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#1
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Slugs natural food
I have been wondering why it is that we never seem to find any weeds
being chewed by slugs. I know that a lot of slugs have a natural diet of dead and decaying plant matter, but you'd think that things like nice young chickweed would be nice for them. David @ the showery end of Swansea Bay |
#2
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Slugs natural food
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:37:42 +0100, David Hill
wrote: I have been wondering why it is that we never seem to find any weeds being chewed by slugs. I know that a lot of slugs have a natural diet of dead and decaying plant matter, but you'd think that things like nice young chickweed would be nice for them. David @ the showery end of Swansea Bay But that would be too 'healthy'... JonH |
#3
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Slugs natural food
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:37:42 +0100, David Hill
wrote: I have been wondering why it is that we never seem to find any weeds being chewed by slugs. It is probably because weeds and slugs have evolved in a balanced relationship. Our garden plants are recent and are not part of the balance with slugs. Steve -- Neural Network Software. http://www.npsl1.com EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com |
#4
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Slugs natural food
David Hill wrote in news:a5anjcF7piU3
@mid.individual.net: I have been wondering why it is that we never seem to find any weeds being chewed by slugs. I know that a lot of slugs have a natural diet of dead and decaying plant matter, but you'd think that things like nice young chickweed would be nice for them. David @ the showery end of Swansea Bay I always assumed that is one of the reasons why weeds survive so well. I never see any insect damage on weeds either. Also rabbits prefer my friends brassiccas rather than dandelions on his allotment. Some people say that a weed is just a flower in the wrong place. Could be true I suppose. I have my doubts. I have probably the biggest and varied collection on this planet :-( Well, it seems that way. Baz |
#5
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Slugs natural food
On 01/07/2012 12:39, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:37:42 +0100, David Hill wrote: I have been wondering why it is that we never seem to find any weeds being chewed by slugs. It is probably because weeds and slugs have evolved in a balanced relationship. Our garden plants are recent and are not part of the balance with slugs. Steve Also, we expect our plants to be far superior and productive compared to weeds, so they are generally grown in better conditions than weeds, making them more succulent and inviting. -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#6
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Slugs natural food
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:12:39 +0100, Spider wrote:
Also, we expect our plants to be far superior and productive compared to weeds, so they are generally grown in better conditions than weeds, making them more succulent and inviting. Are you implying that my hostas and dahlias, which are entirely un-nibbled, have been grown in worse conditions than weeds in order to make them less succulent and inviting? I would challenge you to pistols at dawn but you would have a minimum advantage of 2:1 Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! |
#7
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Slugs natural food
On 01/07/2012 15:26, Jake wrote:
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:12:39 +0100, wrote: Also, we expect our plants to be far superior and productive compared to weeds, so they are generally grown in better conditions than weeds, making them more succulent and inviting. Are you implying that my hostas and dahlias, which are entirely un-nibbled, have been grown in worse conditions than weeds in order to make them less succulent and inviting? Yup!! Must be so. :~)) Of course slug treatments would make them less inviting, however succulent. I would challenge you to pistols at dawn but you would have a minimum advantage of 2:1 Oh, easily, and I could lasso you with my web. Bet you'd look dead cute wrapped in silk :~)). Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#8
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Slugs natural food
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:12:21 +0100, Spider wrote:
Of course slug treatments would make them less inviting, however succulent. The only slug treatments here are provided by the occasional nocturnal expedition with bucket of salty water to locate those not already dealt with by the healthy resident population of hedgehogs, frogs and toads. I've noticed blackbirds flying off with the odd slug too! Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! |
#9
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Slugs natural food
On 01/07/2012 19:16, Jake wrote:
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:12:21 +0100, wrote: Of course slug treatments would make them less inviting, however succulent. The only slug treatments here are provided by the occasional nocturnal expedition with bucket of salty water to locate those not already dealt with by the healthy resident population of hedgehogs, frogs and toads. I've noticed blackbirds flying off with the odd slug too! Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! I reckon that's enough to deter any slug from eating your succulent leaves. I could *almost* feel sorry for your poor gastropods. What do you do with your bucket of salt and snails? I can't imagine you'd put them on the compost heap ... far too unhealthy for your army of mollusc-munchers. Sewer, perhaps? -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#10
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Slugs natural food
On Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:07:08 +0100, Spider wrote:
What do you do with your bucket of salt and snails? I can't imagine you'd put them on the compost heap ... far too unhealthy for your army of mollusc-munchers. Sewer, perhaps? Makes a nice, if a little salty, soup. It usually gets tipped into the "inspection chamber" that serves the downstairs loo to avoid possibility of shells getting caught or not flushing away inside. I only empty it about every 5-6 weeks as, apart from any shells, the rest seems to condense itself into a nice jelly in the bottom of the little bucket. Occasionally I go out a bit earlier and find the odd sluglet which I simply chop in two with scissors and leave on the path. Then later on I can collect half-a-dozen slugs from around each half. Cannibals! Snails don't seem to do this. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! |
#11
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Slugs natural food
Occasionally I go out a bit earlier and find the odd sluglet which I simply chop in two with scissors and leave on the path. Then later on I can collect half-a-dozen slugs from around each half. Cannibals! Snails don't seem to do this. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! Scissors? I normal get them between thumb and forefinger and just flick them in half David @ the very wet end of Swansea Bay |
#12
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Slugs natural food
On 02/07/2012 16:11, Jake wrote:
On Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:07:08 +0100, wrote: What do you do with your bucket of salt and snails? I can't imagine you'd put them on the compost heap ... far too unhealthy for your army of mollusc-munchers. Sewer, perhaps? Makes a nice, if a little salty, soup. It usually gets tipped into the "inspection chamber" that serves the downstairs loo to avoid possibility of shells getting caught or not flushing away inside. I only empty it about every 5-6 weeks as, apart from any shells, the rest seems to condense itself into a nice jelly in the bottom of the little bucket. Occasionally I go out a bit earlier and find the odd sluglet which I simply chop in two with scissors and leave on the path. Then later on I can collect half-a-dozen slugs from around each half. Cannibals! Snails don't seem to do this. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! You may keep the soup for yourself. Yuk! That bucket must reek after 5-6 wks. Double yuk!! I've also seen slugs chomping merrily on their dead cousins. Although snails don't appear to do it, slugs most certainly tuck into dead snails with relish (No, I don't put out ketchup for them!). -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#13
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Slugs natural food
On Mon, 02 Jul 2012 18:19:11 +0100, Spider wrote:
That bucket must reek after 5-6 wks. Double yuk!! Surprisingly, not at all apart from an aroma of salty water. I've also seen slugs chomping merrily on their dead cousins. Although snails don't appear to do it, slugs most certainly tuck into dead snails with relish (No, I don't put out ketchup for them!). It can be fun if a hedgehog just beats me to the gathering. Hogs are noisy eaters but they'll vacuum up half-a-dozen sluggies in seconds. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay. We don't yet have a "dah dah dah dah dee dee deeee" theme tune but we're working on it. Can't tell astilbe from aranthus But I can from an acanthus! |
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