler! (I speak from experience 😑)

Garlic won't do anything for slugs, sorry. That is what is used with chilli for cabbage white caterpillars.

I water about 90 mins before sunset, and then go out an hour later and check over my plants.

Then i snip them in half. I know, but they come back if you don't.

I used to use nematodes but our garden is just too big.

On the snipping thing, I was the OP of the thread where someone suggested that and got jumped on. I also was told off for wanting to kill them in an eco way. But there's another thread in gardening where people are talking about killing beetles and no one is batting an eyelid!

coffee grounds, crushed (raw) eggshells help a little.

once the plants get going the slugs can't keep up.

crushed eggshells or sharp grit around the plants deters slug as they don't like sharp surfaces. You're not allowed any longer to purchase the really killer slug pellets anyway. Glass with beer in the ground that they drown in?

You say that but i had a sharp sand residue from a collapsed earth oven. A slug fell on it and got covered in the sand. It just slid out. Left a little sandy jacket.

The only thing I've found that deters them round plants is a thick bramble moat.