Anyone tried Grazers Slug and snail repellent?

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Anyone tried Grazers Slug and snail repellent?

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roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Sat May 21, 16 9:12 am Post subject: Anyone tried Grazers Slug and snail repellent?

As the title says...

https://www.organiccatalogue.com/Pest-Control-Slugs-and-Snails/c61_179/p3647/GRAZERS-G2-SLUG-AND-SNAIL-REPELLENT-750ml/product_info.html

https://www.grazers.co.uk/products/gardens-allotments/g2-slugs-snails/

Seems an logical way of repelling slugs from young plants, and is based on calcium so nothing noxious. It says its safe to use on edibles which is what I'm looking for.

Have tried nematodes, and its hard to say if it works, because slugs come in from outside the garden across the soil, so not affected by the nematodes in the soil.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16061

Posted: Sat May 21, 16 9:24 am Post subject:
I would like to know a bit more about what was in it. Apart from saying 'trace elements' was there anything in there I missed that gives that information?

roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Mon May 23, 16 11:45 am Post subject:

I emailed the company to find out some more (I asked about organic status) and got this reply this morning...

At the moment we are applying through OF & G for organic status, however this has to go through defra and EU for approval.

Basically the active ingredient is a food grade specific calcium solution (which is permitted for organic growers but only for use on fruit prior to harvest � at much higher rates) .

We farm an organic farm around the business which follows our non harm ethos. As we developed and manufacture our own products I am totally confident in Grazers safety. It doesn�t even harm the molluscs (they prefer not to eat treated plants) they are left as safe and vital food source for garden wildlife.

If I can find it online somewhere with reasonable postage costs I may give it a go - the slugs are a nightmare at the moment.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16061

Posted: Tue May 24, 16 5:51 am Post subject:
It looks interesting, but I prefer to buy from shops rather than online. I wonder if powdered chalk might work as it is based on calcium.

gardening-girl

Joined: 25 Feb 2009
Posts: 6024
Location: Somerset.

Posted: Tue May 24, 16 3:55 pm Post subject:
One of the old chaps at the allotment swears by it. He tends to get good crops.

roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Wed May 25, 16 7:59 am Post subject:

I'm very tempted to give it a go.

I'm not sure if powdered chalk would have the same effect, as it's got to be dissolved in a suspension to get it to be absorbed by the leaves. I suppose you could apply chalk to the soil, but would that just make the soil very alkaline?

Mistress Rose...The website says its available from most Wyevale garden centres, and I've just checked via the search stockists and its available at our local garden centre...so looks like mot garden centres stock it, so you don't have to buy online!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46291
Location: yes

Posted: Wed May 25, 16 11:08 am Post subject:
when i kept giant african snails one of their main foods was a paste of 70% rabbit food pellets and 30% powdered chalk ,they yummed it up. i suspect any shelly members of the slimey hoard would love you to give them extra chalk to go with the seedlings

Mutton

Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 1508

Posted: Wed May 25, 16 8:59 pm Post subject:
So are giant african snails for eating? Or just as pets? (See them on Freecycle sometimes.)

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu May 26, 16 12:07 am Post subject:
I can't see how it might work. It can't be just calcium, or you wouldn't get any molluscs on chalk soil. And you do, believe me. The whole explanation seems to gloss over any actual science. Or even logic. Slugs are such a bloody pain that I'll give it a go if I remember, though. Anything that keeps them down is worth a shot!

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16061

Posted: Thu May 26, 16 5:42 am Post subject:
Thanks for that Roobarb. We have some Wyevale garden centres near us, so I will look. I did mean putting the chalk round the plants, but if snails actually eat the stuff, no point. I thought most of our slugs grew shells as it is rather chalky, but then we had a wet spring....

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46291
Location: yes

Posted: Thu May 26, 16 8:09 am Post subject:

Mutton wrote:

So are giant african snails for eating? Or just as pets?
(See them on Freecycle sometimes.)

they are pretty good eating and if you get the conditions right they are good breeders and reach eating/breeding size from around 6 months.they are very efficient at turning leaves, a bit of fruit and veg into meat.

after salting to kill,deslime and dehydratethem ready to absorb boiling liquid they need a gentle boil for a few hours to make em soft enough to chew ,court bouillon to soften ,extract em and discard the gut then bbq or serve in a sauce/garlic butter is a place to start with recipes but in west africa stew is quite popular.

if you decide to give it a go the main things are temp about 30c,humidity 90%,fairly good ventilation,soil ph 7.5 to 8,plenty of chalk available,fly and fungus control . make sure they cant escape, they cant run but they are ace at hiding behind stuff and eventually dying of thirst after which they pong like a very pongy thing

if you can keep tropical fish or insects happy creating the right conditions for gaf's is not that difficult but it is a bit more complex than looking after temperate beasts .critter hvac engineering in a glass tank takes a bit of learning but the snails themselves are fairly easy to wrangle.

as pets they are quite interesting but still need good environmental control which is beyond most folk's abilities ,for exotic pets tree crabs are much easier.

Mutton

Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 1508

Posted: Thu May 26, 16 8:50 am Post subject:
Thanks for that. I think probably beyond us for the present - too many other things. We have cats to leave things in hidden places, that then produce that hard to track down whiff.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu May 26, 16 9:49 am Post subject:
Snails are the opposite. Not at all hard to track down, but the only way to tell if they're dead is the smell. Brian-the-snail expired at nursery, leaving many mourning 3 year olds and a niff because you couldn't really tell for a week!

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Fri May 27, 16 7:49 pm Post subject:
I tried to be restrained with my courgettes, pity no one told the slugs who ate the lot

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