slug&cabbage
Colin Myram exonerated gardeners of wrongdoing in their use of metaldehyde slug pellets, on Radio 4 Farming Today.
Gardeners’ use of metaldehyde slug pellets is not a concern because:
- gardens are not usually under-drained, so there is no drainage system taking water draining from gardens directly to aquifers
- gardeners tend to use slug pellets in the spring. The problem with metaldehyde in water is in the autumn
Metaldehyde is a selective pesticide used by gardeners to control slugs and snails. The slug pellets are usually blue coloured.
Some water companies have recently been finding traces of metaldehyde in the raw water they abstract from rivers or reservoirs and treat to produce drinking water. These traces are at levels above the European and UK standards set for drinking water. But the Health Protection Agency has confirmed that at the maximum level of metaldehyde detected in treated drinking water, the intake from drinking water would be well below the acceptable daily intake and therefore there would be no reason to expect adverse effects.
5inch-slug
A positive approach to slug control in the vegetable garden will involve several techniques, including metaldehyde slug pellets which are helpful in the spring when new plants are at risk from slugs.
The Grey Field Slug-
- is the most active surface slug
- prefers green material
- is 3.5 – 5cm long
- moves 4 – 5 meters per night
- is active from 0.8 to 20 degrees C
slime-trail
The grey field slug is a serious pest in the vegetable garden.
Comments Off
5 tips for combating slugs in the garden:
Monitor – check for slugs in the garden every day
shiny-slug
Cultivate – aggressive cultivation, like digging or rotovating the garden soil, kills slugs & blocks their movements
fork
Prepare good seedbed - a fine, well consolidated seedbed is not a good home for slugs
firm-soil-down
Sow seeds deeper – sowing at 4cm rather than 2 or 3cm makes it harder for slugs to attack germinating vegetable plants
black-slug-on-cabbage
Put out slug traps to catch the slugs & pick them off when seen
cabbage&slug-trap
Comments Off
Slugs are causing damage to the young parsnips. The White Gem parsnips planted in mid-June were growing well.
young-parsnip-plant
Last night one was severely damaged.
slug-damaged-parsnip
shiny-slug
Comments Off
This very long slug posed along side a ruler this morning – and almost
reached 6 inches!
6-inch-slug
The warm, humid weather is ideal for slugs and there is plenty of food
for them in the vegetable garden.
cabbage&slug-trap
Comments Off
This is a bad year for slugs on strawberries.
slug-damage-on-strawberry
The slug population has exploded in the ideal conditions provided by the wet conditions last summer & this spring.
To reduce slug attacks on strawberries:
* surround the strawberry row with oyster grit, or a similar medium,
which the slugs do not like to cross.
* place ’slug pubs’ amongst the rows. These are small containers of
beer which the slugs drop in to.
* leave grapefruit or orange skins in the row, which will attract
slugs, & pick the slugs out every day & destroy.
* purchase a pyramid slug trap
* elevate the strawberry plants on poles which the slugs cannot
climb – see table top strawberries.
* click the link for more info on slug control
slug-eaten-strawberry
Slugs can devastate the strawberry crop, so it is worth taking time to
control the slugs, using a number of different methods.
Slugs love this wet weather. In the evening, all shapes and sizes of slugs appear in the vegetable garden.
They are all colours – white, black, striped and so on.
black-slug-on-cabbage
This large black slug was busy shredding a cabbage leaf.
slug-on-cabbage
Slugs belong to the phylum of molluscs, in the class Gastropoda, which
are soft-bodied invertebrate animals.
Slugs are related to snails, but do not have a shell. All slugs have a
protective coat of slime and a distinctive head with protruding
tentacles, which have eyes at the end. The tentacles are used to smell
and locate food. Slugs eat plants so they are a great pest in the
vegetable garden; some species are carnivorous and eat other slugs,
snails, and earthworms.
Slugs need moist conditions, which is why they multiply in the wet season.
Comments Off
Watch out for slugs, and control them in the vegetable garden!
* Slugs eat young seedlings and will completely destroy your plans.
* Slugs like warm, moist conditions. So this spring has been perfect
for them.
* Assume you will have slugs and be prepared.
a-slug
*Keep the vegetable garden tidy.
* Slugs will make camp under anything:- weeds, old leaves &
branches, stones & plant pots, soil clods.
* So remove all potential hideouts.
* Keep the soil raked, so that it is small crumbs and no clods.
Think biological control:
* hedgehogs will fight the battle for you
* guinea fowl & other birds help
* dry, fine dusty material sticks to the slug & turns them away. Put
a ring of soot around the seedlings
* rosemary needles deter slugs
* small cups of beer dropped into the ground act as traps
If all else fails invest in some slug pellets to control slugs in the garden.
