Slug/snail Nematodes - do they work?
Last post 20-06-2006 10:04 PM by realgardenlover. 12 replies.
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16/01/2005 10:38 AM
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I am considering using nematodes in my garden this year to try and control the massive slug and snail population. I have tried them before and not really noticed the difference and they weren't cheap but I may not have used them properly. The area of soil that I would use them on is fairly small and contained, four beds about 15ft x 3ft and four raised beds about 3ft x 3ft. I live on the South coast.
If you have used them can you tell me:
a) Was there any noticeable difference in the slug and snail population?
b) If so how/when did you apply them and what your local climate is in terms of when they should be watered on.
c) Will you use them again.
Any info gratefully received. Cheers - Rhoda
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21/01/2005 11:20 AM
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- ken69
- Norfolk UK
- 23 Nov 2004
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405
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Don't know about slugs and snails, this area is fairly dry compared to rest of UK. Last year a neighbouring farmer flooded a field to a depth of 6" to 'get rid of the nemotodes'.Apparently snails etc are nemotodes in there own right.One of the jobs my dad did when he was a boy gardener was to chuck old apples onto lawn areas in the winter to keep and encourage birds, including the thrush.The original snail killer.Cheers
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05/04/2005 04:38 PM
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- novicem
- 05 Apr 2005
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14
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I only wish I could give you any answers. I have exactly the same problem! Last year I went out most evenings with a 2 litre container and filled it with slugs and snails - then I took them all the quarter of a mile to the local park - across a busy main road. This was very labour intensive and has made no effect on this year's population!
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06/04/2005 09:00 AM
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- miranda
- Oxfordshire
- 17 Nov 2004
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2,976
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That's interesting to hear about your dad putting down apples, Ken, as it's what I started doing this year.
I noticed that the area where we put out bird food gets very little problem with slugs and snails, so decided to experiment with putting food out in areas that I'd like the birds to pay more attention to. The thrushes and blackbirds love their apples so I've been putting tempting slices near vulnerable plants - what *should* happen is that the birds have some apple, look about to see what else there might be and find the slugs and snails. It's too early to say how it's working yet. Did it work alright for your dad?
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06/04/2005 12:15 PM
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- ken69
- Norfolk UK
- 23 Nov 2004
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405
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Hi Miranda....something Dad told me and still chuck apples down..very few slugs and snails here..so figure it works.Just going now to buy some vinegar, which someone mentioned to kill weeds.Just planted two avocado 'nuts'.Do you think they will grow??
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06/04/2005 01:19 PM
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- miranda
- Oxfordshire
- 17 Nov 2004
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2,976
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Good to hear that it does seem to work, Ken, and it pleases me that I thought to try this :-)
I germinated an avacado nut about two and a half years ago. It was put into a pot of compost with about half of it sticking out, with the pointy end up, and I kept it moist till the nut split and then sprouted.
It's still going strong and has just been cut back, by about 30%, from around 1m tall, in the hope that it might put out some side shoots.
It'll get taller and want to become a tree, of course, and then it'll have to find a new home.
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06/04/2005 07:18 PM
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I've just ordered a batch of slug nematodes and vine weevil nematodes which I intend to use in my smallish borders. I'll let you know if I notice any difference this year. They are costing me about £25 for two standard size packs but as I lost more than that amount of plants last year through slug and snail damage it will be a reasonable investment if it works. I think many of the snails live in the old crumbling walls round my garden so I am also going to spray a solution of snail killing stuff into some of the holes.
Rhoda
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07/04/2005 07:12 PM
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Hi there
Have you got anywhere to encourage slow worms, which we have loads of in our garden which apparently munch slugs. I am thinking of having a small wildlife pond next year and am going to try and encourage frogs which keep the slug population down!!!!! Birds in your garden should eat a few slugs too and also hedgehogs although I will not be encouraging them as I read somewhere that they eat frogs (is this true?).
Hope this is of some use
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09/04/2005 10:19 AM
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- ken69
- Norfolk UK
- 23 Nov 2004
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405
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Not sure, FF, if the balance of nature can be designed.More snails should by rights bring in hedgehogs, and feeding the birds should reduce aphids and spiders, and fish ponds will bring in herons and so on.Come to think of it, doing gardens upsets things so suppose we should compensate somehow.
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27/11/2005 04:19 PM
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- Lorac
- 27 Nov 2005
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This has been my first full year of gardening although we've had the garden for years.I've just joined RHS and slugs are a real problem in our garden. I really tried to get rid of all the slugs and snails this year. Cleared lots of rubbish and debris, put agg shells round new plants, slug pubs, and 3 lots of nematodes. The nematodes seemed to be working, but the egg shells didn't. Then we went to visit my daughter in Australia in August. When we got back we were picking up about 60 slugs per night. I didn't take them to the park - I slung them in a bucket of salt water.
I think I'll try nematodes again next year and I'm going to try the apple idea as well. Might even put in a small pond, tho' its not a very big garden. Any more ideas welcome. I read somewhere that they can't stand caffeine so that's another thing to try
Lorac
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28/11/2005 10:23 AM
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- sue1002
- Ipswich, Suffolk
- 06 Sep 2005
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5,200
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We have slug and snail problems here near the east coast. I think it was mentioned on 'Gardeners World' that they are homing creatures, no good lobbing them over the neighbours fence as they can find their way back for 2 miles!
Over the summer we had loads of them crawling up the walls and eating plants in the hanging baskets.
Your idea to put in a pond is a good idea. We done one 8 x 6 ft and 3 ft deep. We put in 8 Koi carp five years ago as little tiddlers and during the summer when we took them out to check them they range from 13 inches to 19 inches long excluding the tail. We have chucked them snails and the biggest one loves them - free fish food!!
We have found the biggest expense with a pond is the filtration system. We spend loads on filter boxes which didn't last very long. In the end we went down to B&Q and bought a cold water tank with lid for around £30, cut holes in the sides for the pipes, half filled it with small pieces of chopped up piping, put large pieces of filter foam on top and this is working better than the others did. Invest in a UV filter, change the bulbs every six months and it certainly cuts down on the amount of algae and blanketweed.
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29/11/2005 07:40 PM
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- ndhort
- 06 Aug 2004
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37
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At the end of the summer last year we placed some pieces of slate and old plant pots against walls and places that slugs and snails usually hang out. Come the Winter we went around the garden and collected all we could find. we also found masses of snails hibernating around the base of the compost heap and also hundreds inside the base of our plastic compost bin.This year we've noticed that there haven't been as many to collect, so hopefully were on a winning streak.
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20/06/2006 10:04 PM
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Professional vegetable farmers have been using nematodes for years for
thousands of acres (e.g. sprouts). Nematodes are more expensive than
pellets, but obviously they work very well.
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