Lawn Slug Invasion

[oddoneout]

According to one site I read recently that seems to be cruel and unusual punishment for slugs, though how the authors knew that I can't imagine. Seemed to think it was worse than using salt.

I think the idea is that the caffeine is neuorotoxic(as it is for humans in quantity) and produces a violent reaction that leads to death. Whether that is worse than substances that dehydrate the molluscs (metaldehyde and salt) is questionable in my view, however if killing slugs is the aim then there are a number of factors to consider, not least is collateral damage, which is why metaldehyde was withdrawn.
Interestingly I've just come across a suggestion that the ferric phosphate pellets being marketed as metaldehyde replacement may not be as safe as is claimed. In order to be effective they contain an ingredient that makes the iron bio-available which has implications for toxicity to other creatures.

[french frank]

No more lettuce, no more slug pellets. Finished, basta.

I think it's the blue pellets that are problematic. You can get organic pale green ones (Doff?) and some sort of repellent which you pour round the plants and which make it hard for slugs and snails to cross.

[groovydavidii]

“Saucers of beer! At least they'll perish happy.” – Yes, FF but some slugs must’ve taken the ‘no alcohol temperance’ pledge and committed their suicide drowning in the small wildlife pond, quite unpleasant netting them out, meanwhile have tried the nematode approach, too early to assess results.

[oddoneout]

I shall tell you my slug pellet story, whether you like it or not.

About 20 years ago I used to grow lettuce. Of course slugs were a problem, so I used pellets -- I'm not sure which type they were, I remember they were bright blue. They were effective.

One May day, sunny May day, I had a lunch party at my house. A real London bohemian bourgeois party, full of rich elegant witty intelligent sexy people making sparking conversation in the shade, sipping their drinks in the garden and crying "Oh how beautiful!" I was working the room, playing mine host. It was all quintessentially Surrey. I exaggerate not, actually -- that's the way it was.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, totally unexpectedly, I heard an enormous piercing scream from a lady who had found her way to the pond.

I ran to the scene, not knowing what to expect.

On the pond, floating on the water, were three inflated dead frogs.

Presumably they'd eaten some slug pellet and kicked the bucket.

Anyway, that was that. No more lettuce, no more slug pellets. Finished, basta.

They might have died of other causes, there are diseases that kill frogs. Many years ago I had frogs in both the main garden pond and a belfast sink water garden on the patio succumb to redleg, and they inflated and floated to the surface after death.While it confirmed that I had large populations in both places(12 in the sink at one stage) that was not the way I would have chosen to find out.

[oddoneout]

“Saucers of beer! At least they'll perish happy.” – Yes, FF but some slugs must’ve taken the ‘no alcohol temperance’ pledge and committed their suicide drowning in the small wildlife pond, quite unpleasant netting them out, meanwhile have tried the nematode approach, too early to assess results.

A family member was puzzled why previously successful saucers of beer didn't seem to be doing the job - and discovered that the latest can of brew had been a non-alcoholic one...

[Old Grumpy]

Snapdragons the answer? Not so good in the middle if the lawn though!

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/garden/1951696/how-to-deter-slugs-from-garden-for-good

[vinteuil]

... an excellent - and to my ears authoritative - programme on slugs and what works if you wish to deter them -

Radio 4 : Thursday 26 September, 12:32pm - Sliced Bread, on slug repellents.

Some serious science and practical tips...

.

[oddoneout]

Snapdragons the answer? Not so good in the middle if the lawn though!

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/garden/1951696/how-to-deter-slugs-from-garden-for-good

Where do they get these ideas from? When I was trying to find any sort of evidence for the suggestion there were several other newspapers posting the same article online - reflection of how few independents there are left now?
I agree that slugs don't go for antirrhinum seedlings, as proved by the two full seed trays sitting out on my patio, but on the other hand those trays have done nothing to protect the two small dahlias, hosta seedlings, and violet cuttings in a tray between them. Also snapdragon plants put out in a mixed annual patch didn't protect other susceptible plants, such as dwarf dahlias, and themselves got some got partial "debarking" (the outer layer of the main stems) attention, although probably from snails rather than slugs.
And, as you say, the idea has some limitations.

[gradus]

A friend found a large number of slugs on his concrete drive after recent rains one morning. Concrete doesn't sound like slug territory but better there than on plants.

[oddoneout]

A friend found a large number of slugs on his concrete drive after recent rains one morning. Concrete doesn't sound like slug territory but better there than on plants.

It's not a problem for them in wet or damp weather. They, and snails, will often appear in large numbers on paved surfaces and solid footpaths after rain, particularly when it follows a dry period when they may have hunkered down in cracks and crannies in or alongside such surfaces to wait out the dry. As a solid surface it's easier to travel across than something like gravel or shingle to get to their next meal, and also it can be a chance to meet another mollusc for procreation purposes, judging by the number of entwined snails I sometimes find on my patio after rain.