December Raspberries, so is Greta onto something!

[sime42]

Copper will sort most things animal; it's nasty stuff as a dissolved chemical though necessary as a trace element

Yep, I know what you mean Copper salts like Bordeaux Mixture, Copper Sulphate etc. And yet we also use it in pure form for our drinking water and it's fine. Funny old thing chemistry!

[sime42]

Copper is a very effective fungicide but not so sure it does much to slugs.

Only way copper does anything to slugs that I know of is if you fasten a band of it to your raised beds they will not crawl over it. I assume it is a bit like us licking a 9v battery.

Modern slug pellets are based on iron, ferric phosphate

 

 

Yeah, I was referring to its deterrent effects on slugs, don't think it does much harm to them otherwise. It is bloody effective though, they hate it. I use reformed copper pipe around my fruit and veg at home. Not sure how it could be deployed in a large scale commercial growing context, not possible I guess.

A move away from extensive monoculture towards greater biodiversity would be the way forward if that's practical. That way natural predators could take care of the slugs;- like frogs, black beetles, hedgehogs, blackbirds etc.

I know the new generation of slug pellets are ferric phosphate, I thought that they weren't very effective though when they first came out; they're not rain proof or something. Is that still the case or have they improved now?

 

[Macpherson]

One of my neighbours who seems much more green fingered than myself last year tried these wool slut pellets with some success, obviously not a commercial answer but I recon I'll give them a go round my rhubarb next year as unless I go out every night with a torch and pick them off I get no crop.

 

We used to have a lot of Hedgehogs in the village but there was 1 notable pellet poisoner who wouldn't be told and of course they vanished, it's weird how some folk are selective about which part of nature they value and are unable to see the full picture... she died last year at 90+ so we'll see how long it takes for them to return.. Buzzards seem to also sporadically vanish for years at a time so I suspect a strong connection.

 

Romney Marsh Wools

ROMNEYMARSHWOOLS.CO.UK

 

[scbk]

8 minutes ago, Macpherson said:

One of my neighbours who seems much more green fingered than myself last year tried these wool slut pellets with some success, obviously not a commercial answer but I recon I'll give them a go round my rhubarb next year as unless I go out every night with a torch and pick them off I get no crop.

 

We used to have a lot of Hedgehogs in the village but there was 1 notable pellet poisoner who wouldn't be told and of course they vanished, it's weird how some folk are selective about which part of nature they value and are unable to see the full picture... she died last year at 90+ so we'll see how long it takes for them to return.. Buzzards seem to also sporadically vanish for years at a time so I suspect a strong connection.

 

Romney Marsh Wools

ROMNEYMARSHWOOLS.CO.UK

 

Get yourself some ducks, they eat slugs, and lay eggs 

[Peasgood]

1 hour ago, sime42 said:

I thought that they weren't very effective though when they first came out; they're not rain proof or something. Is that still the case or have they improved now?

I think they were always effective. They had a reputation of not working when they first came out as unlike the other pellets you do not see the dead slugs so everyone assumed they weren't working. They were, it was just the slugs went back under the ground and died.

[peds]

My chickens used to eat slugs but, annoyingly, eventually went off them raw. They'll only eat them if "cured" in beer, brine, or vinegar. 

I've never had them, but I believe ducks are far more reliable and less fussy.

[Macpherson]

23 minutes ago, scbk said:

Get yourself some ducks, they eat slugs, and lay eggs 

Believe me I'd love to but I can't be at home full time atm possibly in the future👍

[sandy2210]

doesn't take much frost to make a potato rot so farmers leave any cultivation of field they been in until after a frost 

[headgroundsman]

5 hours ago, sandy2210 said:

doesn't take much frost to make a potato rot so farmers leave any cultivation of field they been in until after a frost 

Actually it takes a good frost to finish off a potato. i have left potatoes on the ground all winter hoping they will get frosted and in the spring i find half the potato has frosted and disappeared and half is still viable and is growing

[headgroundsman]

Farmed potatoes are lifted by machine and the small ones fall through with the soil so some end up buried and will grow in the spring