I would never use these again- they are bad and can be a total con.

I have ordered 5 packets this year and they have all contained no live nematodes- they are all dead. ( i am a biologist working with parasites and have used all of the correct proceedures). I suspect that they were dead for some time- as when you try to extract certain compunds from the nematodes they are highly degraded- indicating old tissue- and not fresh as expected.

If the nematodes are alive they will of course work- but even so, this is not a good way to control numbers of slugs- it is just the same as any ' quick fix' method- and if you are going to pay £10 plus for a box you want it to work very well.

There is no way for most people to check if the nematodes are alive or not- you take it on trust- I would not do this ever again- as trust is often abused. It could simply be down to the company being too big to check their proceedures properly, bad storage, bad packaging, bad delivery etc.

The most effective control is a mixed strategy- collecting, removing breeding locations and repelling. Quick fixes rarely work.