Foolproof slug/snail eradication????

[maggienetball]

I got to admit that I have a really good slug/snail eradication method, albeit time consuming. It works really really well for me but when I was chatting to other allotment holders, they were all surprised as they had never heard or tried it.

All I do is provide the slugs/snails with a home at a couple of points on the allotment and at home. A plank of wood, a pallet, plant pot, or anything like that. Then I simply lift the wood every tiime I'm there and collect all the slugs/snails and drop them in a bucket of salt. I find that I never need to hunt them out and new ones keep using the same "home".

I honestly thought that most people do this. I never get "wiped out" by slugs any more and don't use any other trapping methods or chemicals.

Does anyone else use this method. It's well worth doing but you do need to check every time you can.

[witch way?]

Yep thats my method too. Over the years I've tried copper, eggshells, water moats, salt, nematodes, beertraps, torchlight hunts etc., etc., and the only method I've found that works is providing a 'home' and raiding. I put planks of wood down between every couple of rows of veg. They stop the soil from compacting by providing a path to walk on and when I weed I just turn them over and pull the little b*gg**s off. An added bonus is that little frogs like to hide under them too. I've also found that if you make an big effort in the spring it reduces the numbers noticeably for the rest of the year. Happy Hunting. W.

[ina]

I learned that at a market garden where I worked a while ago: we surrounded most crops with rows of folded newspaper, preferably soggy. The slugs love these "homes", and we then went slug picking regularly. Eventually, the newspaper dissolves and gets dug in next time round. I always carried a slug jar around with me in my pocket; it often filled up during the day - and was then emptied out for the ducks at night!

[Peggy Sue]

I'm going to give this a go, we have GIANT slugs in HUGE numbers in our garden....and a dog who I just can't risk slug pellets with, and don't really want to either. I ahve tried everything else - copper rings, gravel & sand, beer traps, slug hunts- I will note the salt bucket too as mine were going in the wheelie bin and I suspect they were also climbing out!

I like the idea of soot and coffee grind but have no real fire and don't drink coffee! The planks are a great idea for home & allotment, I shall go in search!

[witch way?]

Good Luck Peggy Sue.

Incidentally you can now get organic slug pellets which they say are harmless to wildlife and pets. They also claim that when they dissolve in the rain they turn into fertilizer. They are in the Garden Organic catalogue and I even phoned them to see if they genuinely were organic and was told yes they are. Would your dog get to them if you left a few under the planks? W.

[Peggy Sue]

Thanks- I ahve bought some organic slug pellets. I do try to keep her away from them too though to be on the safe side. It would certainly be chaeper to use a plank!

[thecornflake]

I tried organic slug pellets last year which were garlic granules. I had an idea they weren't working so one night I found a slug on the patio and surrounded it with loads of the stuff, which it promptly just slithered over and carried on towards my bean plants.

Copper tape around the pots seemed to work well - I don't think the rings are as effective because they just come up through the soil on the other side. But in containers there's only one way to get to the plants, and the tape barriers seemed to hold them off.

[Peggy Sue]

I did loads of coper around evrything, containers the lot. I sat and watched one large snail crawl right over the copper round one of my half barrels- that stuff is quite wide. I was thinking of wiring it to the mains!

Definitely been mulling over the salt pot for the slugs I 'harvest'. Last year the ones I picked up everyday started to look familiar Obviously escapees from teh bin!

[maggienetball]

I have, in the past tried EVERY slug killer there is. None have worked 100% until my plank method. What's more, nearly every other method costs loads. My plank costs nothing and cooking salt is dirt cheap.

You really need to keep harvesting them though otherwise you're just providing them with somewhere nice to live and free food.

I love the fact you put them in the wheelie bin, Peggy Sue! I used to fling them in the water butts until someone explained that I was then watering my allotment with the eggs that they release into the water! You really need a sense of humour in the garden.

[tim&fatima]

I'm gonna give this a go! it's a shame thou, i enjoyed those torchlight hunts. i'll save a fortune in batteries.

[hedgewitch]

click here

[maggienetball]

sorry - egg shells don't work and if you leave the slugs unchecked you may as well forget growing veggies. I've found a slug inside a broken egg shell before.

If I put hard work into growing flowers I'm sure I want to enjoy them not just let a load of snails chomp through them for fun.

The plank method combined with vigilance and determination does work. Froggies can still eat them cos there's no chemicals used. Try it and see..... I've never found a better method.

[witch way?]

I dont want to eliminate them, I'd drive myself mad trying and I am quite willing to share. If they would only wait until the seedlings have grown a bit there would be enough to go round for us all. But no, I put out rows of carefully nurtured tiny little seedlings and in one night they scoff the lot. I am, using the plank method, winning.

My quandry now is what to do with them. We used to live next door to a church so I threw them over into the churchyard on the basis that the church welcome anybody but now we have neighbours and it would be a bit unkind. The chickens, after initially being excited, now flatly refuse to eat any more. They (the slugs) turn into speed slugs and escape from the birdtable even though I turned it into slug Colditz. I cant bring myself to use salt. Anybody know a humane or quick way to dispatch slugs and snails? (No, I cannot eat them ) W.

[maggienetball]

You could drop them in a jar of beer to kill them? I often slice them in half with a hoe (sorry but it's true). That's pretty instant. The salt is also very quick though.

[justskint]

You could drop them in a jar of beer to kill them? I often slice them in half with a hoe (sorry but it's true). That's pretty instant. The salt is also very quick though.

Slugs don't like soot & sawdust, so I am told. At the moment I am using large glass coffee jars as cloches to keep em off, they have eaten 50% of my spinach seedlings.