By far the worst pests to the vegetable grower is the slug & the snail, it doesn’t matter what you grow or where you grow it the slug is waiting to devour the crop before you do. They are not fussy eaters but they do prefer young seedlings. Below are some remedies for slug & snail prevention.
- A container half buried in the ground and half filled with beer. The slug is lured by the scent & tumbles to its death .
- Self adhesive copper tape around pots & planters deters the slug & snail & gives them a small electric shock when attempting to cross it.
- Eggs shells is an old favorite. to put around your vulnerable plants.
- Grit & gravel – the finely crushed horticultural grit makes a good barrier as it has sharp edges.
- Nut shells – the sharp edges make good barriers- around vulnerable plants.
- You can also trap them under grapefruit or orange skins the slug likes to hide away from predatory birds in the day time.
- Slug/snail pellets have had a bad press the theory being that the poisoned slugs will be eaten by birds, frogs, & other helpful creatures who feed upon slugs/snails & poison them in turn. The other concern is they might be eaten directly by pets. The pellets if used should be scattered thinly over an area not just dumped in piles. Piling them up is counter productive as they contain an attractant & so the slug will find each pellet. The pellets contain a repellent to discourage animals from eating them & the blue color repels birds as well.
Blog by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)
