Little pale slugs are attracted to lettuces, so they need to be kept safe in large rings.
Slug Rings can be opened at the join to remove them from plants which have grown too bushy.
These broad beans will grow in small rings until they are large enough to survive snail trouble without rings
Seeds - we start the season by protecting the seed trays from slugs and snails. We put a few Slug Rings on the greenhouse staging as short pillars supporting a board to make a slug and snail free area for the seed trays.
Seedlings - slugs and snails have thousands of rasping teeth, but they like their food soft and tender, so they prefer the fresh growth of young shoots above all else. A whole row of young plants can be lost overnight, so we always put Slug Rings around plants as soon as the seeds have germinated and can be seen above ground. Similarly we put Slug Rings round seedlings as we transplant them into the vegetable beds. In dry weather the rings act as small reservoirs, making for more efficient watering of your seedlings.
Basil - protect with a small ring for its entire life.
Brassicas (including
Swedes) - we plant out the seedlings and protect them with large Slug Rings. We leave these on for the whole of their growing season.
Broad Beans and Bush Beans - protect with small rings until they are 9 inches high, and so no longer at risk of being wiped out by a little slug damage, which frees the rings up for use elsewhere.
Carrots and Parnsips - these seedlings need protecting with small rings to give them a chance to get started, then the rings can come off.
French Beans and Runner Beans - we sow two seeds next to each pole and enclose them with a small ring at planting time so that the bean shoots will be protected from the moment they come up. The pole must be inside the Slug Ring. After the beans are 9 inches tall (so no longer at risk of being destroyed by a slug) we take the rings off and re-use them on something more vulnerable.
Lettuce, Rocket, Salad Leaves, Spinach - spend the whole of their lives protected by large rings.
Peas - we transplant seedlings into the open ground in small rings or three plants in a large ring. When the pea has grown to 9 inches tall we move the Slug Ring onto the next successional sowing.
Sweetcorn - the young plant gets protected with a small ring and then when the sweetcorn has reached about 9 inches high, the ring can come off for use on other vulnerable plants.
Tomatoes, Peppers and Chillies - the young plants get protected by small Slug Rings. The older plants don't need protecting but we leave the rings in place as the fruits, particularly peppers, seem to be a favourite with snails.
For more about Slug Rings see
How to use Slug Rings
