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Slugs
Susan Cook
Posts: 11
in Talkback
Hi all please can you help? behave just lifted my potatoes tofind over half of my crop has been eated by slugs, what can I do to the grown to stop this nextyear
0
Posts
Mine were the same this year too. To avoid it dig over your soil in the spring a couple of times to expose the slug eggs for the birds to eat and also grow a variety that you can crop early so the slugs don't get going. I think there are some varieties that are more slug resistant but you would have to look into that.
Have you got heavy wet soil Susan? Slugs love wet conditions but if you google slug resistant potatoes you will find quite a few varieties that claim to be more resistant than others but slugs are almost unavoidable.
Thank you, some mentioned digging lime in the patch in spring, but I'm not sure
It's new ground, we rotavated a part of a large it's not very heavy but is near a steam which with the rain at the start of the year did make the ground very wet.
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Water on Nemasys slug killer nematodes
The purpose of adding lime is to improve the ph of the soil and help plants take up nutrients so it will make no difference to your slug population, but there is no harm in you putting lime on your soil if you need it.
Just dig up your potatoes a little earlier next year so the slugs can't get a hold and look out for other varieties. We did have a very wet mild spring this year so the soil has been extra soggy and perfect for the slugs.
Thanks I'll give all these things a go
From experience and owning a keeled slug infested garden (they are likely what you have), the most resistant varieties I've tried are Kestrel, Blue Kestrel, Romano, Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona none of which get any significant damage. The latter two are also blight resistant, a nice bonus. Other less resistant varieties which do well for me are King Edward, Golden Wonder, Desiree. Any other varieties (and I've tried many!) come out 'holier than the Pope'!