Slugs...again

Ah yes, another slug post! Due to the rain we've been having I thought it would be prudent to go on a 'slug watch'. I went out shortly before dusk yesterday to check the lettuce beds. There they were happily chomping away upon my 'lollo rossa'. And judging by their size they had been there a while. I dispatched seven or eight into a jar. I probably need to apply some more nematodes. I have also been thinking of putting some copper strips along the tops of the raised beds, which I think will be a good deterrent.

The good news is that I have harvested my first crop of broad beans. they are around 5-6 inches long and taste delicious.

Let there be broad beans

The recent hot weather has certainly pepped up the growth of the veggies. The broad beans have flowered and are now producing lovely succulent beans. The runner beans have just started to flower so I am expecting beans in the next week or so. the borage that I transplanted next to the beans has gone ballistic with great big healthy-looking leaves.

Yesterday evening I was out scouring for blackfly eggs. I came across little clumps of tiny yellow eggs on the nasturtium leaves. Not sure what they were but I dispatched them with a quick wipe. It was nice to see the bees and the hover flies flitting around the broad bean flowers doing what they do best.

The slugs are back with their eyes on my lettuce, so yesterday evening I went out armed with a torch. The first group were found behind the herb trough. I think they had been making their way up the wall and then crawling onto the mint to get into the trough. This is how they got to my basil seedlings. I collected three slugs and then cut back the mint.

In the lettuce bed I found another couple munching away. I'm not sure why the nematodes are not working. Maybe I need another application. Then again maybe the slugs population would be much worse by now without them.

Black fly

The black fly are loving my nasturtiums and broad beans. They are less partial to the pumpkins and runner beans though. Every morning and most evening I have been turning over the leaves and checking the stalks for the eggs. When I find these they are dealt with by squashing between thumb and forefinger. A little icky but it does the trick. On the nasturtiums the beasties tend to congregate just belows the leaves on the stalk. It's easy to miss the little blighters so particular attention is required.

Trudi, my esteemed neighbour, has been battling the slugs and it seems her veggies have finally succumbed to the relentless attack. I've applied some more nematodes so fingers-crossed that my lettuce will survive.

No more basil

I went out this morning to see how the crops were doing. The small basil plants have gone or at least that's what I though at first. Upon closer inspection the stalks are there but all the leaves have been eaten. This is odd because the plants were under a empty yoghurt pot for protection. One of the adjoining runner beans had signs of a slug trail so I guess these are to blame. I can only assume that eggs have been laid under the soil and the little tiny slugs have come up and had a feed.

At the back things aren't looking good for the borage. The two that I didn't cover have been partially eaten and the one under cover is looking rather unhealthy. My nematodes arrived last week so I think today is the day to apply them.

Nematodes

They arrived this afternoon so I immediately set upon the task of applying them. The pack covers forty square metres which is more then enough for my needs. The steps involved are:

• Take a quarter of the nematodes and place them in a watering can


• Add eight litres of water


• Mix


• Apply to a quarter of the area to be treated


• Add eight litres of clean water


• Water the area that has just been 'nematodized'


• Repeat another three times until the whole area is treated

I now need to wait a week for the nematodes to home in on the slugs living in the soil.