I. Slugs are to gardeners what luggage is Terminal 5. A fact of life which sometimes appears impossible to handle. Slugs can never be avoided completely but they do have their upside: they help break down waste material. On the other hand they have an insatiable appetite for prize plants and vegetables.

2. A single slug can have up to 27,000 teeth. These are arranged in rows known as radulae. If you listen carefully you can sometimes hear the rasping noise made by the radulae.

3. Slugs are nocturnal which means that night time attacks on the beasts are highly effective, especially after rain.

4. There are 29 species of slugs in the UK, a third of them significant pests. The most destructive is Deroceras reticulatum or the Grey Field Slug - it is also a particularly ugly slug.

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5. They breed when the soil goes above 5C. Slugs are hermaphrodite and lay batches of up to 300 slimy white eggs from which immature slugs hatch. Hatching time takes between ten and 100 days. Slugs live for up to two years.

6. Grit and crushed eggshells can sometimes stop slug attack.

7. Birds (including hens), newts, frogs, toads, ground beetles, slowworms, centipedes and hedgehogs will eat slugs. All these predators can be encouraged by making a wildlife friendly garden.

8. Traditional slug pellets can kill other wildlife. Salt and caffeine will kill beneficial beasts as well as slugs – and they harm the soil. Slug pubs are effective but they attract and kill slug predators such as ground beetles .

9. Copper rings, slotted into the soil around individual plants are highly effective (slugs hate taste everything they move across and detest the flavour of copper) and won’t harm wildlife. But you’d need a lot of copper rings to protect even a modest garden

10. Entomopathogenic (disease-causing) nematodes (tiny worm-like creatures), such as Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita Schneider, kill slugs effectively. They invade the slug via the breathing hole on the slug’s back and produce bacteria on which to feed. Although nematodes live naturally in the soil now – spring is a great time of year to increase the population by buying some more. The tiny creatures are sold in a mixture of clay and vermiculite which has to be diluted many times and used only when the temperature is above 5C. Follow the instructions to the letter and you’ll have a slug-free area for about six weeks. This usually gives young plants enough time to grow big enough not to be attractive to slugs. Nematodes can be bought from various shops and sites such as: www.just-green.com , www.Organiccatalog.com

Webliniks:

www.greengardener.co.uk

www.nemasysinfo.com

www.thenaturalgardener.co.uk

www.agralan.co.uk

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