Kitchen Garden Forum

I am new to composting only been doing it a couple of months i have one of the plastic bins but every time i put stuff in it i seem to be finding a lot of slugs mainly inside the lid of the bin is this something to worry about ?

Nothing to worry about if you are a shareholder in the Saxa salt company.

I do try to kill them off in my bins just to stop them moving onto the stuff I am trying to grow, but another lot move in pretty quickly.

At least they help break down the compost (allegedly) but when you distribute the compost back around your plots you also distribute the underground slugs.

Catch 22 (or maybe more if you go out at night with a torch )

Get loads of slugs in my plastic bin at home, less at lottie with my pallet bins. Take them off & dispose of them as best you can! That compost will have slug eggs in them - try to heat it if you can before you put it on your beds!

Westi

Not an issue I've ever noticed. Although, my whole garden has a slug problem this year, so its likely that I've just not looked at the right time. Personally, I've been putting the compost through a rotary sift with a very fine (~1mm, but dont quote me, I'm measuring by eye) mesh... So I hope that would crush the eggs out of existence... and gives the compost a beautiful crumb...

Hi Dan
That mesh size sounds more like a flour or caster sugar sifter.

A normal garden sieve would probably let eggs and small black slugs through it so I suspect many of us are perpetuating the problem of slugs on the plot itself

I loved sieved soil and try to sift the soil at least where root crops are going to go, but its getting to be very arduous work

I first fancied one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scheppach-RS40 ... B0016N0K7S
when they were £399, gone up a bit since. Anyway I have no electricity supply, nearest lamp post is too far away

thank you for the advice everyone

I'm going for the heat treatment for when I sort the compost. Traded my insulated plastic sheet fencing with my neighbour for his steel sheets so have the basic equipment & a huge pile of material to burn without even doing the winter prunings! I'll still have to sieve it of course but determined not to transfer the weed seeds & other nasties! Got to work out a method of raising it over the fire, but I'm sure just the ashes will have enough heat to just put it direct on top.

Westi

Westi. Just check the compost very carefully first for any small hibernating toads or frogs. You don't want to be contributing to the nation's disappearing toad problem!

Pa Snip wrote:Hi Dan
That mesh size sounds more like a flour or caster sugar sifter.

A normal garden sieve would probably let eggs and small black slugs through it so I suspect many of us are perpetuating the problem of slugs on the plot itself

I loved sieved soil and try to sift the soil at least where root crops are going to go, but its getting to be very arduous work

I first fancied one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scheppach-RS40 ... B0016N0K7S
when they were £399, gone up a bit since. Anyway I have no electricity supply, nearest lamp post is too far away

your right there pa, I found the user manual today while tidying the shed... its a ~3mm mesh(1/8 inch to be exact) and it has a bigger 5mm one(3/16 inch)... so yeh, I'm rubbish at guestimating lengths.

I wish I had the money for one of them lol... My one is an old hand me down from my grandad and is hand powered. Still, gets the job done nice

dan3008 wrote: My one is an old hand me down from my grandad and is hand powered. Still, gets the job done nice

As long as job gets done that's all that counts. well done

It was 4 years ago when I really needed a powered sieve, having just taken my current plots on I was sieving soil and removing barrow loads of stones,
example, there were 15 barrow loads which had accumulated at the front of the plot alone.


As the subject is slugs in compost, guess what I had, yet another load of, delivered yesterday..........................minus the slugs

I've got a rotary sieve that used to be dad's, but I rarely use it as there are so many worms in the soil and compost. You always miss some if you try removing them before sieving and I'm not into mincing wildlife. Might make an exception for slugs but it still seems cruel.

Hi Primrose,

Every critter except a rat will be protected! x

Westi

Whilst sieving we try and retain worms without harm.

So we collect them up and take them back to their roots by placing them safely where they serve out a life sentence ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Wormwood Shrubs

Funny Pa!

Wormwood shrubs is a bit far for our worms to walk but they do have strangeways