Slug Despair

[PenCreed]

Just as the title says really, this year has been a nightmare for slugs and snails! I've watered in nematodes, we have a slug trap, I have strulched every seedling. Despite that, the slimy fuckers have eaten: all but one of my beans (I planted about 15), all but one of the peas (also 15), two squashes when they were still potted, two more squash plants that had been planted out, a courgette plant, half my strawberries, two tomato plants, and a phlox.

Every time I think something is doing ok, it seems like I come back the next day and it's gone. Join me in my wail of despair - what plants have you lost to them? I'm also very much here for any more suggestions of what might stop them in their slimy tracks!

Jar of death..especially after rain. My friend counted 1000 collected at her allotment. I have a jam jar ( which I tape so I can’t see the dead slogs and snails). Half fill with Water with a squirt of washing up liquid. Drop them in and shake then after a short while I throw the contents at the back of my garden. This year we have lots of huge slugs plus the usual suspects.

DH kills them with a brick 🧱....I just stamp on them.
😏
I haven't had to kill any yet. That sounds awful.

They have eaten my violas and half my bean plants

@rewilded
At the start I used to be a bit screamish about it, but after murdering a few hundred I've got into the swing of it!

We also now have a new definition of true friendship in our household. We ask visitors to join us in our slug patrol activities. Those who accept the mission are our real friends. Those who refuse the invitation are quietly removed from the Christmas card list. 🤣😂

I could send my puppy round? He’s an expert at sniffing snugs and snails out and then eating them 😫🤮

I gave up growing veg as the slugs make it very cost ineffective

I’ve been gardening for years, never known so many slugs, it's like an invasion.
Along with the appalling weather it’s been a heartbreaking year for gardeners.
I’ve given up trying to grow lettuce, courgettes & cucumbers this year, the slugs & the weather have finally defeated me.
My usual methods - nematodes & beer traps are not working so doing nightly slug patrols with torch & salt bucket to at least contain the damage a bit.
I picked all the slugs off this plant the night before & next night covered again 😫

I'm joining, worst slug and snail year ever despite Nemaslug and strulch, they're still managing to eat so much.

We do have a family of badgers coming into the garden maybe that's why I still have a yield?

I flick them into the border where they can have the weeds and brambles .
Otherwise our femalecat eats them (she prefers snails ) and when she uses her tray .... <not envy>

Cannot use slug pellets because of the moggies .

www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/pet-health-hub/conditions/lungworm-in-dogs

For those with dogs please consider lungworm prevention, it's a horrible and dangerous condition which is on the rise. Don't leave their toys in the garden.

Yep, our lawn is covered..no way I would even attempt veggies! My issue is stopping DH buying "slug food" at garden centres 🫣. I just watched sadly as he planted a lupin

I gave my eldest (3y) a pot and some old lettuce core and leaves...to create a pet snail farm. Child goes around and collects snails for the pot and gets angry with them when they escape 😆 but they're kept away from my veg plot! Child reminds me of Darla from Finding Nemo but with snails instead of fish 😆

I've found copper wire quite effective against snails. I was too late with it for my spinach, radish and rocket but courgettes so far so good 🤞

I sprinkle them with salt and watch them fizz

Stop using slug pesticide. Birds eat the slugs and then the birds die. Use crushed egg shells and other natural methods to stop the slugs 😡

Please don't let your lovely puppy eat them! They carry lungworm, which is awful for dogs.

Yes I am aware of that thanks. It’s pretty impossible to stop him though although we are trying. The vets are happy that as long as they are regularly wormed with an appropriate wormer there is no risk.

I’m very relieved it’s not just me - this thread feels a bit cathartic for us all!

Aaaaggh! Cutting living creatures in half with scissors! Fizzing them with salt! You're all a lot of rotten meanies! I like slugs; they're such a lovely, elegant shape. Mind you, I'm not a gardener, so I'm not suffering the loss of expensive plants. If I took up actually trying to grow anything, I might feel differently.

I'm quite horrified at some of the delight in killing them, though I'm quite happy about slugs being hedgehog/toadie dinner

We need to make gardens more hedgehog and frog friendly. I'm the only house in my street with a garden accessible for hedgehogs and frogs. Everyone else has concrete panels under their fence, paradise for slugs as it keeps their predators out.

You can get the ones that are harmless to birds. Ferric Phosphate, suitable for organic gardening they claim. They do seem to work reasonably well.

https://greensideup.ie/slugs-how-to-deal-with-them-organically/

This looks useful

I've found them on top of my raspberries today. I've been growing raspberries for twenty years and never seen that before.
No sun and too many slugs has made for a crap raspberry crop this year.

So, this is gross but very effective, I would go out late at night (10/11pm), armed with a torch and a trowel, and I collected them into a plastic bag which I sealed shut and binned. I did this night after night and it stopped the infestation in its tracks. Tbf population has not recovered since. I must have removed 100+.