"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:tjvco.103743$Vv6.62517@hurricane...
I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing
them out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood
cats) can get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get
the feeling I'm going to need another application within a week or two,
but I don't want to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog
is going to eat them.
Do not use metaldehyde pellets unless you want hedgehogs to disappear for
ever. They eat the dying slugs, and then die themselves.

Bob Hobden wrote:
Just checked with Nick and he says he did 2 lots of nematodes onthe
potatoes, and although we did get some slug damage, it's nothing like they
were before we discovered nemotoding.
Besides that they didn't work for me the small 3 treatment pack for 18 weeks
protection is about ?29.00, that is an awful lot of organic potatoes in a
supermarket. Without the nematodes would you have thrown away ?29.00 worth
of potatoes, do you even grow ?29.00 worth of potatoes? Is it anywhere near
cost effective?

I suspect, yes, we've grown over 29 pounds worth of potatoes each year. But
the nematodes aren't just on the potatoes. We've definitely had over 29
pounds worth of strawberries.

But since we don't do this as a money-saving exercise, I don't really see
that that has any relevance. Your milage, obviously, does vary.

100 sqm coverage costs ~20 pound a time, he says he's not used as much as he
should have as he just gives a light covering instead of a proper soaking.
But our slugs, although there and showing some damage, are a lot less
destructive than on other allotments. Apparently.

This year he says he did 2 rather than 3, and previous years he's done 1.

Anyhow.

Christina Websell wrote:
Do not use metaldehyde pellets unless you want hedgehogs to disappear for
ever. They eat the dying slugs, and then die themselves.

I've noticed a significant increase in hedgehogs this year. I wonder if
it's due to the current down-in-popularity (ime) of slug pellets.

wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:
Do not use metaldehyde pellets unless you want hedgehogs to disappear for
ever. They eat the dying slugs, and then die themselves.

I've noticed a significant increase in hedgehogs this year. I wonder if
it's due to the current down-in-popularity (ime) of slug pellets.

There are slug pellets that can be used that do not harm hedgehogs, we
should all do our best to never use metaldehyde pellets and encourage others
to do the same. They should become illegal, IMO.

On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:23:28 +0100 (BST), wrote:

In article ,
mogga wrote:
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:59:37 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme
wrote:

I have seen snails climbing up the house walls. It's a mystery what
they are looking for.

Mortar! They've nibbled it out of a course of bricks on a friend's
porch.

In areas with a lot of rain, they might be teredo :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


They are def just chrunchy snails...

--
http://www.bra-and-pants.com
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

Only joined the site today. Hi everybody.

It was 14 years ago when I first used slug pellets and I have never used them since.

My little Jack Russell liked them rather too much and found a patch which hadn't been properly spread. I only realised what had happened when he ended up on a drip at the vets that night after a series of very bad fits. Thankfully he was also sick and was apparently fine after a good flushing out.

I then tried liquid slug treatment. I can't remember which one. Somehow it was knocked off the top shelf of the garage when the door was slammed and he managed to bite through the plastic bottle. Fortunately he only swallowed a wee bit and was sick soon afterwards, so survived again.

Sadly, he died a few years later aged 9 of kidney disease (very young for a Jack Russell).

I am now into my fourth year of using nematodes. I only treat my veg plot using a 40 sq. metre pack delivered in 3 lots at six week intervals from the end of March. Cost just over £24 for the 3 treatments from Gardening Naturally. Fruit and Vegetable Protection With Gardening Naturally

They only kill slugs and not snails. Now it's the dastardly caterpillars and other critters I have to do battle with.

Over & out for now
Helen, Isle of Man