Sunday turned out dry and mild but we didn't really have much in the way of sunshine.
The dampish conditions of the last few days certainly seem to helped the slug and snail population. They're bad enough outside but in the greenhouse even worse. I had to think carefully the other day as I looked at a small tray of Tom Thumb lettuces. I was sure they had already germinated but there was nothing to see now. Looking more carefully the tell tale signs were there, a bit of a slime trail and the barely visible green stumps of chewed off lettuce seedlings. If that wasn't bad enough a couple of tomato seedlings had come in for the same treatment.
An inspection under one tray revealed one slug laying in wait for darkness and its next meal. It didn't make that next meal as it met a grizzly end. I couldn't find any more culprits but the damage was from more than one slug so I resorted to a few carefully placed slug pellets where I thought these pests might emerge from. I was hoping the pellets would stop them in their tracks before they reached our seedlings.
Not a pleasant sight but this snail isn't going to eat any more of my lettuce plants. It wasn't the only one as the pellets managed to prevent another snail and 3 slugs from reaching their intended victims.
Aren’t some aspects of gardening wonderful? Here’s the first of our aquilegias to cheer things up.
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Your tomato seedlings are looking much healthier than mine, shame about the slug damage though, pesky things. The aquilegia is a lovely colour, none of mine are flowering yet.
ReplyDeleteUgh, the rain really brings them out doesn't it. I must have some in my little greenhouse, but I can't bear to look too closely. The odd bean or two has met an early end as well. I need to get up to the garden centre and get some organic pellets. At the moment I'm relying on ground up egg shells.
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