Hi Tiny Gardener here…
Today I want to talk about Slugs and Snails. I have come to realise as a novice gardener that most of my time is taken up with fending off pests that are insistent on eating and destroying every last leaf of my vegetable plants. I have a small plot as you well know, and have taken steps to deter my cat from disturbing the newly planted crops. However under the cover of darkness, a new pest has been on the rampage through my veg plot!
Further action was desperately needed so I began trialling the many slug repellent methods out there.
Here are my results:
Egg-shells
This was one of the first ones I tried. We are a huge fan of a boiled egg or two in this household and so there are always plenty of eggshells on hand ready to compost so I crushed up a few shells and sprinkled them around the base of the bean plants. These were definitely one of the first plants to suffer from a cheeky munch or two. This was quite effective and did seem to stop them for a while – until they figured out a new way of getting to the plants.
Beer Traps
These I have used in the past and are quite successful if you keep on top of them. I washed out a couple of yoghurt pots and set them into the compost, filled them with some beer (any variety will do – they’re not fussy) and keep topping them up when they dry out. These work if you have a covered area over your plants but are a little useless if out in the open as we get quite a lot of rain in Cornwall and they get filled up with rain water very quickly. I tend to only use beer traps when I have to as it’s better to relocate and deter the slugs rather than getting rid of them altogether as they are quite a vital part of the eco-system.
When I set the beer traps I had some success and was catching quite a few – however I have since read that you must make sure you place the traps at the edges of your raised bed (mine were in between the plants). Even though the slugs were ending up in there they were having a good old munch on the plants on the way to the beer. This I have since rectified and placed them around the edges instead.
Organic Wool Pellets
These are small pellets made of wool and natural materials that the slugs don’t like to crawl over as it provides an uncomfortable surface for them – therefore providing a barrier between them and your young plants. These seem to work well, and kept the slugs at bay for quite a few days but it became quite expensive. If you leave any gap between the plant and the soil around your plant they find their way in and eat away happily.
Slug Hideouts
This one was my favourite – just for the pure cute factor. You have to create a cool dark environment for the slugs to go and hideout during the day and then you can scoop them all up and relocate them in the morning. This seemed quite a sweet thing to do and definitely had the least impact on the slugs. I had two different methods on the go – I’d seen someone using upturned terracotta pots as one idea – whereby the slugs find their way to the hole at the top and then crawl inside for their daytime naps. The other method is using up the skins of your breakfast grapefruits, by propping up one edge so they can crawl inside. The first time I tried this one I caught two in the space of an hour of it being there!
Removing Slug Obstacles
Ok, so this one is a bit annoying. I made some really good bamboo trellis’ to cover my plants in order to keep my cat from digging up the soil and leaving me little presents. Whilst they have 100% kept the cat off my plants – so big win there. I have read online that many people who have made these too, ended up having to remove them as the slugs were using them as smooth surfaces to slide their way over to your plants and gain access to the leaves themselves. This would make absolute sense as to how they managed to get to my bean plants as I had egg shells and wool pellets all over the soil on that bed. I have only just recently discovered this theory and I’m not sure I’m ready to remove them yet but I thought it was worth mentioning as these little beasts are very intuitive that’s for sure.
Slug Hunt
This one definitely works and is somewhat satisfying as by catching them in the act or on their slimy way to your veg patch you can avoid the nightly feeding frenzy on your plants. The best time to do this it at dusk – especially if it is a rainy evening. They will be out in force. I spent 1o minutes out there the other night and managed to catch 8 slugs! I scooped them up and relocated them to the far side of my back garden. Well away from my veg patch.
To be honest the most successful method I would have to say is the beer traps. However I think combining that with a good old slug hunt every couple of days and popping a couple of grapefruits in amongst your veggies all have benefits in keeping the slugs at bay. I didn’t really have much success with the wool pellets and egg shells alone but perhaps they were all helping to keep the slugs away from the plants. All in all I am continuing to develop different methods of keeping the slugs from eating my plants. I am determined to grow a successful tiny garden and have learnt quite a lot so far. I’ll keep you posted.