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Category: Gardening - Plant Doctor - Slugs and Snails
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Slugs
and snails
Symptoms
Irregular holes are eaten from the middle of leaves.
Harm
Young plants and seedlings can be eaten to nothing. Sumptuous leaf
plants like hostas can be left patchy, ugly and mauled.
Treatment
Organic - these fiends feast at night so you can go out and pick
them off those plants most under attack. If you stew the ones you
have caught in water and then pour the resulting mixture around
vulnerable plants it said to be a good deterrent. A ring of material
that is uncomfortable to cross such as sharp grit or broken egg
shells can also work. Plants in pots can be protected by greasing
the rim with Vaseline and salt.
Biological – You can buy nematodes (microscopic creatures)
which aggressively search out and attack slugs. They enter the slugs
body through a hole behind their heads. Once inside they release
a bacteria which stops the slug eating. The nematodes then start
to reproduce inside and within 7-10 days the slug is dead. The nematodes
continue to reproduce as the body breaks down. This new population
enters the soil and searches out new slugs to attack. This is a
natural, non-toxic product that is safe for both users and wildlife.
The nematodes stay active for 6 weeks so a single dose protects
plants when they are emerging in the spring and are most vulnerable.
Nematodes can only be used in spring and summer when the soil is
warm.
Chemical - scatter slug pellets thinly around vulnerable
plants. Re-apply as necessary.
ps feeding within hours and will die a few days later.
Source:
Crocus
- The leading online garden centre
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