Do slugs like tomatoes?

[TomIvey]

Hi everyone!

This is my first year growing my own veg so I decided to start small with tomatoes and peppers. My granddad said I should be keeping an eye out for slugs and snails and recently I have been spying the little guys out and about on my patio.

This might sound like a dumb question but - do slugs like tomatoes? My granddad said I should use slug pellets but I don't know which ones to get - are all slug pellets the same or is there a best brand?

Thanks for your advice!

[rainbowgardener]

Yup, slugs will eat tomatoes, especially the fruit (which they prefer to tomato leaves). Type slugs or slug control into the Search the Forum feature to find lots that's been written here about dealing with them.

[tabbycat]

Try the Slug Bell I use it in my growbags to protect my tomato plants and it works.. the slimy creatures investigate the bell ( which contains pellets) and leave my plants alone.

[TomIvey]

Someone on another forum (sorry!) suggested Eraza slug pellets, I am trying them out and so far no slugs! The tomato plants seem to be doing well.

Also Eraza's website has a 'Slug-o-meter' which helps you predict slug activity! I love the internet! Here's the link: [url=https://www.eraza.co.uk]Eraza Slug Pellets[/url]

Does a Slug Bell need a specific type of pellets or can I use these with it?

Tom

[cynthia_h]

Good: the Eraza pellets use approx. 1/6 (16%) of the metaldehyde that standard snail/slug pellets do to kill these gastropods ("stomachs on feet").

Bad: Metaldehyde is toxic, so any dead slugs/snails ingested by birds or other inquisitive small animals will experience secondary toxicity.

Cynthia H., living a deadline-type of life recently

[TomIvey]

I've done a bit of research on the net, I even spoke to someone at Westland, the company who make Eraza. What I have learnt is that Metaldehyde seems to be by far the most effective solution for slugs. Metaldehyde is toxic but the amount eaten by a slug from one pellet, whilst enough to kill a slug, wouldn't be enough to harm an animal who subsequently went on to eat it.

The danger to animals appears to come from them eating the pellets directly and in large quantities usually because people think that piling them up makes them more effective.

I think it would be odd for a bird or other animal to eat a dead slug wouldn't it? My friend used to keep all sorts of weird animals and most of them got fed live insects because they wouldnt eat dead ones.

Anyone else have any thoughts or experience?

Tom

[lasthanover]

scrap to pellets and place and 2 ounce plastic container in a shallow hole. fill with cheap beer. scoop out the dead in the morning. The big things to keep an eye out for are tomato horn worms. even on an apartment deck they find a way. they are the larval stage from a moth, the moth lays the eggs in your potted plant, and presto giant caterpillar-y thing. The horn worms can strip a full grown 2 meter high tomato plant overnight. However, if you go out with a flashlight between midnight and 2am, when the dew starts to form, you can pick them off the stalks. they like to attach to the underside of leaves and blend in really well, so gently pull the plants backward and forward and look for stems that seem to thick, or leaves with a thicker rib.

Last year it was war on the tomato horn worms. I'd sit on the deck and wait. Put them in tupperware, and then feed them to the birds in the morning.

[imafan26]

There is another slug bait containing iron phosphate. It works as well as metaldehyde, and it should not be inviting to birds or dogs to eat. I still put my bait inside a pot turned on its side to minimize contact with the plants and the soil.

Birds do eat slugs. Hens are particularly good at it, but they will also eat lettuce seedlings, seeds, and scratch up young plants looking for worms. Not to mention that she will poop everywhere. unless you keep her in a portable cage or on a leash.