Snails

Hi Lee,
you're absolutely right not to use pellets - they cause more slugs and snails by killing all the predators and the only people who benefit are the manufacturers!

Below I've pasted some great ideas that people have had on here before:

In the spring and summer I have daily slug hunts where I go around the garden with my chickens, picking up every pot and turning over corners of mulching fabric where pests love to hide.

I’m also very wedded to my slug prison where I lob them when I find the odd one or two, they can't escape as it’s surrounded by water, and I give them weeds to eat. I have noticed a difference in three years – I was overrun with the things when I started but there do seem to be less now – I used to find slugs eggs everywhere before I began to get the plot under control.

Also sow seedlings where pests can't get to them and grow them till they're strong and healthy before planting them out. Direct sowing is an open invitation to a slug buffet.
Sue

We had a sleep-over party for my young son, he had a tent with his pals and good ol' dad was sleeping in another tent.
Before they went to bed they were all given a torch and a plant pot and told the game was to try and pick as many snails as possible - and the winner would get an extra large party bag (so long as NO-ONE trod on any of the plants!!!!).
Result... hardly any snails in the garden (even now... many years later)!
Nicos

I have recycled copper pipe, hammered it flat and nailed it to the top edge of my raised beds - this should stop the snails and slugs getting into my veg as they don’t like copper.
Hawthornes

I’m very much in favour of nematodes - they are great for keel slugs (the pesky black ones that live underground). Well worth the price but you may need to reapply several times in a season.
glasshousevirgin

I'm lazy. I let the slugs and snails do all the work.
Lay down 3-4 plastic bags (old compost ones are ideal) flat on ground with the dark side closest to ground in a damp and shady place.
Every 2-3 days lift them, kill the collected slugs and snails and replace.
Time taken: about 3 minutes.
Slugs/snails killed at a time from 30-100 depending on weather and time of year.
Madasafish

Good hygiene helps - remove all old leaves and try to maintain a weed-free area where possible - this gives the slugs less options of somewhere to lay up during the day.
Sewer Rat
I'm going to try sowing salads in short guttering this year. Cut it down to 60cm (2’) lengths and sow some 'cut and come again' salads and put it in the coldframe until the plants are grown well enough to withstand minor attacks. Transplant to the garden. It’s a good way of keeping a rotation going too.
Birdie Wife

I use old 1 pint plastic milk bottles to make my beer traps, cut a little "door" hole for the slugs about 3/4 of the way up the side of the bottle, add some beer (ask your local pub for free slops – there’s no sense in wasting good ale!) screw on the lid (this will stop the rain from watering down the beer) and bury in the ground to the level of the slug door.
Lainey Lou

Try laying comfrey branches on the ground near your vulnerable crops. The slugs feed on the comfrey and leave your plants alone.
NSB

Protect small plants with old squash bottles with the bottom cut out - that's the only way I had half-decent lettuce last year!

Use grass cuttings which have started to dry out around your more susceptible seedlings – slugs don’t like the very dry conditions they suddenly find themselves crossing.
Kent Veg Plot

I have a 'tame' blackbird called Wendy (she comes into the kitchen if the scraps aren't forthcoming!) and she loves slugs. I've thrown them to her and she eats them with relish. This is why I would never use slug pellets.
Flummery

I grow many edible crops in pots, I mix up salt and Vaseline and paint a wide band around the pots, the slugs are unwilling to cross it and you only usually need to re-apply once or twice a year depending on the weather conditions.
Seasprout

By far the best thing I have done to tackle slugs and snails is to dig a small pond (3' x 2' x 2' deep). It is covered by stout mesh to prevent accidents but of a size to allow ingress and egress of toads and frogs.
Forget slug traps, employ slug eaters. Its great to see a big toad at home in the greenhouse daring any slugs, snails or beetles to come in. The plot with it is now so slug free that I am digging another on one of my other plots.
I make toad hotels out of bricks in the polytunnels and greenhouses and pile logs up about the pond as shelter.
Pigletwillie

A barrier of coffee grinds is good because the caffeine in the grinds dehydrates the slugs/snails' "foot", but they don't realise until they are halfway across, and turn back, by which time it's too late!
HeyWayne

My anti-slug routine is a combination of:
1) Encouraging frogs, slow worms and hedgehogs - always have a pond, a log pile and a bit of 'wild' ground on your plot.
2) Placing beer traps near tender young plants - slugs are attracted away from the plants by the smell of the beer. Value lager is very cheap and effective.
3) Planting a few extra plants just in case!
Paul Wagland

you could always try this:-

Foodgeeks.com: Recipe for Snails, Cretan Style, with Vinegar or Tomatoes

Haha Crichmond al let you keep that 1 as i'am just avin my t.....thanks tho

You can buy pellets that do not harm other animals. Growing success do some. You also don't get the nasty slimey mess when you use these as they encourage the slugs to go underground to die.

