Pests

Since the last rainy season, we've had a few more slugs and snails in the garden. Although I have hens, they are restricted to their own part of the garden (or there would be no cabbages!) so they don't keep the slug population completely under control. I was a bit gutted today to take a tray of modules out of the cold frame, to discover that every last lettuce had been eaten. I did get revenge as I found a slug and snail on the underside of the module tray, and fed them to the hens, but they do seem to be persistant. I only use organic controls, but the slug and snail had managed to crawl over a bed of gravel which the lettuces had been on. I also use copper collars to put over lettuces etc which are newly planted, and they do work well but are expensive, so I don't have enough. Organic slug pellets seem to work OK - I'm just off to put some on my newly planted delphiniums, as a belt-and-braces policy (they are in copper rings as well!)

We used this a coupl of years back to great effect. Must order more in fact

Haha and now the link:
http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/plant_care_and_gardening_tools/biofriend_slug_banish/

That sounds interesting Billy. I wonder what the active chemical is (I suppose they kept it quiet in case people tried to make their own!) It did occur to me today that one problem with copper rings is that they are a bit easy to steal (thinking of the current trend for stealing any metal which isn't bolted down and quite a lot which is.)

More pests discovered today - i was digging through a large tub of old compost, which had DD1's strawberry plants in (they didn't survive the winter, but were quite old anyway.) I kept turning up little cream grubs, and larger white wierd prawny looking things. In the end I dug up an almost-developed vine weevil, and decided that we had three stages of the life cycle in one pot! So I got systematic, emptied all the compost out and picked all the wildlife out. The hens were obligingly standing by....

Vine weevil seem to be inevitable if you grow strawberries in pots. We have one of those strawberry pots with holes in the sides, looks nice but is impossible to water and always got vine weevils. We use it for flowers now.

I've had lily beetles. They seem to have gone now though...

We had one lily beetle, on some lillies in a pot which were a few years old and neglected. I suppose that's one way to deal with them - let the host plant slowly die....

Different pests now...two days ago I thought 'My broad beans are looking good - I must pinch out the tips before the blackfly arrive.' So this morning I perched myself down to do this little task, and discovered that the blackfly had got there first. They were smothered with the little blighters, both The Sutton and the taller Crimson flowering beans. I went straight for the liquid derris (I probably should have used soapy water first but I was too cross) and the neighbours were treated to the sounds of a respectable woman with spray in hand shouting 'Die you *?!!**!!s'

A week later, and the blackfly are worse despite spraying. I've noticed other kinds of aphids increasing around the garden - maybe it's going to be a bad year for them. I had hoped the colder weather might discourage them from breeding!!

Oh how strange. Last year I lost my entire crop of broad beans to blackfly. They became so badly infested that they actually killed the plants. This year, I seem to have very little. I have been able to keep on top of it so far, with a bit of judicious spraying. I put it down to the colder weather, so I'm surprised that you are getting increasing problems, Dandelion.

Listening to my favourite garden prog on the wireless this afternoon the expert said something that you won't find mentioned in books is that slugs dissolve on contact with sulphate of potash, & it is better for your soil than salt, but only use a little, sprinkle well, & don't get it on foliage...

Can you buy it at garden centres?

Yep its common use is as a feed for plants, I got a box in our local high street pound shop last year, I would guess that it only works as a plant food diluted, but has to be dry to make slugs dissolve.

Presumably it'll break down into the soil as potassium...

Dandelion wrote:Presumably it'll break down into the soil as potassium...

I'll leave that to the scientists to work out, as I'm not sure what the chemical formula for a slug added to the one for sulphate of potash equals...

About my limit is take 2 H's add it to 1 O & you get wet!

hehehehehe!!!!