You don’t need me to tell you it’s been a bad year for slugs (Or a good year, depending on your perspective on slugs.) The chances are that ‘Slug-agedon’ will continue into next year. I have some methods that have served me very well over the years and that I am happy to share with you, my slug infested friends.
I have five Higgledy patches in the locality. Only one is blighted by slugs. This is how I’m winning the war against the greedy gastropods.
*Give them nowhere to hide.
Slugs are directly related to vampires and tend to shy away from daylight. Unlike vampires you don’t need to find them and run them through with a wooden stake. They like to hide under and around wooden structures like you might have surrounding a raised bed. Best get rid of these and simply hump up the soil to make the raised bed. (Georgie Newbery does just this.)
Conversely you can give them somewhere to hide as a trap. A plank left face down for a few days will attract the critters….and then you can take them away from your lovely plants and put them where you will. I feed mine to the carp in the canal.
*Beer traps.
Beer traps work well. Find some beer you forgot to drink. Half fill a small plastic tub with the beer and leave it (or many of them) around your cutting patch. The slugs will find the tub and drink themselves to oblivion. Some people say this method attracts slugs from out of town…but people say lots of things.
*Nematodes.
I use a brand called Nemaslug. This is pretty spendy but it works well. My 100 square meter bed costs about £30 to treat. That lasts six weeks. I will be using about three doses next season. Yes £100 is very expensive but it’s a huge bed and the crop is very valuable to me for seed harvesting, flower harvesting, and for marketing. Also that £100 might save me several days of wasted work looking after seedlings that get munched. Most domestic patches will be a more reasonable £10 for a dose.
“Nematodes attack the pest by entering natural body openings, releasing a bacteria which quickly and safely kills it. The nematodes then reproduce inside the dead pest and release a new generation of hungry nematodes, which disperse and search for further prey.
Slugs treated with Nemaslug will stop feeding in 3 days and die in about a 4-21 days (depending on the size of the slug and their exposure to the nematodes), the majority of the slugs will die underground, so don’t expect to see dead slugs lying around. Plus unlike the vast majority of other controls, Nemaslug continues to work well during wet weather – exactly when you need protection against slugs.”
Nemaslug website blurb.
Strulch.
Strulch is another good way to spend your hard earned cash keeping slugs away. I used this product for the first time this year and I can honestly say it worked wonders BUT it worked out at about £3 per square meter of growing area. I have heard you can buy it in wholesale prices much more reasonably if you have a sizeable patch to cover. I will be using it in moderation around young seedlings.
“Strulch ® is a light and easy to use garden mulch made from wheat straw for organic gardening. A patented process developed by Dr Geoff Whiteley at The University of Leeds, is used to ‘preserve’ the straw so that it lasts for up to two years and gives an earthy brown colour.
Strulch has a neutral pH and can be used throughout the garden on borders, raised beds, around cultivated fruit and on vegetable plots.
Why Strulch is beneficial?
- Strulch mulch reduces weed growth by up to 95%
- Strulch mulch helps retain moisture around plants
- Strulch mulch enriches soil and its structure
- Strulch mulch is suitable around flowers, shrubs, fruit and vegetables
- Strulch, the straw garden mulch, lasts up to two years, spreading the cost, saving water and fertiliser, making your plants grow healthier and stronger and giving you more time to relax.
- The physical properties of Strulch mulch together with the embedded minerals deters slugs and snails.”
The above is taken from the Strulch website. I would pretty much agree that it does what it says it does…I’ll let you know if it lasts two years when that time is up….I have my doubts…but even if it only lasted one season, I would still use it. It smells of brandy, which is pleasing. ;)
Consistency.
Keep on top of the problem and you will be surprised how quickly their numbers drop. If you can, go out in the evenings with a torch to remove the slimy conquistadors by hand. They will soon know not to mess with you and they will find another patch!
I hope this is of some help.
Please don’t forget to buy your hardy annuals for autumn sowing, from us…we have a discounted bundle just for you. :)
Kind regards
Benjamin Higgledy