I have to admit to being a little neglectful of the broad bean plants which are residing in the greenhouse. They were sown in autumn ready to plant out in spring. It was a while since I'd checked on them, and when Hubby went in to the greenhouse last week, they were desperate for a drink. A few days later, I thought I'd better make sure they were ok after being watered, and it looks like I was in the nick of time, just look at what I found. To add insult to injury, the slimy slug who did the deed was lounging on the top of one of the pots in full view. I'm so squeamish when it comes to killing anything, I just can't do it, and as I was home alone at the time, the munching mollusc got a reprieve. He was scraped off the top of the pot and catapulted in to next door's garden, I just hope that no one saw. I'm pleased to report that the rest of the broad bean plants are doing well, but I definitely need to check on them more often.
The onions and peppers which I sowed last weekend haven't germinated yet, though I'm not too worried as they can take much longer than a week to do so. I shall be sorting through my seed packets this weekend and looking for other things which can be sown now.
I'm seeing bulbs bursting in to bloom on lots of blogs at the moment, yet I haven't got a single one in flower yet. It's probably for the best as we're forecast yet more snow tomorrow. The birds have been very busy on the feeders this morning, I wonder if they know they're going to be nest bound tomorrow.
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Do as I do - keep an old pair of tongs in the greenhouse. It amuses Mike no end watching me with my arm outstretched marching across the garden with the tongs attached to a slug.
ReplyDeleteThat made me laugh, but it's a great idea. I'm always hunting around the garden for something to pick slugs up with.
DeleteThe slugs did for my garden last year along with the rain, but I too can't kill anything, I try to 'deter' them and like you have been known to 'catapult' them over the nearest fence. When I lived in the country I used to take them by the bucket load to the bottom of the field and just empty it out, I'm sure they all just came marching back though and looked on it as their 'daily constitutional' ! and then I got ducks .....
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and leaving a comment. Slugs were the bane of my life last year too. They do say that slugs have a homing instinct, I don't know how true that is, but you may have been on a hiding to nothing there. Ducks are a great way to lower the slug population.
DeleteI sow my broad beans direct, which I won't be doing until later next month at the earliest.
ReplyDeleteLots of bulbs are appearing but all have some time to go yet before blooming. Flighty xx
Starting my broad beans off in pots will ensure they get a head start, as my allotment hangs on to water, it would be much later than next month that I'd be sowing direct. I'm glad I'm not the only one without bulb blooms at the moment.
DeleteI cant pick up slugs with my bare hands, I have to wear gloves and they then go in our garden waste recycling bin to the local tip!
ReplyDeleteOur miniature iris, crocus and snowdrops are in flower, the daffodils are almost out(amazingly) but the other bulbs are sadly lagging behind.
Even if my hands were gloved, I still wouldn't be able to pick up a slug. I usually use a trowel, then fling it as far as I can. You've got so many things in flower, it's amazing that mine are still lagging behind when we don't live very far apart.
DeleteMy Broad Beans are due for sowing in the next week or so - if the weather allows. I always sow mine direct because I don't have anywhere to keep them indoors. I think my long cloches may need to be re-deployed...
ReplyDeleteI really need to sow my broad beans in pots as my allotment will be too wet to sow them direct for quite some time yet. Your cloches are a godsend for jobs like this.
DeleteI don't like killing anything so I gather the slugs and snails up in a flowerpot saucer and put them in my brown bin. I do find grit on my seed trays helps to keep them at bay some of the time.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet found anything which will keep the slugs at bay, they're determined things. I may have to follow your lead and confine any slugs I discover to the brown bin.
DeleteThat's so annoying isn't it. I give my slugs to next door's ducks - they make short work of destroying them!
ReplyDeleteI bet the ducks love to see you approaching with a tasty snack. I lost so many seedlings to slugs last year, I do hope this year isn't going to be the same.
DeleteI can't stand the slimy critters either, but gloved hand I can just about handle them and hurtle them out of sight with a squeal from me!
ReplyDeleteI'm just as squeamish, though even a gloved hand won't do it for me, I have to use a trowel.
DeleteI'm not sure how effective my method is. I put them in my compost bin... My hope is that they'll find so much food in there that they leave everything else alone, but they might just use it as a love nest and breed many many more slugs to come and trouble my vegetables. The worst place I find them is in the grass around the edge of my raised veg beds though.
ReplyDeleteFor the garden I'm only really just emerging from hibernation and thinking about getting sowing. Last year I left a lot of things too late, so I need to get moving.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I think most people find slugs anyway in their compost bins, though I'd be worried to actually place them there for fear that they'd breed, all those babies being spread throughout the garden or allotment. It's still early for sowing yet, so there's no rush, just remember not to leave it too late, it's a fine line, isn't it?
DeleteWe are forecast snow too Jo..I really hope they have it wrong.
ReplyDeleteGlad you caught that slug in time...there is nothing worse to decimate your crops quickly!!
