FAQ's
It may measure under 3.5cms in length and weigh as little as 2.48gms, but to your keen gardener the slug is a formidable foe. Read through some of the most frequently asked slug
questions
and get to know your enemy.
1. Is the problem that big?
As a rough guide, slugs normally strike when the weather is warm and damp, so British climes are ideal. Their eggs lay just beneath the soil, in clusters of about two dozen, and can be there for years waiting for the right conditions to hatch. Bearing in mind that each cubic metre of garden contains, on average, up to 200 slugs, and each slug has the potential to produce 90,000 grandchildren you can let your imagination run riot. So it's no wonder they regularly appear in the RHS Top 10 of garden pests!
2. But why should I care?
Slugs consume twice their own body weight every day. Put simply, a slug weighing 2.84g, over a 20 week growing season, has the potential to consume 5.68g of plants and vegetables. So if your garden is of average size (100sq m) and there are 200 slugs in each cubic metre - that's potentially 20,000 slugs eating 113.6kg of your plants and veg! That's equivalent to almost 3 cabbages a week or 3 hostas.
3. So how many slug species are there in my garden?
There are three types of slugs which are common in the garden - the grey field slug, the garden slug and the black slug. The grey field slug is the most common and damaging. Up to 3.5cms in length, this small slug relishes tender foliage and is typically found munching through hostas, lilies, petunias and dahlias, along with lettuces, cabbages, carrots, beans, celery and tomatoes - in fact almost every type of garden crop. It continues to be active and feed in temperatures as low as freezing. The Garden Slug is another small slug. Usually black with a pale side strip, it feeds both above and below the ground attacking leaf and root crops and is a particular pest of potatoes. The Black Slug is the monster of all slugs, growing up to a whopping 20cms long. This slug attacks seedlings in spring.
4. Blimey! So how do I get rid of them?
Preventing slugs is virtually impossible but controlling them isn't. Your garden will have its own natural predators including birds and hedgehogs but effective control of slugs is simple and cost-effective with metaldehyde slug pellets. Click here for more details & tips on slug control.
5. Aren't pellets harmful to birds?
Even though slugs are a key dietary feature of many birds independent research has failed to find any evidence of slug pellets causing death to garden birds. Bio has worked with the RSPB to develop a code of wise use - the Slug Pellet Code - this basically reminds users to read the label carefully and sprinkle the pellets thinly on the soil and around the plants being protected. Pellets should be 10-15cms apart and should never be piled. If instructions are followed Bio Slug & Snail Killer pellets cause no harm to non-target species.
6. But what about hedgehogs?
Research shows they very rarely feast on dead slugs, but in the rare instance they do metaldehyde-poisoned slugs
have shown not to be harmful even when eaten in large quantities.
7. OK, so when should I use slug pellets?
For best results apply on a warm, moist evening when slugs and snails are most likely to appear.
Fascinating Facts
Love them or hate them (and if you're a gardener, you probably hate them) slugs are fascinating creatures. Here are a few facts we think you'll find rather interesting.
- British gardeners use over 400 billion slug pellets every year to help combat slug damage
- Slugs have approximately 27,000 teeth - so no wonder they can bite so many holes!
- A cubic metre of garden will on average contain up to 50 slugs
- Britons spending an estimated £158 million on summer bedding plants each year, including £1 million on hostas
- All slugs have male and female reproductive systems. Yes, they are hermaphrodites and can mate with themselves!
- Slugs can stretch to 20 times their normal length and squeeze through openings to get food
- Slugs have shells like a snail. Their smaller shells are underneath the flesh on their back
- Slugs lay eggs in clusters of two dozen which in the soil just about everywhere. They can be there for years and then hatch in moist conditions
- A slug can travel over a razor blade or sharp edge of glass without cutting itself
- A slug breathes through its skin and the skin must be moist to exchange gases. A slug's slime gathers moisture out of the air like a sponge on damp days and out of the soil under logs on dry days
- Slugs prefer moist environments; feeding at night to avoid predators and the sun
- Slug damage is not only limited to leaves of plants, but also to fruit and vegetable crops.