Slugs and snails..........

[tricia]

This morning I found two tomato plants decimated and a tiny slug sleeping off the night's meal of two busy lizzies on the soil of one of the covered modules in my greenhouse. The busy lizzies are in modules with covered plastic tops, so I was surprised this evening when I went to check that all was well to find a small snail on the INSIDE of the propagator! I then took off the top of another one and found a tiny slug which had just started to consume another busy lizzy. How on earth do the blighters get in? The tops fit well and the bases do not have holes >:(  In all, I found, and disposed of, 3 small snails and five tiny slugs by going over every single pot and tray with a torch to seek out the blighters.

My new Lidl slug traps are now in position and hopefully the beer will attract the slugs away from the plants. I can't cover all the pots and soon the busy lizzies will have to be potted on too. I remember that last year I lost over half my B-L  plants to slugs.

Anyone have an answer to the problem of slugs and snails in the greenhouse?

Tricia

[tricia]

[slippy fly]

I scatter a few slug pellets in my greenhouse.Many times i have lost plants to just 1 or 2 slugs.

[fbgrifter]

sounds like they were already in the compost

[MutantHobbit]

sounds like they were already in the compost

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  With eggs in the compost, would sticking the compost in the microwave beforehand do the trick? :o ;D ;D

[sandersj89]

Yes, you can sterilize soil/compost in that way but it can smell a bit.

Jerry

[tricia]

All my compost was put into the microwave at 850 watt for one minute - it came out steaming a bit but did not smell. I did this to warm the soil as it was so cold outside where it was stored. Maybe the answer is to keep it in the microwave even longer?

Tricia  :(