Evil b*stard slugs AND my honeysuckle leaves are going black - HELP ME!!!

[Flame]

Evil bastard slugs at my pepper plant.

Roots are still there, sod all above ground (speedy little gits, they had eaten a teeny bit of one leaf on Friday) - am I grasping at straws hoping it will resprout?

I need toddler friendly slud/snail repellent methods please.

PLUS

The bloody ants & aphids are all over my apple tree making that look even more ill than normal.

AND

The honeysuckle we planted down the bottom of the apple tree - the leaves are developing black patches on both plants

Is my beautiful new garden doomed before it grows?

On the plus side, the fairy garden and my spinach is thriving, and the strawberry plants are getting new leaves shooting up (and because the bastard slugs have been filling up on my pepper plant, they have left the berries alone... for now).

We've been having a chat about slugs (boo) on the thread called hostas.

Your choices are

slug pellets in a place where your toddler can't get at them

liquid slug killer which you water on

garlic liquid (diy or buy it ready-made)

copper tape around tops of pots

sharp grit on top of pots or around plants in flower beds

stand pots in saucers full of sharp grit

spread bran around plants as a barrier

mignight hunt with torch and plastic bag (then pick your preferred method of murder)

I've never grown peppers so don't know how likely it is to sprout again. Give it some dilute feed and cross your fingers.

Sounds like mould on the honeysuckle - either sooty mould or mildew. Best defence against mildew is air and water, but sooty mould is a side-effect of the aphid infestation and so you may need to use an insecticide.

slugs are the absolute bane of my life - am catching around 60 a day at the moment. I stopped for just two days and 3 large lettuces vanished arghhhhhhhhhh.....

am doing beer traps (which if I get it wrong they treat like a pub) and millions of orange halves which they hide under - I gather them and drown them in the nearest pub trap

flame i have to run now but i have some slug stuff for you.

black stuff is blight. cut out and burn anything even vaguely affected.

but i do have some stuff to try if not too bad too

Thanks for thew reminder about orange halves - I tried it a few years ago and it worked well. Personally, I hate beer traps because if you don't remember to empty them, the slug/beer gloop is gross!

I squeezed a line of Deep Heat cream around the rim of my hosta about 4 weeks ago, just as it was coming out of the soil (as suggested on here) and I now have a beautiful, green, perfect hosta!

flame

for you i have:

nematodes for the slugs (dilute and pour on, protects for 6 weeks, child safe)

more pepper seedlings/small plants (i have too many)

cut off all traces of the black stuff... its blight which is a fungus and the spores will spread in the wind if left. burn or really well dispose of infected bits. i have copper fungicide to spray on after the cull to hope for best.

dunno bout ants and aphids... spray with washing up liquid solution?

oh, and i have a really posh peg bucket for you too [

Oh you fabulous people!!!

Loads to try, and NappiesGalore - I love you even more than I already did!!!!

guinea fowl! since we got ours my hostas have lived in peace! they are very noisy birds though.

For plants in pots I grease the rim/3 inches down the sides with Vaseline.

In the garden I've tried egg shells and grit which worked Okish. Wasn't a great fan of beer traps but some swear by them.

Aphids: also soapy water, squishing as I hose them violently. My philadelphus is affected really badly atm.

Nearly forgotten, after my success with the Vaseline, I found some old skirting boards in the shed and greased them with some gunge from the tool shed, seemed greasy enough. Used the boards as a barrier and the slugs couldn't climb over it.

The ants are after the honeydew from the aphids. Wonder if you van buy ladybirds?

You can buy ladybird larvae from one of the green gardening catalogues. I thought it was Wiggly Wigglers but I've just skimmed through the catalogue and not found it. The Insect Lore catalogue has ladybird attractant, to lure them into your garden!