Talkback: Slugs and snails - Page 2 - Talkback

15/06/2008 at 22:28

We have frogs and hedgehogs but still my plants are being decimated by slugs and snails. Beer doesn't seem to be working well this year, must try guinness. Have tried coffee grinds with only limited success and have resorted to circling plants with salt/sand they use to melt ice, will report later if it works or if it kills plants.

Gardeners' World Web User

18/06/2008 at 18:06

Black birds eat snails and leave empty shells. Jo B I'm using super strength garlic at the moment to great success, prick garlic bulb all over boil for good half hour poor into 1 litre hand spray top up with cold water spray onto both sides of leaves and pots let dry and spray again I saw a snail going past a hosta don't give up but do go out on a night regular and collect them that is the best way.

Gardeners' World Web User

20/06/2008 at 12:11

Regarding slugs, I've tried every suggestion, egg shells, copper tape, Ã garlic, onion, bran flakes, salt, sand, gravel, fir tree needles, coffee grounds, beer traps, vaseline, sand, gravel, Westlands slug Blocker.

None works and my plants are just dying! I recently bought a delphinium and I have had to bring that in after the rain yesterday as it had just started growing back again after the last attack...

I'm guessing there's only slug pellets left to try now, of course I will get the pellets that don't hurt cats etc as my cat died that way and they also effect the fertility of songbirds. Is there anything that ACTUALLY works? I'm desperate!!!!!

Gardeners' World Web User

19/07/2008 at 22:27

salt/sand mix certainly deterred slugs and has given my dahlias and lupins a fighting chance with no obvious ill effects so far. Mix was very damaging to lychnis growing close by!

Gardeners' World Web User

21/06/2009 at 14:38

Hi I had a similar problem to yours, even slugs coming into the house - yuck! Being Buddhist I had to stick to the Five Precepts. This meant that my only real option was to adopt a hedgehog who was too small to hibernate, feed him over winter and release him in the spring. He now does a great job at keeping those pesky rascals down! !

Gardeners' World Web User

24/07/2009 at 15:45

Hi, some interestng comments here. My lawn is covered with black and green slugs at dusk every night. I have a large space to deal with in that my garden in 100 x 40ft in size. I also don't wish to bring any harm to the neighbourhood cats in my area. Slugs drive me mad - I've literally tried sprinkling salt all over the lawn of an evening, but I can't keep doing this... any ideas for a more practical solution? Thanks!

Gardeners' World Web User

28/11/2011 at 18:30

We ran a similar test this year to trap flies and wasps. The mixture beer+wine won. Anything with "surrogate sugar" was hopeless. We did not try alcohol-free beer (alcohol-free beer is so not-done in Belgium). The strange thing was, once we had a few bodies trapped in a bottle, it went much faster. Is this the same for slugs or do you have to clean the traps every day or so?

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