[Quirkygirl]

Ahhhhhhhh.  Went out this morning and they are hanging off my melon plants..   
War ~ me 0 slugs 20 

[Womble]

We hired an army of duck mercenaries to roam around our raised beds and the outside of the polytunnel, and it's made a huge difference.

On a damp night there can be hundreds of slugs on the rest of the lawn, but very few now in or around the polytunnel.

[Quirkygirl]

I want ducks so so badly..  but until I find some where to rent I can't have them  . So until then it's me and a plastic label stick thing and a coffee jar .. 

[Carse Goodlifers]

...But imagine eating poison and laying there all night dying, then to be tortured in the heat of the morning sun...

If you use the ferric phosphate pellets, once the slugs have eaten them they will go underground and die - they shouldn't die on the surface.  The old methiocarb pellets were the worst (for agri & horti situations) as they were not selective and would kill beneficial insects as well as mollusc's.  The other pellet type that you can still get is the metaldehyde pellets and while they are selective the affected slugs and snails will die on the ground surface.

Been out this morning to water everything and slug army have invaded and my French beans have been almost wiped out grrrrrrrr.  They were my pride and joy this year along with my white grapes.

Our veg and flowers have been walloped by them too    We have loads of toads about the house but the slugs are outnumbering them without fail. 

[Penninehillbilly]

I haven't bought any slug pellets for years, but heard about these ferric phosphate pellets on the radio. did wonder whether they were worth trying for the more elusive beasties. But it must still be a horrible death.
 

[Quirkygirl]

Has anyone used the copper slug tape before.? If so is it any good or a waste of money...

[cloddopper]

I say it's a waste because if like it is so often in Wales it's raining , ( the slugs & snails on the copper generating the power like a small battery  ) the vital electrical difference will be run to zero  in the earth/ material it's fixed to  by the rain water completing the circuit .

If it was bone dry it would be a different matter, the voltage available might deter them.

[Penninehillbilly]

some years ago OH cut a copper cylinder into strips, folded them like angle iron and we ran them round a couple of raised beds, those beds were slug free once we'd eliminated residents. just had to make sure foliage didn't lean over edge. Havn't been able to garden for a couple of years until this year, but recently found those strips again, buried under some black plastic. quick rub down with wire wool and I'll be using them again.

[cloddopper]

lets know how you get on please I've no hair left to pull out.
 
I went out to have a look at things this morning and found almost nothing left of nine out of eleven all year round  caulies I planted on Monday I treated the area with the recommended rate of slug pellets . There was plenty of slime trails but only a few dead slugs , the anti bird netting was still in place & effective.
This is despite using nematodes as well.

On a happier note I  found the biggest British snail I've seen in years partly buried in the soil a few feet away from the cauli stumps , it was quite dead .

[waterbuffalofarmer]

lets know how you get on please I've no hair left to pull out.
 
I went out to have a look at things this morning and found almost nothing left of nine out of eleven all year round  caulies I planted on Monday I treated the area with the recommended rate of slug pellets . There was plenty of slime trails but only a few dead slugs , the anti bird netting was still in place & effective.
This is despite using nematodes as well.

On a happier note I  found the biggest British snail I've seen in years partly buried in the soil a few feet away from the cauli stumps , it was quite dead .

Does you think there is a world record on british snails? We could catch the biggest snails like they catch fish and try and out do each other by getting the biggest one, that'd be fun

[Cosmore]

Does you think there is a world record on british snails? We could catch the biggest snails like they catch fish and try and out do each other by getting the biggest one, that'd be fun
[/quote]

Umm....ok, right....is there something missing in your life, LoL! What next, snail racing perhaps, or the prettiest snail competition? Just teasing........!
On the subject of big snails, I once came across on the edge of a railway embankment that crossed farmland, a colony of 'Roman snails', the edible ones, they were truly huge (and no, they didn't speak latin or march in columns and I didn't fancy eating them!). Apparently, they were brought over by the ancient Romans as a 'delicacy' and obviously some colonies have survived. Where I saw these had indeed been a Roman/Romano British occupation site.

[cloddopper]

The dead snail I found in the veg bed had a shell about 1 & 1/4 inches across & was about 1& 1/2 inches high .
 Whilst abroad many years ago in the middl east I found a discarded snail shell that I could put my whole fisted hand in , till the lip of the shell reached my wrist .
Total size of the shell was about five & a half inches long by four & a half inches tall .

 Evidently the locals prized them as a delicacy, extracting the snail body with a six inch long hooked nail thing and then roasting them on a stick BBQ style over dying embers .

[Penninehillbilly]

Listen to Gardeners Question Time on Sunday 2pm, :-)

[Carse Goodlifers]

......I treated the area with the recommended rate of slug pellets . There was plenty of slime trails but only a few dead slugs......

If its ferric phosphate pellets that you used, the slugs should go under ground to die.  If the pellets were metaldehyde based, then the slugs should be more visible on the soil surface.

[doganjo]

The dead snail I found in the veg bed had a shell about 1 & 1/4 inches across & was about 1& 1/2 inches high .
 Whilst abroad many years ago in the middl east I found a discarded snail shell that I could put my whole fisted hand in , till the lip of the shell reached my wrist .
Total size of the shell was about five & a half inches long by four & a half inches tall .

 Evidently the locals prized them as a delicacy, extracting the snail body with a six inch long hooked nail thing and then roasting them on a stick BBQ style over dying embers .

Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!! Y U K !!!!!