Growing Vegetables

There's no quick fix to your slug & snail problem but it can be greatly reduced with a bit of commitment & effort.

Firstly tidy up. The little buggers are going to love piles of damp leaves, old flowerpots, overhanging or long grass & weeds. Look under, in and around all your containers too. Any critters that you find, kill! Stamp on them, salt them, drown them in saltwater or (my personal favourite for snails) send them on a one way flight over your house.

Second stage is deterrant. You can use slug pellets and you can get ones which are ok around pets & children, but they're not the best idea. Copper tape around post gives them an sort of electric shock when they crawl over it (think licking an 9v battery) but it's expensive and you need to do ever single pot. Sharp stones or broken shells spread around the pots or as a mulch on the soil will also deter them. You could also use some kind of sacraficial plant to attract them & stop them feasting on your veggies. slug pubs can work well too but only over a small area so you might need a few of them. Get hunting - go out at dusk or after dark with a torch & a sharp skick, salt or bucket of slaty water and hunt the buggers down. you can encourage natural predators like frogs & toads for a helping hand

The more you get rid of now the less there are to breed and chances are they won't overwhelm and destroy a plant in one night, at least giving it a chance.
 
Tomato plant and Basil are in the green house, couple of tomatoes appearing :)

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Couple of bean plants seem to be doing well...

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And Potato/Strawberry plants seem to be suffering a bit at the moment :(

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WillyNelson said:
Slugs slugs slugs slugs slugs slugs slugs slugs
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I found that pebbledash stones didnt work - my tomatoes last year got eaten alive! :(

You can also use a container of cheap tesco value/ asda price/ etc beer half way into the ground. Slugs love it. You will need a bigger container than you think as mine ended up not working as slugs were just crawling over their drowned friends and up the plants!! :eek:
You dont however want to attract slugs and snails to your plants with promises of an open bar! stick it as far away from you plants as possible.

We currently have a thin (3mm) strip of copper tape round the tire with the tomatoes in, it seems to actually be working, but I dont know how well tested it is.

We now have the beetroot with the potatoes and tomatoes all in their very own tire! :D
 
Ucof said:
I found that pebbledash stones didnt work - my tomatoes last year got eaten alive! :(

You can also use a container of cheap tesco value/ asda price/ etc beer half way into the ground. Slugs love it. You will need a bigger container than you think as mine ended up not working as slugs were just crawling over their drowned friends and up the plants!! :eek:
You dont however want to attract slugs and snails to your plants with promises of an open bar! stick it as far away from you plants as possible.

We currently have a thin (3mm) strip of copper tape round the tire with the tomatoes in, it seems to actually be working, but I dont know how well tested it is.

We now have the beetroot with the potatoes and tomatoes all in their very own tire! :D
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Slap a bit salt in the beer to and let them burn and buble, so they can have a jacuzi bar
 
platypus said:
I think my beans have had it. The ladybirds just aren't doing their job :(.
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Aphids eaten them hav they?

I think there is a problem with the native Lady bird in the UK, the native one hould only have around 3 spots, the ones commonly seen have lots more and these ones eat the native species.

My lettuces are ready to harvest, cant wait to go get them, nice juicy letti
 
Here is an update on my single mushroom :(
and my chilis, i will get updates from green house tomorow and stuff in my garden if the rain stops.

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Cool mushroom! I'd love to grow them, they are probably my biggest food expense. I'm really late this year, although it means by the time my grandparents plants are over, mine will be on :D Here's my tomoatos

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Netle Fertalliser

Started making the fertalliser from netles, Sweet jesus it smells like the dogs back end, i hope it works otherwise its getting poured down the drain in the street, and lets hope its not a sunny day:eek:
 
The best solution I've found for snails and slugs is to go out at night, especially if it's rained, and harvest all the little buggers up. Grab a torch and have a right good ferret round the garden, behind the tubs, along the fence etc and pickup them all up. Stuff them in a carrier bag, tie it up and then jump on them. Deposit in your bin - job done! You might get some funny looks from the neighbours when they see you furtling in the bushes as it goes dark but I've not found anything to be as effective as Snail Patrol!

We've just been away for two weeks and I was mighty impressed with what my automatic irrigation system has done whilst away. I had the computer set to water for about 5 minutes at 5am every morning. I spent an hour doing some tweaking last night and with it being so hot, have changed the timer to 5 minutes at 5am and 5pm now. It's quite nice not having to lug water cans around the back garden every night.
 
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Ahh i wouldnt water at 5pm, If you water plants whilst the sun is out you can burn the roots. I watered some plants the other evening and the water on the leaves burnt them like god knows what.

I would suspect 5mins at 5am would suffice, im only watering very late evening usualy about 10pm and looks like it is doing wonders.

I may be wrong tho but was always told and read that watering plants whilst the sun is out is a bad idea.

I tried the lager in a pot trick, first night i had drowned about 4 slugs, took a small tub and sink it into the ground poured in the drink then put 4 rocks round it and put a bit of slab over the top works a treat, and the neighbours dont think your dodgy lol
 
Watering while the plants are in full sun or it's very hot could cause the roots/leaves to scorch but the main reason for not doing so is that much of the water will evaporate before it has time to penetrate into the soil properly. I was busy DIYing last night so didn't get over to my lottie to water :( Most of the stuff is pretty hardy though so should be ok until tonight.

I got my first crop of new potatoes on Monday evening. Lifted 5 plants from the end row and came home with over 7lb of beautiful fresh spuds. :D Only 2 in the whole lot that I has to discard (1 greenie & 1 with a slug hole).

As I was digging I was thinking; how about an OcUK veg competition? Longest bean/carrot, best looking tomatoes, potato most like its owner, etc. We all post pictures of our best veg and ask the masses to vote.
 
Where did i put those Steroids for my plants:p

Good idea tho.

What plant is everyone growing in here? we can have a vote.

Currently i have.

Toms,
Peas
Spuds
Radishes
Neeps (Turnips)
Carrots
Beetroot
Brocoli
Leeks
Spring onions
Sprouts
Chilis.

If its easier copy my list and put +1 or what ever the next number is if you have that one and want to "Compete in that catagory. feel free to add onto it to.
 
Good call Davie

Toms +1
Peas
Spuds +1
Radishes +1
Neeps (Turnips)
Carrots
Beetroot
Broccoli +1
Leeks +1
Spring onions
Sprouts +1
Chilis
Courgette
Cucumber
Cabbage
 
Jalapeno, habalero, cherry tomatoe, thats what im growing, oh and spring onions.

I would love a competition but can we discuss this in the group? Also what would be good to grow i.e to grow from seed about now? Also is it a outdoor veg/fruit or indoor windowcill thing?
 
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