Snails tend to congregate under paving slabs, wood planks, etc. We used to leave some laying around and every day before leaving the lottie turn them over, collect the snails put them into a bucket and feed to the neighbouring chickens. Chickens and owner of chickens were more than happy.

The trouble with slug pellets is they're so easy, which means that many resort to them even when they know it's not a good idea. If you want to avoid them it really means using as many of the other methods as you can and being vigilant, no single non-pellet method is enough on it's own and for many this is simply too much trouble. Last year I watched a hedgehog die in agony after eating pellets on another plot, we tried to take it to a local vet, but they were all closed as it was late evening, eventually the PDSA agreed to take it, but it died en route. Very distressing, but sadly unless you can somehow keep hedgehogs confined to your own plot, which is obviously not possible, then they will probably succumb on someone else's. I hate to be so negative and would certainly never use pellets, but this is one of the few things which I dislike about allotments, so much wildlife and so few users who actually appreciate it enough to care for it, although I do think things are slowly changing and those who do not care are now in the minority.

Sorry, I don't normally go in for such depressing posts - I'll be fine in a mo

I'm very interested in the slug prison idea. Can you explain a bit more please!

Cheer up Bluemoon!!!
I have to admit last year for the first time ever I did resort one night to pellets. I had watched 8 melon plants disappear over 2 nights, just eaten completely, and was just so fed up.
The Boss thought I was insane crawling round the plot at drunk o'clock at night with head torch on, screaming like a banshee every time I found one of the litte buggers, and the chicks had a mega breakfast the next day, (before pellets obviously) I did the beer traps, I did copper pipes, I did every flippin thing imaginable, but with the weather last year it was just pest heaven.
I have promised myself I wont do it this year, as I know we have loads of wildlife to balance things out in a natural way, I shall be putting as many slug and snail deterrents in place as I can, I shall prowl my plot at irregular hours to catch them unawares, and hopefully the weather will be a bit kinder this year. Here's hoping.

Methocarb (in Agricultural slug pellets) is deadly poisonous to hedgehogs. Domestic pellets normally contain Metaldehyde, which could cause serious internal damage to a hedgehog. Last year I saw a dead hedgehog on an allotment which was blown up like a football, it was hideous. I don't know for sure if it was poisoned by slug pellets, but it seems likely.

If pellets are used in the garden, they should be used sparingly (not like a blue carpet - check the instructions. More isn't better) and placed under slightly raised stones where hedgehogs and other animals can’t reach them. This doesn't stop them eating freshly poisoned slugs of course.

I have to say I can never understand why people use slug pellets - most brands actually contain a chemical slug attractant (to encourage the slugs to approach them). On an allotment you'll just be pulling in the pests from every direction!

I really don't trust the claims of 'organic slug pellet' sellers either. A poison is a poison, however it is manufactured. Still just as deadly to hedgehogs, frogs etc. They tend to assume that if a hedgehog won't deliberately eat a pellet then the pellets are 'safe for wildlife' but of course if the pellet is wrapped inside a nice juicy slug then it's a different story.

I sympathise with BobLeponge's melon tale, but to my mind it would be far more heartbreaking to find a dead hedgehog or frog than some munched seedlings. It's simply not worth the risk, and none of us have the right to endanger wildlife for the sake of a hobby.

You're right about things changing Bluemoon. I hope it's not long now until these practices are banned outright.

Paul, the organic slug pellets are made from ferric phosphate, a naturally occuring compound. They put this compound onto a pasta type carrier and as i understand it the product works by stopping the slug feeding, it then dies of starvation. You don't get the slimy mess created and you don't have to remove dead slugs.

The environmental risk of the commercially available product for farmers (Ferramol) is incredibly low, with no risk management necessary as Ferramol "is not calssified as harmful to game, wild birds and animals" (from the Voluntary Initiative info on Ferramol). It also has no effect on non-target insects, or arthropods. The product available to home gardeners contains even less of the active ingredient than the commercial product.

