NOVEMBER RESULTS

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November was marked by cold, wet, weather and more frosts. Slug and snail activity slowed to a minimum and it seems a logical time to conclude the Slug Stoppa trial. 

Heavy rain and strong winds brought down the last of the leaves and the garden was flooded for the first time this season. With no more fallen leaves to provide any form of cover and a thorough clear up of debris on each of the plots, any remaining slugs and snails have retreated to "winter quarters". I am sure they will be out on the prowl during warmer nights but most of the plants more susceptible to attack will either soon be cleared or big enough to defend themselves.

The row of peas that should have come through in February decided to emerge early and were immediately destroyed by pigeons. I have re-sown another row but would expect the same thing to happen should they emerge early again. Brassicas have also been attacked by pigeons but slug damage has been slight. There was some damage to the cornflower seedlings, but enough have survived to plant out in the borders in the Spring of next year. (Plants that had previously been transferred to the borders were destroyed overnight- despite a protective ring of Slug Stoppa.)

So was the Slug Stoppa a success? The short answer is an emphatic: NO.

 I should stress that this is a personal opinion based on my personal observations and there are probably others who have found the product to be the best thing since sliced bread, but..........

From day one, Slug Stoppa provided no defence whatsoever. During admittedly, a fairly wet summer, slugs simply crossed the barriers with total impunity. They showed no signs of discomfort as they attempted to cross it and even with regular top-ups with new material, they just completely ignored it.

 The manufacturers recommended using it in conjunction with other methods of slug control like nematodes but I feel that this would have given a false impression as it may have been the nematodes that were doing all the hard work. 

I did a mini experiment using a row of sacrificial cornflowers and lettuces and combined the Slug Stoppa with beer traps. The beer traps were placed on both sides of the Slug Stoppa barrier but slugs still chose to cross the defences to decimate the cornflowers and lettuces rather than get caught in the beer traps. It would seem that there really is no substitute for diligence and a "shoot to kill" policy when it comes to our number one pest. I found that carrying a bucket of beer around with me and dunking every slug and snail I found in it, was the most effective means of control (and will continue to be so, until another method (that actually works) can be found). 

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