9th August

At long last the Cucumber tunnel is almost ready to start growing Cucumbers for harvesting.

This year we lost most of the crop, right at the start.  with a very late and very cold frost.

So we had to start again, and re sowed another two hundred and forty seeds.

Then when they were ready to be planted, I was still waiting for Slug gone pellets.

Slug gone pellets are an organic slug protection, they are a natural product and is produced from recycled wool.

We sprinkle them around each plant, and when watered they form a mat around the stem of the plant.

Minute fibres in the mat are an irritant to slugs.

As an organic material slug gone slow releases nutrients, which also helps feed the plants, as well as improving moisture retention.

All in all it is an amazing product, and we have been using it for years.

I was forced into looking for an organic solution, to overcome our slug problem, which in the past we have lost a whole tunnel of cucumber over a weekend to slugs, even though we have loads of frogs eating them.

But this year I had ordered the slug gone pellets in February, plenty time I thought.

But with Covid, I am still waiting for the order to arrive, and we need to buy in bulk so it’s not as simple as going into garden centres and looking for some.

So we waited and waited, till eventually we had to plant the plants.

So I had a thought of using vermiculite, this is what we use to sprinkle over all the seeds that we bring on.

Its very fine material that retains moisture and can be used to help germinate seeds.

So we planted all the cucumbers and sprinkled vermiculite around the base of each plant.

And we waited to see what was going to happen.                                                                          We still have loads of slugs and loads of frogs, but we now have loads of very good-looking Cucumber plants, so vermiculite does work with slug protection, I just wish I hadn’t waited tor so long on the slug gone pellets to arrive.