Slugs can make a meal of a wide range of vegetables and ornamental plants, especially seedlings and other soft growth. Hostas, delphiniums, dahlias, gerberas, sweet peas and tulips are regularly attacked by slugs, and it can be difficult to grow these plants if you have a big slug problem.
How do I keep slugs off my sweet peas?
Natural ways to deter slugs
- Egg shells. Line your borders with upturned eggshells.
- Sand. Create a rough area around your plants with sand or gravel to make it harder for the slugs to reach the plants they have their hungry eyes on.
- Companion planting and repelling plants.
- By hand.
- Pond.
- Ducks.
- Newspaper.
- Seaweed.
How do you keep slugs from seedlings?
1) Crushed eggshells/gravel/woodchip or mulch Molluscs don’t like travelling over rough ground, so if they sense sharp edges, you can use this texture to deter them. 2) Coffee grounds. Slugs don’t like the bitter taste of coffee grounds. Sprinkle coffee grounds on the soil around your plants to deter them.
Do slugs eat pea shoots?
Answer: Young sweet peas are indeed a favourite of slugs and snails.
What is eating the leaves on my sweet peas?
Pea moths, pea weevils, apids, snails, and small mammals are the most common culprits when it comes to feasting on pea plants.
What keeps slugs away naturally?
3 Ways to Naturally Repel Slugs (Preventative Measures)
Coffee grounds, wood ashes, sand, crushed eggshells, and diatomaceous earth (DE) all do this when sprinkled around plants—with DE being the most deadly. Another barrier option is copper tape or copper wire.
What do slugs hate most?
Slugs dislike plants with heavily fragranced foliage, like many common herbs. They also dislike plants with fuzzy or furry foliage. Slugs are a favorite food of many different predators. Encourage birds, snakes, lizards, toads, frogs, ground beetles, and other natural predators to make a home in your garden.
Do slugs eat sweet peas?
Slugs can make a meal of a wide range of vegetables and ornamental plants, especially seedlings and other soft growth. Hostas, delphiniums, dahlias, gerberas, sweet peas and tulips are regularly attacked by slugs, and it can be difficult to grow these plants if you have a big slug problem.
Do coffee grounds repel slugs?
Coffee grounds are already recommended as a home remedy for keeping slugs and snails at bay. Grounds repel slugs, Hollingsworth found, but a caffeine solution is much more effective, he says: “Slugs turn back immediately after contacting the [caffeinated soil].”
Which plants do slugs hate?
Are You Being Driven Mad by Slugs and Snails? Here are 7 Plants They Hate
- Ferns. Low maintenance, incredibly hardy and well down the slug and snail menu; ferns make an attractive, hassle-free addition to the garden.
- Hydrangeas.
- Euphorbias.
- Lavender.
- Rosemary.
- Geraniums.
- Japanese Anemone.
What has eaten my pea plants?
Pea and bean weevils are beetles that eat the leaf margins and shoot tips of garden peas and broad bean, causing characteristic notch-like damage.
Can plants recover from slug damage?
If slugs have chewed the plant, especially bedding plants, many of which they relish, dig up and put into a pot. Place somewhere safe, such as a greenhouse, under glass, where you can keep an eye on it and give it two /three weeks in a recovery and it will regrow.
What eats sweet pea flowers?
Birds are known to sit on sweet pea trellis and eat the flowers clean off.
What is attacking my sweet peas?
Pests and diseases
About the only pest to attack Sweet Peas is aphids. These appear mainly after a dry spell when plants are under stress. Aphids can be dealt with by spraying with S.B. Plant Invigorator.
How do you protect pea plants?
For an early sowing in February, peas can be protected using plastic cloches or inside a plastic greenhouse or polytunnel. It is also possible to sow peas in the autumn for overwintering to provide a spring harvest. If doing this, the peas will need the protection of a cloche or plastic grow tunnel.
How do you permanently get rid of slugs?
How to get rid of slugs:
- Get plants on side.
- Remove, shelter & encourage beneficial wildlife.
- Make a beer trap.
- Create a prickly barrier.
- Create a slippery barrier.
- Lay down copper tape.
- Place a lure.
- Apply nematodes to soil.
Where do slugs go during the day?
Slugs and snails hide in damp places during the day. They stay under logs and stones or under ground cover. They also hide under planters and low decks. At night they come out to eat.
How do I stop snails eating my seedlings?
Some gardeners swear by homemade snail and slug repellents. This are made by mixing garlic or coffee grounds into water in a spray bottle. Spray down your plants with this mixture, as well as the ground around the plants to deter slugs and snails.
Do marigolds keep slugs away?
Growing French marigolds are an excellent solution to get rid of slugs. This beautiful ornamental plant can act as a trap because it attracts slugs to infest on their leaves and new buds. Once slugs gather on the flower, you can then handpick and remove them from your garden.
Can you put salt around plants to stop slugs?
Salt: Pouring salt around your veg will keep the slugs away indeed, but unless your plants like maritime conditions they will die too! Seashells: The sharp edges deter slugs from crossing, but they don’t decay like eggshells and can be a serious nuisance when weeding for many years to come.
Can eggshells stop slugs?
The slug-busters at the “All About Slugs” group know this and have put the theory to a test. In a clever experiment they surrounded lettuce leaves, a yummy snack for slugs, with egg shells, and found that the creatures had no trouble crashing the barrier to satisfy their appetite.