I planted mine straight into the ground lat4 last year along with my garlic...I really should check to see if they have done anything...if not I will be potting some up in earnest...I do love my broad beans!!
I'm hoping the forecast is wrong too, I've seen enough snow already. I think I'm going to have to watch my seedlings better than I have been doing, I don't want them going the same way that they did last year. Hope your broad beans have been doing their thing for you whilst your back's been turned.
DeleteOh no Jo - you only have to turn your back for five minutes and look what happens :( What barefaced cheek too for the culprit to show their face in broad daylight. Glad that you got to those beans before he/she went back for desert.
ReplyDeleteI usually have to hunt for the culprit, they're so good at hiding themselves, but no, this one was so brazen about it, probably couldn't move with such a full tummy. I really need to do more slug patrols in the greenhouse, I've realised that now.
DeleteThey are tough old things broad bean plants, I put all mine outside the greenhouse a few weeks ago to acclimatise them, forgot about them and the next day it snowed but they have survived and I've now just left them to get on with it!
ReplyDeleteThey'll definitely be ready for planting out as soon as the time is right then. It will be a while before I'm getting mine planted out, the allotment is still far too wet for anything to survive in there.
DeleteSsh ...I indulge in slug wanging too Jo. I'm just amazed that they haven't evolved wings
ReplyDeleteI like that, wanging, it sounds like some sort of technical term, I shall remember it for next time I do it.
Delete"He was scraped off the top of the pot and catapulted in to next door's garden, I just hope that no one saw" - hahaa! That really made me laugh out loud. Love it!!!! I'm glad you got to your beans in the nick of time. Mine were looking a little weird today too and I just hope they stay strong until I can plant them out. This weekend has just been far too wet and miserable. p.s. I quite like to catapult slugs too : D
ReplyDeleteI can't stand to touch slugs, so I have to use some sort of implement to scoop it up, and then fling it as far as I can. I'm really pleased with the beans that haven't been devoured, they're really strong specimens, I just hope I can keep them this way until planting out time.
DeleteI don't like touching them either but I have become less squeamish about killing them. A stomp with a welly or snipped with scissors. I can't do it with snails though. They look more like a living creature than slugs which are just a slimy blob. Snails are either lobbed when I think no one is looking or go into a bucket of salty water. It's so frustrating that they are out there so early in the year. A tip I picked up last year was to use organic slug pellets much earlier in the year to get them just as they are emerging and before they can breed.
ReplyDeleteI'm not only squeamish about touching slugs, but also killing them. It's really frustrating that they're out so early, especially after all the slug problems I had last year. I don't like using any kind of slug pellets but I may have to resort to some organic ones if their campaign to decimate my seedlings continues.
DeleteI must do a post about our autumn planted broad beans in pots. Lets just say even your slug eaten ones are much better than ours. As for homing slugs I reckon that they work on the old tale of the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, that doesn't sound too good. I wonder what went wrong. I think the slugs definitely think there's better offerings in my garden than my neighbours judging by the amount I find.
DeleteLucky you checked when you did, Jo! I don't like touching slugs with bare hands but will happily send them over the fence onto the railway lines courtesy of 'Slug Air'. I haven't sown any broad beans yet - was hoping to get them in soon but it's been either snowing or raining here so I guess another week will pass without anything happening!
ReplyDeleteIt's very lucky I checked when I did, I have visions of opening the greenhouse door to be greeted with a tray full of stumps. My allotment is still far too wet to do any direct sowing, so I'm pleased I got these started when I did.
DeleteI wonder if your slug will make it back to your greenhouse? There's a growing amount of research about their homing ability and how they can travel substantial distances back to their favourite spots. Keep a watch out! :)
ReplyDeleteThe slug will probably tell all his friends where a feast can be found, and then I'll be inundated, just my luck. I'm on daily slug patrol.
DeleteCan't believe we are talking about slug problems already. They are the bane of a gardeners life. Glad you caught them in time. I'd sowed some broad beans too and they were in my plastic greenhouse and they were looking ok but recently the cover split and rain and snow has been getting in and it looks like they have been sat in a tray of water for too long and are suffering. So may have to start again, will see if they recover. Oh for a proper greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised to see such a large specimen sat there in the greenhouse at this time of year. I sincerely hope that we don't get another year like last year, I was inundated with the things, and they caused so much devastation. Plastic greenhouses are great to a point, but they're no substitute for the real thing. Hope your broad beans pull through.
DeleteI find it amazing that slugs actually make it through a winter as hard as this one, they are resilient little blighters aren't they.
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised to see it sat there as bold as brass in the middle of February. Just goes to show that our plants are never safe from them.
DeleteI always pop my slugs over the fence too, but they always come back!
ReplyDeleteThey do such damage so quickly too, I now cut plastic bottles in half and cover tender plants with them, works a treat.xxxx
I'm amazed by the amount a slug can eat, and it seems it's in record time too. I use plastic bottles at the allotment sometimes. It's a great way to protect small seedlings, though I never got to plant out the brassicas last year as the slugs got to them in their modules.
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