Noooooooo they're awake.........

I've just gone out to my greenhouse to turn the heater on....and encountered five fat brown slugs cruising the garden:/ ....surely with another cold spell imminent it'll kill the slimy critters?? Hubby says if you cut one eye off though they'll just go round in circles...what d'you reckon? 

 We were having some work done at the back of our house this past

fortnight and I asked the builder if he could get me a roll of insulation I put it at the back of my cheep plastic Argos 6x4 greenhouse anyway as i unfurled the insulation above I found several tiny slugs in it ,they all got the chop

Chop in half with secteurs.  Simples.

i chuck salt on them they love it.

Come on now, slugs, chop chop, wake up, I'm ready with my weeding knife.  chop chop.

I just squish underfoot- but some of the big onesare getting quite hard to do. Think I may get a pair of scissors especially for the job.

Does anyone know how early you can start with the nematodes ?  I know the soil has to have warmed up a bit - but do you have to wait til after the last frosts?

I was told you have to wait until the soil is 5 minimum and that the occasional frost  won't affect the nematodes doing their job but its best to wait until the soil won't go below 5 degrees so:/ I'm guessing when they get sent to me by Marshalls they're giving me the go-ahead as they said they only send them out when conditions are right....don't know if I'm brave enough to use the scissors folks:/ bit squeamish for that one lol but not adverse to using the salt pot or my wellie booted foot) I was horrified as the size of some of them..monsters already.....needless to say they're not there this morning hehe....

Apparently there's a new variety of spanish slugs that are HUGE.  They've been known to eat dead mice, dog poo, and each other.  Hoping to goodness that the nematodes work on these blighters, although they won't need to if I see them first......

I also found 4 in my cold frame yesterday, I placed a bowl of flour and water paste in there as this was recommended by a poster last year and I found it an environmental way to get rid of them.

They do expire in the bowl, which is quite yucky, not sure why it works. The paste is gloopy.

Guiness is also good

But I find the best option is going out in the evening when its damp and getting rid of them by hand. That is the method that best worked for me last year

I find slugs tend to go back to the same plants every evening so if you see damage the slugs wont be too far away.

But then, what do you do with a bowl of flour and water paste full of dead slugs; can you compost it?

Yes artjak. its all organic meterial so it can be composted

The slugs go for the yeast in the flour, thats what attracts them

The mice are also on the move, my dear cat Lennie has started bringing them in and then leaves them half dead. Bless him