I just want to moan about slugs😠

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

So loads of plants died because of the snow in March.

I bought quite a few to replant in early June. Then it was too hot to plant them.

So l planted them last week. OMG the slug fest. Even on ones l didn’t think they ate. They’ve gone mental. Literally devoured half of them. I can’t stop the munching bastards.😭

I'll join you. Can't stand them. Not only do they eat my plants, they're utterly disgusting slimy things.

Garlic water is supposed to be a great natural repellent... trouble is, I don't want my sweet peas to smell of garlic 🤣

Garlic water. Yes! I forgot about that. I hate them so much.

Every night I go out about 11pm with a head torch and tweezers. Slugs get dropped into a bucket of salty water. I will not put up with guilt-trippers bleating about welfare, any more than I worry about using fly spray, or rat poison.

I also use slug nematodes every six weeks but should start earlier in the season. And half-bury jars as slug traps (cup of warm water with a sachet of yeast, tsp of sugar, tbsp of flour. They love the yeast, crawl in and drown. Add salt for a quicker end, but not if you want to empty the jars into your compost).

We have one come in every night. I think there’s a small gap round the patio doors. I track its perambulations each morning by the silver trail it leaves. It would appear it has a glide around near the kitchen door, then makes its way over to the tv before making its way out again.

A slug munched it's way right through the stem of DS's pumpkin plant the other night. Not pleased!

You need slug collars! mine were from the green gardener and are very sturdy and effective. I have done no slug control other than use slug collars this year and this is the least damage I've had. I have a lot of overgrown areas and birds using it more than usual so I am also thinking that helps too.

I've got one dahlia that's just slug/snail catnip(?). I've five or six others that they've barely touched and a bunch I've grown from seed that they've not bothered. Coffee grounds and copper tape hasn't deterred them. I think it's sacrificed itself.

I have in the past collected them at night. I used a bucket of soapy water to kill them, then I composted them. Good to know about the yeast, I've wondered if that would work, cheaper than beer.

11pm - Head torch, bucket, iron will. It's the only way. I've tried all the things but physically removing them (and feeding them to the hens...) is the only way that works ime. Utter bastards will decimate everything.

Wheat or corn bran is a dessicant that will cause slugs to swell up and die when consumed. Sprinkle it around plants in your vegetable and flower beds and monitor to see if slugs are snacking. If your brand seems too coarse for slugs to eat, blend it in your food processor until a finer grain.

I just don’t think l could physically remove them🤢🤮

I could make Dh earn his keep though..🤔

Beer traps. Sink margarine tubs into the ground. Fill with the cheapest beer available and the tub will be full with them in the morning. It's gross but after a few days you'll have got the population down and your plants will have a chance.
Either dig them into the ground to dispose of them or compost them.

Just use tweezers or small pliers, tongs are too big.

They will congregate after dark around orange or grapefruit peel, easy to tip them into a bucket of doom!

Snip them in half with scissors!

Urgh!

Leave damp cardboard near vulnerable plants overnight in the morning they'll be hiding underneath it.

@Vinniepolis 😱

I go out and patrol the garden when it is damp, with a wooden skewer. Skewer straight through the head and into the garden waste bin they go. Last year when we moved in the garden had been a bit neglected and I was getting 30-40 a night, now just 2 or 3.

I caught one yesterday morning trying to crawl through my bedroom window at the top of the house - thank god I saw it and how the hell did it get up to the first floor

I hate them too and snails, just as bad. I use the organic slug pellets.

Another pet hate vine weevils! They destroy your plants but you don't realise until the plants don't come up in the spring.

vine weevils are gits. they are my camellia ☹️

Slug pellets?

I was randomly thinking a few months ago, 'Why can't someone invent a spray to deter slugs like the spray you can get for green/black/ white fly'?
What did I find Poundland?
It is a miracle! My Hostas, Brunneras, Calla Lillies Heucheras are all slug proofed. I was a little late treating my Dahlis and they had a chimp at them, but used the spray and they haven't been touched since.

A few years ago slugs murdered all my veg seedlings overnight. The day after I'd planted the seedlings there wasn't a trace of any of them left.

Since then I've had some luck with scattering lots of crushed eggshells around plants that need protected.

*Dahlias, and chomp not chimp🙄 It's bad enough fending off the slugs, I don't want to start a war with bloody monkeys as well😄

Won’t they just grow another head?🤢