The organic slug pellets (those specifically based on ferric phosphate, which are the growing success ones that i know of) are not in fact poisoning slugs, let alone other wildlife! even if a hedgehog were to eat a slug that had eaten a ferric phosphate pellet, it would have no effect on the hedgehog.

I hope this clarifies things as i don't like to see pest control products misconstrued!!

I can back up what Protea says about Ferramol, and just to add weight to the case for not using Metaldehyde based pellets, they don't just kill hedgehogs - I know of at least one instance locally where cattle have died as a result of metaldehyde ingestion - though to be fair it was in a spreader waiting to spread the following morning when the cattle tipped it over spilling approx 10kg of pellets which they procedded to eat.

That's an interesting post Protea, I'll do some research on ferramol, but the fact it's a 'natural' product doesn't mean it's not poisonous - hemlock and cyanide are natural but I wouldn't want to eat them!
Do you know how ferramol is tested and are the Voluntary Initiative on Ferramol an independent body?

Hi Jeannine,


The voluntary initiative is a programme of measures, agreed with Government, to minimise the environmental impacts of pesticides. there's more info on their website: Voluntary Initiative Web-Site

The specific information on Ferramol i got from the manufacturers website (Certis) but you have to register to get product info. I have found the relevant bits anc copied them below. Ferric phosphate is a natural soil component and a required metabolic nutrient for mamals. Interestingly it has in the past been added to bread! (i didn't know that!):

Ferramol: Mode of action and Enviromental Safety:
Ferramol is a stomach poison. It therefore works in a different way to metaldehyde which works by dehydration. Once the pellet has been ingested feeding ceases immediately and the slug or snail dies 3 – 6 days later. Unlike metaldehyde, as the mucus production is not affected, the slugs and snails are able to move away to die so there is often no dead slugs or snails to be seen in the treated area.

Ferramol is the first new product for many years to offer the grower an alternative mode of action which is totally target specific for controlling slugs and snails. Under normal conditions, ferric phosphate and its breakdown products – iron and phosphorus will not have toxic or other adverse effects in the environment. Ferric phosphate is a stable, non-volatile solid that does not readily dissolve in water. This property minimizes ferric phosphate’s dispersal beyond where it is applied. It is highly unlikely that ferric phosphate or its breakdown products will persist or become highly concentrated in the environment. When Ferramol is applied as a molluscicide, the amount of additional iron and phosphorus added to the soil is negligible compared to the amount of iron (0.5 – 5%) and phosphorus (0.01 – 0.20%) already present in soil. In addition, ferric phosphate and its breakdown products are a source of nutrients utilized by all plants for energy production and growth.

Ferramol: Environmental Effects:
Ferramol has a low impact on the environment. Ferric phosphate, the active ingredient within Ferramol, has extremely low mammalian toxicity. It is virtually harmless to higher animals (LD50 rats, oral >5000 mg/kg). Carabid beetles, earthworms, bees, birds and other beneficial organisms are not affected. When it biodegrades it releases iron and phosphorus into the soil for plant uptake. Although there is no aquatic toxicity from Ferramol as a matter of good agronomic practice it is better to avoid its use around water
courses.

Ferramol advantages over conventional pellet products:
¨ Ferric phosphate is a naturally occurring soil component
¨ Is a virtually insoluble, stable substance
¨ Is an essential metabolic nutrient for animals and plants
¨ Low toxicity to ground and rove beetles which help to control slugs
¨ Low toxicity to pets
¨ Low toxicity to wildlife such as hedgehogs and birds
¨ Low toxicity to worms (NB. insecticidal properties of methiocarb are harmful)
¨ No unsightly slugs/snails after treatment (unlike metaldehyde that distrupts mucus production)
¨ Breakdown ingredients are innocuous and provide nutrients for the plants
¨ Low active ingredient levels within baits.(see table below)
¨ Protected and outdoor use in ornamentals
¨ Flexible repeat applications
¨ No harvest interval – although early use is preferred
¨ Efficacy as good as or better than other products on the market
¨ Has a nil re-entry interval
¨ Mode of action as a stomach poison, not dehydration. Therefore no slug recovery following consumption of the pellet.
¨ Has been used in food as a nutrient supplement (e.g. some breads)


bit long winded i know, but i hope this clarifies it a bit for you Jeannine.

edited: sorry, forgot to add Certis' website molluscacide page for you: Base :: Molluscicides :: 771
to view product info you have to register