I bought a few sungolds and Aubergines (grafted) organic so cost a bit. Have lost 4 plugs - what have I done wrong? I planted them directed in the soil in the polytunnel. Should have I grown them on in pots before putting into the soil so that they were stronger?
I am now going to have to replace these now at more expense and I did buy conventional ones at the garden centre which is what we dont really want to do as we try to live on an organic diet.
Any help with what I did wrong?
Looking at the tiny stumps of plants left on the plug trays I'd say with out doubt you have had a visit from Mr & Mrs Slug & their extended families .
Seeing as you are hoping to be truly organic you might try some of the many slug killing recipes to be found on the internet.
In all honesty I've not come across one that works .
The only thing that worked for me is nematode control and it needs ground temps of 10 oC / 50 oF or more on moist ground & it is expensive at around £ 10 a pop , also it needs renewing about every six week .
This year I lost several trays of 30 bottomless tube pots of crops most of which had six seeds growing in each tube.
In desperation I've resorted to using a flower bed only diluted slug spray and have given the veg beds a good dosing before turning them over and also another a few days later , plus I've sprayed all the newly sown seeds in their pots before they have germinated.
I've also sprayed this slug killer dilution on the greenhouse floor ( concrete ) & used the fully diluted spray mix along with a chemical nutrient & water to rehydrate several blocks of compacted chopped coir , as I found that I was getting slugs in the re-hydrated material despite it being kept in dustbins with tight fitting lids.
I've resown everything that was scoffed , some of it has germinated this afternoon , I'll be leaving them alone till the seedlings get their second true leaf set then pot them on inn the treaded slug clean coir .
So far there is no sign of slug or snail damage on any of the seedlings or transplants I've potted on already .
This slug treatment is not licenced to be used on vegetables but my thinking is that at seedling stage any of this slug killer will have dissipated long before the crops are harvested in a months or more's time .