Best Companion Plantings You Know

[englishladyMember]

 

I am very keen to try to keep bugs off new veggies and have been reading about companion planting.

It seems a very natural and sensible way to avoid the bugs which can ruin a food crop.  I wonder if

we can create some kind of table as to which plant is best planted with which veggie and what the

companion provides to the veg crop?

 

My main concern though are slugs and snails   —  such revolting things I dont think I could even pick

them up.  I have read about sunken beer baths in old yogurt cartons, but whether the slugs drink it

and get inebriated or simply throw themselves in and drown, I dont know.

 

Also read about a crinkly ‘copper’ strip which goes around the edges of the raised bed, or the plant pot for individual plants, which the slugs and snails hate to crawl over.  It is not cheap and some say it does not work when wet.

 

Another idea was to mulch with shredded bark (preferably from an oak tree) which apparently they hate sliming over. But no reviews if this works or not.

 

The last one is a collar for each plant, made of a thin rubber mat, with the center cut so it expands as the plant grows.  Then on this mat, away from the center, sprinkle a circle of table salt.  This worries me in case the salt gets into the earth and messes up the structure.

 

Since I am new to this, I would really appreciate experienced gardeners feedback.  And may I suggest a separate Forum to deal with pests and other problems ?

 

Thank you for such a great site, I shall be back often having found it at last !

Best wishes

 

Julie

[bluebellParticipant]

If you have a coffee shop near by ask for the used coffee grounds – I use them when sowing direct in to the ground and have found them very effective not only at keeping slughs and snails off but also marking the line of seedings prior to germination – when I can be prone to accidentally hoeing them off.

[englishladyMember]

 

Hi Bluebell  –  You are a mine of information, what a super idea.  Maybe the slugs dont like to slime over the grounds.  I can tolerate most bugs but slugs make my flesh crawl !  I will give it a go, thank you again !!   Very best to you  –  Julie

[Phil RParticipant]

Personally I don’t know if it works but have been given that advice by one of our allotment wardens. Worth a go if you eat eggs. Just crush them up and spread around plants.

[DaucusMember]

I’ve planted a row of French marigolds alongside the tomatoes in the tunnel, and they are proving to be a good line of defence for the precious veg as the slugs are eating them first.

If you are revolted by slugs a beer trap might not be such a good idea unless you can get someone else to empty it! I’ve found them very effective though. Also, I had a bit of success using sheep fleece around individual plants, but it didn’t do so well in the wet summer of 2013.

Do you have any hedgehogs in your garden? It’d be worth encouraging them, they do a great job on snails.

 

[charlesModerator]

That is so true Daucus, French marigolds are a good barometer of slig activity, their favourite food and I lose a few, then go slug hunting.

[davidkParticipant]

Yes I plant Spinach in amongst my strawbs, it worked last year with a good crop of strawbs unaffected by the birds. This year the spinach was planted in spring & is not covering the strawbs as well. So this autumn I will plant spinach in strawberry patch. It is an amazing crop this year with loads of strawbs  & flowers. Going to have to net this year.

[englishladyMember]

Thank you everyone, what fascinating replies.  So the slugs actually throw themselves in the beer?  Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I did not know that.  i thought they just drank it then went off tipsy somewhere else other than the precious veg.

Egg shells and coffee grounds sound brilliant (and free) I will definitely be trying those two.  Also the idea of French Marigolds to protect the veggies is a great one.  I think I have heard about that one before, but I have never heard of the spinach amongst strawberries.  I wonder what the dynamics of that one is?  Do they eat the spinach instead of the strawberries.

What about the use of salt?  Or would that be very bad for the crops if it got onto or into the soil? Another one is seaweed, presumably that is salty but would they slime over it, someone said not, but I just dont know.

Thanks so much to everyone for all your tips and comments, what a brilliant Forum.

 

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