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dog friendly but fatal to slugs


mint
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I know, I know, you're either into killing other animals or you're not so, theoretically, there is no difference between killing a dog and killing a slug.

Well, we have tried our utmost to leave the slugs be but now that all our new sunflower shoots, potato plants, etc are all getting eaten, I fear the time has come to do a bit of selective species engineering.

Can someone please recommend an effective slug killer that will not harm my dog?  Thank you.

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I can but try, RH.  Today, my greedy little dog even ate the carrot peelings that I left on the veg patch to dig in later.  Grr!!!!  Do the coffee grounds really work, RH?  We have cafe au lait every morning so supply would not be a problem.  
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Goodness, RH, I never knew so many things were harmful to dogs!  I'd rather use a non chemical means to eradicate the slugs. 

I have found out, since I started this thread, that there is a bateria called nematodes that get into the stomachs of slugs and poison them.  These nematodes are harmless to birds and animals and can be used continuously (if you could afford them year round).  There are some firms in the UK that sell them and I have emailed a firm in Suffolk.  Will await the results.

Does anyone (Chris pp, how about you) know whether nematodes are available readily in France and where would I need to go to get them?

Otherwise, it will have to be sending the OH out on mild nights to pick them up and take them elsewhere!

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[quote user="sweet 17"]

 

I have found out, since I started this thread, that there is a bateria called nematodes that get into the stomachs of slugs and poison them.  These nematodes are harmless to birds and animals and can be used continuously (if you could afford them year round).  There are some firms in the UK that sell them and I have emailed a firm in Suffolk.  Will await the results.

[/quote]

Here is a link to a French company that sells the nematodes. They are very expensive and unless you have only a smallish area to treat pretty impractical. You will not be able to buy them from a UK company as they are live creatures and would not survive the time in the post.

http://www.fermedesaintemarthe.com/produits/jardin/02/1014H.htm 

Algoflash - and no doubt other companies- sell a product that is based on a ferrous compound rather than the metalahyde(sp) which can be deadly.

It is claimed to be usable by bio growers.

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It is the conventional slug pellets that contain the metalhyde(must check spelling) They have something added to make them unattractive to dogs and cats but some dogs will eat anything. Furthermore hedgehogs are at risk either from eating the pellets or eating the slugs killed by them. If you are only treating decorative areas there is a product called slugclear available in the UK. It is a liquid and is watered onto the beds and is invisible to animals so there is no temptation to try it. It works really well as it gets to the tiny black slugs that live in the soil and are real pests.However, IT MUST NOT BE USED ON FOOD GROWING AREAS.
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Thanks, everybody.  Special thanks to yetagain who is so knowledgeable.

The English firm has replied.  They said that they'd send to France provided the postal system is reliable as the nematodes need to get to us within 3 days.  The cost is relatively modest; just under a tenner and £2 for postage.

Perhaps I'll see which kind friend will bring me some when they come to visit.  Can you imagine the conversation?  Yes, of course you can come to stay and, by the way, do you mind bringing with you some live bacteria in your luggage?  Still, that's what friends are for, aren't they?

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Walnut shells (probably any nut shells); egg shells and I've recently read that wood chippings / saw dust works but I'm sceptical on that one.

Nematodes are worms BTW.  Make sure your dog is up to date on its worming regime.

Keep a freindly toad and chickens.  But I suspect the chickens will also eat your plants !!!!

Why dont you just keep the dog of the patch ?  Much easier !!!  Cant believe you think £12 is a good deal for some worms !

Interesting pdf RH.  I suspect if someone did one of those for humans it would say the same  LOL!!!  I hate Brocolli, it should be banned and now its official, its toxic - brilliant  !  No mention of alcohol or cannabis or tobacco so that must be OK for dogs then ?  [:D]

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What about a SlugPub like THIS  ?

I've used something similar to the above link for a while now and it's very effective.  Just share a little of your beer with your friends and watch them get err legless [B] .  You do get the odd teatotaler who avoids the trap but it will get most and the dog is safe.  What a way to go! [:P]

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Thanks, guys.  We still have walnuts from last year's crop and the eggshells will be a cinch.  So, will try those first.

Pierre, I love the the name "SlugPub" but not sure I'd like emptying the traps.  Do you think they are connoiseurs and would only drink real ale or will the cheap, fizzy, nasty stuff from the supermarket work just as well?

