Being invaded by slugs already - aaagh!

[Country Bumpkin]

My container garden is only small and consists mainly of tomatoes, peas, strawberries, salad, herbs, borlotti beans and marrows. On inspection of my little babies this afternoon, I noticed that my peas look like they have had some slugs munching on them (a shiny look on the leaves and a few missing bits).

1) Is this the work of slugs?
2) Why have they only targeted my peas (so far)?
3) Most importantly, how do I get rid of them?

I have a dog and a small child so need something pet and ankle-biter friendly. Or, should I just move them inside my potting shed for a while? This is my first year venturing further than salad and so far it had been off to a good start!

All suggestions gratefully received! I read somewhere that beer works - is that for the slugs or me

Kel

[marmite]

Helo. Slugs leave a slimy trail,and so do snails,a beer trap works, the slug pellets HARMS dogs if eaten. Go out at night and do a slug hunt. My neighbours think I am potty but I have found quite a few, and desposed of them my way.A friend told me not to water to late in the day as the slimy things like damp and darkness. Pigeons have been known to have a go at peas,but I dont think they polish leaves shiney. Have a good look round at night and let us know how you get on. Regards Marmite

[DavidT]

Kel, use a liquid slug killer. They can be used on the plants as well as the ground, and are animal and kiddie safe.

[marmite]

Hello David. Can you tell me the name of this liquid slug killer as the shop I use has pellets only.I was thinking about nematodes for next year. Thanks from Marmite

[smithyveg]

Pellets!

Pellets!

Pellets!

[Country Bumpkin]

Thanks for your replies so far!

I checked last night but didn't see anything and popped all the plants in my shed anyway as it was getting quite windy and I wasn't sure if some of them would still be there in the morning : )

What is the name of the liquid? I'm trying to steer clear of pellets as we also have around a dozen local cats and I wouldn't be too popular if I poisoned any . . .

Will go out with my torch again tonight : )

[wafflycat]

Here's someone who is very against slug pellets. They aren't just poisonous to slugs, but pose a risk to anyone or anything who eats them. Pets *do* end up at vets being treated for slug pellet poisoning. Much better to have a balance on control, and encourage things that eat slugs (birds, hedgehogs) and manually remove slugs by picking them off and set slug traps in the ground filled with weak beer, copper rings round the pots.. Plus, it's not unheard of for small children to treat such things as 'sweets'

[Country Bumpkin]

Sweets! Eeeuuuuggghhh! What a thought . . .

Definitely going for non-pellet action though. Going on night-time patrol again to try and remove them that way first!

[DavidT]

The one that`s available now is Slug Clear, which is produced by Scotts.

[marmite]

Thank you David,

[smithyveg]

Life’s just way too short to mess about with organic controls. I visited Ryton Organic gardens last year where they have piles of crushed eggshells, bran flakes and sunken beer traps everywhere. Guess what? All the plants had been eaten! The slugclear stuff takes a while to work so I'm told, similarly with the nematodes. And they are expensive. A quick flick of the wrist is all it takes to scatter a few blue slug murderers about and I know they work. You don't need many to do the job.

Slug pellets of the past may have been a bit suss but I think modern day ones are more wildlife friendly. It was recently worked out that a hedgehog would need to eat 10,000 to do it any harm. That’s one dumbass hedgehog.

As for dogs….. we have a dog but we fence it off from my show veg area. If it did somehow manage to get in and do damage to my show veg believe me I would force feed it pellets! LOL

Smithyveg


Smithyveg!