Oooh, that's satisfying!

[gray1720]

I took a trip out to the plot today as the waters recede (you can actually hear the ground bubbling as the water drains - most impressive!)to harvest some bits and pieces and was a bit perturbed by all the little furry floaty things in the water. I knew it wasn't Richards as our sewers haven't backed up (though it must have been getting close, as the council left a Turdis in the village), and then realisation dawned.

It's drowned slugs! I suspect enough are still above water that I ought to be thinking of Nemaslug whatever, but it did make me feel so much better seeing the chomping little gits not having it all their own way.

Adrian

[gray1720]

[ed dibbles]

There is a small cider orchard near me that was flooded recently.

While I was not concerned about the trees being harmed I'm sure the owners took great comfort in all the drowned codling moth larvae.

[ed dibbles]

Another thought, and one I have used successfully myself is submerging potted plants for 24 hours in water to deal with scarid fly (fungus gnat) and vine weevil.

I seldom suffer from the scarids but as I grow a number of potted vines their roots get a total submerging in august to get the VWs when they are about half grown. Few potted plants actually suffer from their  roots being submerged for a comparatively short time like this apart from succulent plants of course..

While repotting my vines a week or two back. one pot has a couple of weevils but too few to do much damage while all the others had none.

It's certainly a cheap, organic and effective solution that works for me.

Would work with cyclamen, primula, fuschia, pelargonium etc too.

[pumkinlover]

I took a trip out to the plot today as the waters recede (you can actually hear the ground bubbling as the water drains - most impressive!)to harvest some bits and pieces and was a bit perturbed by all the little furry floaty things in the water. I knew it wasn't Richards as our sewers haven't backed up (though it must have been getting close, as the council left a Turdis in the village), and then realisation dawned.

It's drowned slugs! I suspect enough are still above water that I ought to be thinking of Nemaslug whatever, but it did make me feel so much better seeing the chomping little gits not having it all their own way.

Adrian

Please post more often- we need a good laugh!

[Vinlander]

Another thought, and one I have used successfully myself is submerging potted plants for 24 hours in water to deal with scarid fly (fungus gnat) and vine weevil.

I seldom suffer from the scarids but as I grow a number of potted vines their roots get a total submerging in august to get the VWs when they are about half grown. Few potted plants actually suffer from their  roots being submerged for a comparatively short time like this apart from succulent plants of course..

While repotting my vines a week or two back. one pot has a couple of weevils but too few to do much damage while all the others had none.



It's certainly a cheap, organic and effective solution that works for me.

Would work with cyclamen, primula, fuschia, pelargonium etc too.

I use this method too and it works brilliantly despite the fact that nobody knows about it (it would hit the profits of the 'cide peddlers as well as the arguably less evil predator breeders).

It is particularly useful for killing bugs without turfing out carefully constructed pots - eg. strawberry pots where special layers of gravel and compost help move the water and nutrients to the plants in their tiers while maintaining appropriate drainage.

Cheers.

[caroline7758]

Thanks for the tip on sciarid flies- I get them every year!

[daitheplant]

Standing a plant in water for 24 hours, not only leaches out all nutrients from the soil/compost, but also damages the root system/plant structure.

[caroline7758]

Well, if the gnats are going to damage the roots anyway, i reckon it's worth a try!

[Vinlander]

Standing a plant in water for 24 hours, not only leaches out all nutrients from the soil/compost, but also damages the root system/plant structure.

Depends on the plant (I can't see pond marginals like primulas being bothered),

Any damage will be caused by long-term oxygen deprivation - exactly what kills the weevils - but I can't see there being more leaching from static water than the water percolating through the pot constantly like it does this time of year...

If you worry about soil structure you should be using grit/perlite etc. as even the coarser humus will degrade eventually anyway.

However I have considered using manure water to create more rapid oxygen depletion for a shorter time - it seems likely the lifeform with the fastest metabolism will die quicker and the plant may benefit. Yet to be tested.

All so much hot air - what matters is that with potted strawberries and vine cuttings I can guarantee the damage is truly trivial - especially compared with another month or so of voracious vine weevil - and the technique is more reliable than nematodes and less risky than using complex modern pesticides.

The reason I'm so confident about these plants is that vine weevil love them so much that I use them as lures in greenhouse and on patio - greatly reducing the damage to more precious plants that are less tolerant of being knocked out and teased regularly - not to mention the ones that are big enough to threaten my back.

Cheers