I used to love beer, especially after a long ramble in the summer.  The blissful moment when you take off the backpack, sit down in the garden of a pub and the first pint goes down smooth as honey......!  Happy days, but I have somehow lost the taste for beer.  Shame!

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Slug pub, the things you folks spend your money on !!  Just use a glass jar, sink it 10 cms or so in the ground leaving 1 cm above ground and fill with beer.  The only cost is the beer and in France its cheaper than Cola so its not too bad !

Re the nut shells etc, make sure they are clean of any nut remains or otherwise you'll have a vermin problem.

Also, consider doing a night prowl.  Fix a spike (thin knitting needle ?) to a stick and with that in one hand and a torch in the other, you can pick yourself 100s of slugs in a very short time.  Then just put them in some salt.

Also, rotavating the ground helps as it kills many slugs and also destroys their eggs.

Re the import of nematodes.  I'd be VERY wary of adding a none-native creature to my garden.  I know gardening it a fight with the bugs and diseases, but I can only think that adding another species is just asking for trouble, in years to come.  Also read that the companies selling these bugs are bogus as many do not hatch !  I think it was a Which Report ?

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tracteurtom

My, you are one hell of a knowledgeable guy; sensible too.

Wish I could do the knitting needle thing but I am just too squeamish.  Might just about psyche myself up to picking the damn things up, wearing rubber gloves, and pitching them out into a field somewhere.

I am due to ask my neighbour to bring his tractor round to dig up some old tree stumps so I'll ask him to give the ground a good old going over.

On the plus side, some of the beans, etc in the veg patch are now growing quite well and so should be sturdy enough to withstand the little b*****s.

Thanks again for taking an interest and giving me the benefit of your experience.

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I'm about to put in lettuce plants and I'm  well armed to repel the horrible little brown, slimey creatures.  I have my pile of walnut shells (from the last of last year's crop) and we shall be eating eggs for a few days so that I can save the shells.

Next, get out the jam jars and off to Intermarche for the beer (does it have to be the strong variety)?  I shall be merciless in battle and aim not to be magnanimous in conquest.

Anyone wanting to know if these measures work can pm or email me or, if it's Slugs 0 Humans 1, I'll be back here to gloat!  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have just started my first potager but am getting some expert advice from an elderly French neigbour who has a completely perfect veg patch.  He turned up the other day with some young lettuce plants for me and a bucket of wood ash.  He has been gardening organically all his life and not one of the leaves of his crop have been nibbled, so I tend to value his advice.  He uses coffee grounds to deter the ants.  However he does not have a dog.

I would be very reluctant to use slug pellets.  They kill the slugs but also then the animals which eat the slugs.  I have a friend who lost his Springer Spaniel because he ate some sort of pellet the farmer had put into his maize field.  Not the same thing I know but just shows how nasty these chemicals can be.  As the owner of a Springer and a maize field (farmed by a neighbour) of course this set alarms ringing.

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Thanks, mossie.  I have not used pellets.  At the moment, the walnut- and egg-shells seem to be effective round the new lettuce plants. 

And the beans are now too sturdy to be killed off by slugs.

I do have a clematis which has struggled for over a year and every time the poor thing puts out a new leaf, it (the leaf) gets nibbled to its veins.  Gr.............

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 Apparently the woman who holds the national collection of hostas uses a liquid she makes up by boiling 2 bubs of garlic in 2 litres of water, she waters it over the hostas but the downside is that when it rains you have to do it again.

I'm trying to think of a way of incorporating the slugs hatred of garlic into a more user friendly method. Any ideas ?

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[quote user="Russethouse"]

 Apparently the woman who holds the national collection of hostas uses a liquid she makes up by boiling 2 bubs of garlic in 2 litres of water, she waters it over the hostas but the downside is that when it rains you have to do it again.

I'm trying to think of a way of incorporating the slugs hatred of garlic into a more user friendly method. Any ideas ?

[/quote]

[:D]  Pizza - but then the French dont but garlic on pizza [:(]  !!!! [:D]

Its quite common to gut garlic and onion plants around more sensitive subjects.

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Going back to an idea suggested earlier, I'd like to say that our local commune has mulched all the public flower beds with what looks like finely shredded wood. It's pale in colour and is definitely not sawdust. Anyway, within days, the suface was covered with dead snails so I'd say it works pretty well.  If we ever get a summer, I imagine it'll also help moisture conservation.
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