Slugs,help pleas

[jennysten]

I am in the UK, and the slugs this year due to the weather are incredibly abundant!
I have lost all my cucumbers melons even my onions and spring onions.
I can't use slug pellets, are nematodes affective?
I have literally lost 50 percent of everything so any tips or hints would be welcome.
East Anglia has been very wet,not a lot of sun.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Never tried nematodes. Slug pellets used to be lethal to pets, birds and children, but they have switched from metaldehyde to an iron chloride which is not nearly so bad.
The main origins of slugs are lawns and compost heaps, keep your compost heap at least eight feet from from your growing beds. Where beds adjoin lawns you can try planting aromatics, I have a low lavender hedge. You can also try planting alliums like onions and leeks around the edge, I have never found it very effective, but every little helps. I dot red basil through my beds, it looks nice and attracts pollinators as well as supposedly deterring slugs.
A good torch, a plastic glove and a bottle of boiled water to drop them in is pretty effective, they drown even when the water has cooled down.
Ground beetles and slow worms are your friends, I leave planks and bits of board for them to live under, but I also turn them every so often to check for slugs.

 

[roadrunner]

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Just noticed your join date, welcome to the forum.

 

[Anniekay]

I have lots too. Put a short board down in various places amongst your plants and in early morning they will be hiding under there. Then you can pick them off and send them to Salt City ( drop them in a bucket of salt ) that kills them.

 

[Colin Hardiman]

I am in the UK, and the slugs this year due to the weather are incredibly abundant!
I have lost all my cucumbers melons even my onions and spring onions.
I can't use slug pellets, are nematodes affective?
I have literally lost 50 percent of everything so any tips or hints would be welcome.
East Anglia has been very wet,not a lot of sun.

I'm up North and we are plagued with slugs.
I stumbled upon something that sounds mad, but seems to keep them away.
Been growing carrots, parsnips, beetroot and spuds for years and always had problems, but noticed a small area never got affected. My patch is about 4 metres by 6 metres and an area on one side wasn't touched by slugs, but everywhere else was battered by them.
Anyways...3 years ago, I gave the whole patch a deep dig over and composting, and I found a pair of old leather boots buried in the exact spot about 2 feet down. Didn't think much of it, other than where the hell did the boots come from, so I binned them and thought no more of it.
However, I did notice that the slugs were everywhere the following season, including that area where they wouldn't touch before...so that got me thinking.
This year, as an experiment, I've buried an old leather brogue in a totally different area, and it sounds bizarre, but the slugs avoid that area. it's like there's a 2 metre slug exclusion zone where the shoe is.
I can only think it's something to do with the leather decaying, but I'll definitely be doing some more experiments.
Not sure if this helps, but I can't really explain what's happening on my veg patch.
It's all a bit weird.