[mariafp]

I am looking to purchase a children and pet safe product to keep my veggies slug free as possible. Some of them are quite expensive and I want to know if they work before spending money on it. Has anyone used any of these products? What kind of results have you had? Cheers!

- Slug gone wood pellets.
- Slug stoppa granules.
- Copper rings.
- Plant collars.
- Slug shield (flexible copper rings).
- Slug snub refill (caffeine).
- Escar-go.
- Multiguard snail and slug pellets.
- Coffee grounds.

[Greengage]

I tell you what after last year nothing will stop slugs, It was a bit like the film Zulu dawn they just kept coming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gF52K_qiP4

[mariafp]

I know, I know... (

I have a bit of a slug infestation. I have been trying environmental and children/pet safe stones and they did not work. They should not be selling products that do not work at all.

I do not want to use products that can harm the environment or can be eaten by birds and feral cats. However, it seems like pellets are the only products that really work.

I do not really know what to do. Last year I lost almost everything due to the slugs.

[mariafp]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9791458/Millions-of-killer-slugs-set-to-take-over-gardens.html

Millions of 'killer slugs' set to take over gardens

After the worst year on record for slugs, things are about to get even worse with millions of a new species of ‘killer slug’ expected to take over gardens this spring.

The monster slugs, from Spain, that can grow up to five inches long, have been found eating dead mice, dog mess and even each other. The species have already caused havoc in Scandinavia where slugs feasting on road kill caused so much slime it became a road hazard. The new species, Arion vulgaris, was first identified in East Anglia at the end of last year. However it has taken until now to confirm the new species is new to the British Isles. At first scientists thought they could be bigger versions of the slightly smaller Spanish stealth slug, Arion flagellus, that has been in the UK since the end of the last war.

[Greengage]

Here is my solution two options.
1 dig a moat around the garden approx 30cms wide line this with something that wont leak and fill it with beer.
2, Put up a net all over the garden and import 6 hungary thrushes.
Otherwise you will not win this battle with recourse to chemical warfare.

[knoxville]

Greengage would that be a waste of good beer?
I have resorted to chemical warfare, can't spare the time or money to try any other way.

[medieval knievel]

he didn't say it had to be good beer!

[tippben]

I've used "slug stoppa". It does work, but washes away very quickly, so is expensive. Copper etc. is rubbish, it doesn't work. Ferrous phosphate does work, but you don't see the results, as the slugs die below ground. Nematodes (nemasys) are great, but need repeat applications in open ground. I'm detoxing for the new year, so no beer traps. The bottle wouldn't even make it to the garden!

[Greengage]

After giving this a lot of thought I think Ive solved your problem.
Free range Ducks (Mallard, Teal, Widgeon)

[Greengage]

Im going to try this in the greenhouse as an experiment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ8RFlR0mD4

[JohnI]

I discovered a few years ago - and quite by accident - that Ferrous sulphate is a superb slug destroyer. I had bought a bag of it in crystalline form as a moss killer for my lawn which was already 50% moss and disappearing fast. Mixed it with water per the manufacturer's instructions and ran it through my hose-attached sprayer. Works great on moss, turns it black and dead within 24 hours. The next morning i also discovered hundreds of dead . . . . . slugs? Yup, slugs. The solution kills them on contact or - within a somewhat limited amount of time - if they crawl over vegetation which has been sprayed with it. The reason I say "somewhat limited" is that the sulfate changes chemically into inert iron oxides as it interacts with the soil. But the plus in that is that it leaves no poisonous byproducts or buildups in the soil.

I made various loud hooting and bellowing sounds of delight and have used it since. You should read up on it on the internet before you use it, but it has extremely low toxicity to humans, plants, or animals. It actually acts as an iron enrichment to soil, the only drawback being that it does have a high PH, and if you use enough of it can raise the PH of your soil.

I use it through a hose mounted sprayer at night when the slimy swarm is out in force, and when I don't expect rain for the next 24 hours.

Last but not least, it is CHEAP.


regards,

John

[honeybunny]

we used to have an awful time with slugs in our garden, i don't know what it was with our garden but we had an (apparently infinite) number of big 'Jabba The Hut' type slugs! ours is a wildlife friendly garden so no chemicals allowed but we tried lots of stuff over the years, the likes of copper wire, crushed eggshells, sharp gravel ect didn't work at all! the only thinks that made a bit of an impact on them were beer traps (disgusting things to have to empty i know but they would be full to bursting after a couple of nights) & going out after nightfall with torch in hand to pick the buggers off. but still they came, they seemed unstoppable!....until a hedgehog wandered in one day and took up home in our garden...very very few slugs now if any! good ol' mammy nature sorted it out herself lol