I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting out the garden, i have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any slug pellets etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get rid of them all as eaten a lot of my plants.

Any help would be most appritiated.

slug pellets: they work and it's just a lot of tiresome nonsense from tree
huggers that advises against them. Have a one off blitz if you don't want to
use them long term. I was sweeping up hundreds when I moved into my last
house and did this.



"scoobyandy" wrote in message
...

I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting out the garden, i
have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any slug pellets
etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get rid of them all as
eaten a lot of my plants.

Any help would be most appritiated.


--
scoobyandy

"scoobyandy" wrote in message
...

I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting out the garden, i
have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any slug pellets
etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get rid of them all as
eaten a lot of my plants.

Any help would be most appritiated.

There are two types of slug killers: toxic and non-toxic. Paghat has a
great page on the subject at her site. I would recommend that you get the
type that has iron phosphate as the active ingredient. It is non-toxic and
works better than the kind with metaldehyde. That seems like a win-win
situation to me and has nothing to do with being a "tree hugger." I'm too
cheap to buy chemicals that don't work but have a high toxicity. Once you
start killing off a wide range of animals in your environment, you just
create more problems and have to spend more time and money on fixing them.

In addition to the iron phosphate slug killers, you can use a combination of
other methods. Go out at night with a flashlight and pick them off. Put
our small containers of beer to attract them. They will crawl into the
container and drown. You can put out a board on top of some bricks to give
them shelter. Go out during the day, remove the board and collect the
slugs. Keep mulch away from plants that slugs like. Some people use broken
egg shells or sharp sand around plants to discourage the slugs. Put in a
water feature and attract toads and frogs that eat slugs. Attract birds
that eat slugs.

In article ws.net,
"Oxymel of Squill" wrote:

slug pellets: they work and it's just a lot of tiresome nonsense from tree
huggers that advises against them. Have a one off blitz if you don't want to
use them long term. I was sweeping up hundreds when I moved into my last
house and did this.



"scoobyandy" wrote in message
...

I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting out the garden, i
have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any slug pellets
etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get rid of them all as
eaten a lot of my plants.

Any help would be most appritiated.



You don't say what you regard as "slug pellets." If you mean a product
like Sluggo, its only active ingredient is iron phosphate, which causes
mulloscs to slime themselves to death, but it is harmless to all mammals,
insects, & birds. For plants, it functions as a fertilizer, is safe even
around food crops, works even if it gets rained on, plus iron phosphate is
the only slug bait that has any really noticeable effect on slugs.

If you mean ANY other slug bait (such as contain Metaldehyde, Methiocarb
or Carbaryl) these have been fatal to dogs & other pets, are injurious to
beneficial insects, birds, & wildlife, & are rightly illegal to use near
commercial crops because harmful to human life too. Plus they're close to
useless; they work a tiny bit until getting wet (from irrigating, dew, or
rainfall). So you can use harmless iron phosphate & get an actual result,
or you can use any other kind of slug bait which is not safe & has poor
results.
Long version:
http://www.paghat.com/slugcontrol.html

(And far from this being the "tiresome nonsense of tree huggers" this is
simply the way things are -- most slug bait products are neither safe nor
effective, iron phosphate is the sole exception. And one does wonder about
the mentality of any purported gardener who thinks a regard for Nature or
safety in the garden is nothing but tiresome tree-hugging. Sounds like a
brainwashed dupe for the chemical industry who just automatically believes
if it's a chemical, it's "safe as table salt" as has often been said
propogandistically of products that would kill you dead if used as table
salt.)

-paghat the ratgirl
--
Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he
http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson

Vox Humana wrote:
"scoobyandy" wrote in message
...

I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting out the
garden, i have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any
slug pellets etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get
rid of them all as eaten a lot of my plants.

Any help would be most appritiated.

Ducks, they love to eat slugs.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

"scoobyandy" wrote in message
...

I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting out the
garden, i have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any
slug pellets etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get
rid of them all as eaten a lot of my plants.


Slug traps that use beer as bait won't harm pets, although you may trap some
teenagers......

use coco bean shells.
"paghat" wrote in message
news In article
ws.net,
"Oxymel of Squill" wrote:

slug pellets: they work and it's just a lot of tiresome
nonsense from tree
huggers that advises against them. Have a one off blitz if
you don't want to
use them long term. I was sweeping up hundreds when I
moved into my last
house and did this.



"scoobyandy" wrote
in message
...

I have just moved in to a new property and am sorting
out the garden, i
have a major problem with slugs, I dont want to use any
slug pellets
etc as have pets, and just want a natural way to get rid
of them all as
eaten a lot of my plants.

Any help would be most appritiated.



You don't say what you regard as "slug pellets." If you mean
a product
like Sluggo, its only active ingredient is iron phosphate,
which causes
mulloscs to slime themselves to death, but it is harmless to
all mammals,
insects, & birds. For plants, it functions as a fertilizer,
is safe even
around food crops, works even if it gets rained on, plus
iron phosphate is
the only slug bait that has any really noticeable effect on
slugs.

If you mean ANY other slug bait (such as contain
Metaldehyde, Methiocarb
or Carbaryl) these have been fatal to dogs & other pets, are
injurious to
beneficial insects, birds, & wildlife, & are rightly illegal
to use near
commercial crops because harmful to human life too. Plus
they're close to
useless; they work a tiny bit until getting wet (from
irrigating, dew, or
rainfall). So you can use harmless iron phosphate & get an
actual result,
or you can use any other kind of slug bait which is not safe
& has poor
results.
Long version:
http://www.paghat.com/slugcontrol.html

(And far from this being the "tiresome nonsense of tree
huggers" this is
simply the way things are -- most slug bait products are
neither safe nor
effective, iron phosphate is the sole exception. And one
does wonder about
the mentality of any purported gardener who thinks a regard
for Nature or
safety in the garden is nothing but tiresome tree-hugging.
Sounds like a
brainwashed dupe for the chemical industry who just
automatically believes
if it's a chemical, it's "safe as table salt" as has often
been said
propogandistically of products that would kill you dead if
used as table
salt.)

-paghat the ratgirl
--
Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he
http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been
hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas
Jefferson