Boltgirl

Slugs and snails

I put the slugs right in a bucket with saturated salt water. They die right away, so I figure this is the most humane way to get rid of them. I am lucky to have the sea right nearby, so I empty the bucket into it and the crabs get a good meal, too. If you don't have the sea nearby for a nice supply of salt water, I suggest buying a large bag of salt, the kind you use for the road in winter, and take a bucket of that on your slughunt. The salt will stil kill them immediately. 

If you, like me, are a bit squeamish about picking the slugs up (they're really, really slimy), then the best tool I've found is the big wooden tweezer-like vices you use to pick up toast (but get a separate pair for the slugs!). 

I agree that it's very hard to kill even slugs, but with the ones we've got here, they breed worse than rabbits, and take over everything if you don't get rid of them. Last year, I couldn't walk barefoot at all, cause every few steps I'd be stepping on a slug!

What is horticultural grit?

I just found a new builder's merchant with a great selection and good prices, so I will run along there and collect some! 

what to intercrop with squash?

Three sisters (beans, squash and corn) are the classic, since the beans climb the corn, and provide a good balance with the squash. 5-6 plants in a 2x1m might be a bit tight, be sure to feed well with nourishing compost, they thrive on it! Nettle tea is also good (soak nettles in water for a couple weeks, then use it to water the plants). Radishes are super fast in my garden, and squash slow, so I'd go for those, and some carrots. Carrots bring up more nutrients to the top soil, so that should benefit the squash as well. In general, I just try to interplant as much as possible, because that's the way they seem to like it. No momocrops for me!

Slugs and snails

I totally forgot to mention what I saw on Gardeners' World, from last year, I think. Rachel visited a pair of hostaholics, June Colley and John Baker, who had something like 1300 different kinds of hostas, which were all in pristine condition. Their recipe for success was garlic - apparently, it serves as a mild nerve poison for slugs, so they leave the leaves alone, and it kills the eggs, when you spray it on the soil. The recipe for making the garlic spray was as follows: 

Put a whole garlic in a plastic bag, smash it with a rolling pin or other heavy tool. 

Add the smashed garlic to 1L of water, let boil on the stove for 5 minutes. 

Let it cool, then sieve it, then bottle the garlic water and store in the fridge. 

Add 1 tblsp/1L of water in a spraybottle as needed, preferably a long nozzled one so you easily can get in under the leaves to spray the soil. 

Slugs and snails

The main slugs that I have a problem with ar the Arion lusitanicus, which have many common names, among them murderslug, Spanish slug, and others. It is invasive and prolific, breeding very rapidly and eating everything in sight - even each other. Some people snip them in half, then cover the carcass in poison, and other Spanish slugs come along and eat those, then crawl off and die. The friendlier snails, shelled varieties, I leave. Yellow or Blue Ducks seem to like the Spanish slugs as a tasty meal, and many people over here in Sweden have them for just that purpose. Might be difficult to get ahold of in GB, especially since the Svensk Blåanka (literally translates to Swedish Blueduck) isn't the same as the variety of the same common name found abroad. Anyways, that's my two bits worth, and I wish you all the best of luck. 

What is horticultural grit?

Thanks! I will try the gravel that they sell here then. 

Calling Swedboy - what is horticultural grit?

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I was advised to repost with a specific forum member in mind, so here goes (again...):

I live in Sweden, watch Gardener's World, and have asked various gardening sites over here what horticultural grit might be, and where can I buy it. Problem is, over here, they've never heard of it - google translates it to "trädgårdsgrus", which is basically the gravel you put down in walkways. 

I think it'd be great to have some to lighten up the soil, but please, can someone explain what it is, where it comes from, and how I might get some over here in the lovely land of the swedes...

What is horticultural grit?

Figrat: I love the quick responses! I just signed up an hour ago, so I didn't know I could "call" Swedboy, but I will try that now. 

Sotongeoff: When I go to garden centers, they just show me the walkway stuff, which is often hard material, rounded sea pebbles or crushed granit. It doesn't look like the stuff in the videos, which looks more like sandstone or something sedimentary, doesn't it? I think it might just att weight to the soil, rather than increase porosity and water runoff. 

Ah well, thanks ever so much for the replies so far, and I will repost shortly with a call in for Swedboy. 

Cheers!

What is horticultural grit?

I'll be happy to hear from him!

What is horticultural grit?

I live in Sweden, watch Gardener's World, and have asked various gardening sites over here what horticultural grit might be, and where can I buy it. Problem is, over here, they've never heard of it - google translates it to "trädgårdsgrus", which is basically the gravel you put down in walkways. 

I think it'd be great to have some to lighten up the soil, but please, can someone explain what it is, where it comes from, and how I might get some over here in the lovely land of the swedes...

Calling Swedboy - what is horticultural grit?

What is horticultural grit?