Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi
I'f you're new to growing potatoes in pots, as well as having a fertle ( I do like that word!) around for the potatoes, have one too for slugs. They love bags, I've been earthing up today and lost count of how many I've found, although do remember finding 23 in and on one of them!!
As well as keeping them off your potatoes, the bags are obviously a good hang-out place for slugs, look especially on the stem and down the sides between bag and compost.
After all this rain, they are out in force, everywhere! had a fine slug day yesterday, and after collecting 17 from my greenhouse, found a whole new replacement crew in there as well.
Sue

Hi Sue

thanks for the advice - I'm growing pots in black sacks & will be fertling for them beasties this morning! I'll keep you posted on how many I find - the blackbirds & thrushes are going to love me today; lotsa protein!

Todays task is......to use the word fertle in conversation. Great word. So descriptive.

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Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful..William Morris

They do like a bag!

The good thing is that the type of slug you find on and around the bags are interested in the foliage rather than the bits we want to eat. Clearly they can cause problems if they eat all the tops, but they are usually manageable. I had much worse problems with ground-level slugs when I briefly grew potatoes in the ground.

You are so right! I went to check after reading your post.

I just found about 12, sat there, all warm between the bag and the compost...

Cheeky beggars.

Found rather a lot of slaters too. They don't do any harm do they?



C

Slaters! I haven't heard that word for ages!

I'm from West Lothian originally but I moved to Preston about 8 years ago, here everyone seems to call them boring old woodlice.

I don't think they do any harm, just like living in dark moist places.

LOL! I never would think to call them woodlice.. in fact had never even thought about them being the same thing!

C

Some people think woodlice harm plants but I think mainly they eat up old debris - I can spare them that!

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

Cutecumber
I seemed to have all sorts, huge granddaddy ones, black ones, creamy tiny ones, brown ones - however they've all gone down to the chickens, if some of them eat greenery, that's a few less making for my french beans!
My best sight today was finding them on the OUTSIDE of the enviromesh, they couldn't get in - great...
Sue

Mmmm hubby has a job tommorrow then, checking potato bags for slugs!! URRgghhhhh can't stand the things, make me shudder. Thanks for the tip

I checked everywhere at the weekend for slugs after reading this post - the birds had a bit of a feast yesterday evening!! But I'd lost half my tiny lettuce and carrots in tubs to the b****rs so yesterday invested in some of that sticky copper tape stuff. Fingers crossed I still have the remains of my lettuce when I get home tonight! And Sue, you were right, they loved my potato containers for hiding in.