Neudorff Trial Samples Arrive

Following the Garden Press Event that took place during the Beast form the East Part 1 this morning I received a parcel of goodies to play with and review from Neudorff

There's more samples here than I was expecting, and I have to say there is nothing that I will not use or be glad of playing with, and would like to thank Neudorff for their generosity.

I'm always happy to trial new products and equipment or items I have not used before as long as those providing them understand that just because they are normally provided free doesn't mean that I'm not going give an honest review based on my experience and opinion on the product. I provide reviews on this blog of a lot of products that I do purchase, but free is my preferred price to play. 

Taking my interest first and what was the main item of interest for me at The Garden Press Event this year is Sluggo which is an alternative to Metaldehyde based products slug control pellets. Last year was particularly bad for slugs, as I was not as vigilant as previous years due to my time on site being reduced due to the wife being hospitalised, splitting my time between two plots on two different allotment sites and having an overgrown plot and haven for slugs and snails, complete with vegetation in the form of brambles, bindweed and nettles next door that kept trying to invade my plot.

I now have taken on the overgrown neighbouring plot so I'm hoping for a better year this year with regards slugs and snail although I suspect there are still 100 & 1000s of eggs hiding and waiting until spring comes and will be ready to hatch.  

I have to admit I hadn't really looked into Metaldehyde in any great depth, but from what I have been reading and have found out about it recently, it's something that I will stop using,  as soon as my stock of pellets have gone!.

I'm glad that I make the pop bottle slug traps to protect wild life, but I would rather not have to spend the time doing that, plus once full of damp pellet remains and slug bodies can't really be put in the plastic recycle bin. I have an impressive stock of pop bottle slug traps and again, I will use them up rather than waste them, I just hope the pellets and traps last the same amount of time.    

I'm hoping that Sluggo pellets which are rain resistant and swell when damp to make them even more attractive to slugs and snails, plus the fact they are biodegradable with unconsumed pellets convert into iron and phosphate in the soil, delivering added nutrients to the plants are as effective or more effective than the Metaldehyde pellets.

There is a part of me that would still like to see the bodies, but the condition of the vegetables will be the real indicator of how much better or not they are, only a trial and time will tell.