Stop my plants being eaten

[bro101]

Honestly all that's left are green"sticks" I'm assuming slugs or snails. Most are annuals too. Any advice please?

You need slug nematodes.

What are they and are they in the ground or in a pot?

I've got to be honest, I wouldn't ever bother with petunias any more, I swear the snails parachute in. I've found them in hanging baskets.

I have had a terrible year in the garden lost so many plants to slugs and snails. Decimated sweet peas, ate the lupins and dahlias. Even the foxgloves have vanished. Never tried nemetodes before.

Omg I have the same problem. Couldn't grow a single vegetable this year. Even the flowering plants like marigolds, dahlias and even some calendula lost to slugs and snails :(

Thank you. It's such a shame.

I never thought of a spray or powder I was thinking of salt or orange peel 😂

The Sunflowers and Petunias were hit the most 😡

You need a hedgehog!

Nematodes to keep the population down, copper tape and avoid plants they particularly like. I don't even bother growing hostas anymore.

You can buy slug bait certified for organic use (the toxic blue pellets are no longer for sale) and honestly it's the only thing that will really work to protect young plants. If you are worried about other animals or children touching them (and in some cases I do) then cover the plant temporarily with an upturned hanging basket wire frame or some chicken wire.

Mine hasn’t been slugs mine has been black aphids. Honestly people have been telling me just spray them off etc etc.
But I have been out there every morning and even the ones I have done the day before have been absolutely covered!
I have lost so many plants to them this year.

I have one, so far I've not seen any difference to my plants, they are still being eaten! I even found a large snail in a hanging basket, it was nowhere near a wall or fence it could have climbed in from.

Even raising the pots up on feet (I use the metal stands from Poundland), doesn't stop them, they are relentless!

My lupins disappeared overnight. I put sharp stones round the base of my hollyhocks and that has definitely helped save them.
When I have used slug pellets in the past, it seemed to me like they attracted all the slugs from the area, which then lay dying on my lawn for days. I'm frightened of slugs so had to ask my neighbour to come and clear them away.
i want something that keeps the slugs away - or kills them underground and out of sight.

I was going to use beer traps, apparently they prefer cider, but beer seems expensive now. Is it minimum pricing for alcohol? I've heard they're attracted to vinegar, or yeast and sugar in water. Does anyone know if this is true?

A youtuber suggested asking the local publican for their dregs but I just can't.

I'm trying copper tape on pots which seems to be working but obviously you can't have hanging plants or nearby plants that act as a bridge. You can get copper collar for in ground plant, but expensive and same proviso re, bridges. They might give respite to seedings. I suppose you can put copper tape round raised beds or on plastic rings as a cheaper alternative to inground plants.

I've wondered if you could make a low voltage electric fence with two strands of wire, close together but not touching. The slug/snail completes the circuit, gets a shock and backs off. I don't know how it would be powered. Mains electricity is tempting but obviously far to dangerous. A 9v battery would only work undercover or it would get drained every time it rained. I think something could be rigged up with solar powered lights but I don't know enough about electricity to design it.

Someone on another thread suggested vicks vaporub, are their any menthol producing plants that could be planted as a barrier or pulped and used as a mulch?

I have an enormous snail population and quite a few of those little grey slugs that are very hard to see until you look inside your plants. Problem is I don’t like the idea of killing them in horrible ways… (I know I know)

Occasionally I have a massive de-snail and take them to the local park but in the meantime I’ve started putting in snail and slug resistant plants, for example:

Cranesbill geraniums
Aquilegia
Astrantia
Alchemilla mollis
Foxglove
Japanese anemone
Lavender
Hellebores
Cyclamen
Hydrangea
Ferns
Rosemary
Erigeron
Fuchsia
Heuchera/Tiarella

There’s quite a few more if you google slug proof plants.

Oh I’m also trying copper tape - I have a fairly small walled garden so am planning to put the tape around the top of the whole wall. Let’s see.

I have the same problem with rabbits.

For slugs and snails I use egg shells, crush them and spread around the plants. The aforementioned raiders won’t cross the barrier.

We had hedgehogs in our previous home, but I haven’t seen any where we live now.

Copper tape worked for me, I use it on pots. The eggs shells I mentioned go around plants in the ground.

Nematodes definitely for the slugs. I don’t think I’ve seen any since I used it.

I do have a huge snail problem though and they’ve eaten everything. I daren’t plant anything else out until I can find away if it not getting reduced to sticks.

I've copper taped a ring around my poor dahlia that was just getting decimated. So much so that I thought I had a dud tuber, nothing was appearing above the ground. That seems to be working, but not possible around every plant.

Apparently used coffee grounds have a similar effect to the egg shells, the snails don't like the texture, so I'm going to give that a try too

I have written about this on the dahlia post. I was worried about my dahlias being eaten as we have a lot of slugs and snails and discovered they hate mint and don't like Vaseline. I have combined the two and used Vicks on some tops cut off some large plant pots and out them around the plants. So far with my sacrificial plant it has survived a whole week, even with lots of rain. I have now planted out the rest of my plants and they have survived two days and seem ok. Something has had a little nibble but not sure what so I will keep an eye out, but so far so good. I've also smeared the outside of the two pots of courgette plants with it and they seem ok too.

I have tried coffee grounds around my dahlias and it 100% works as pp has suggested

I'm trying this. It can't be placed on plants though 😂

I think it must have been your post I read @longtompot

Ooh good to know thanks!

i want something that keeps the slugs away - or kills them underground and out of sight. Slugs killed by nematodes die underground.

I've wondered if you could make a low voltage electric fence with two strands of wire, close together but not touching. My mother did this during the War to keep the mice off her tomatoes on the lab windowsill. She attached a notice “High voltage, do not touch”. Her boss swanned in, said “is it really?” And stuck out a finger. Useful proof-of-concept.

@MereDintofPandiculation