BASF Nemaslug

As you will have seen this year I'm having a load of slug and snail problems, some of this I have caused because of my leg injury and running late I didn't get all my slug traps down and decimate the numbers adequately and early enough. 

Then we have had so much rain that flood warnings have been issued and the Grotto canal in Carshalton park was full and flowing down to the high street and no doubt flooding Westcroft sports Centre again this year. With all this moisture it's been a slug and snail paradise. 

An offer to trial BASF Nemaslug was made to a number of bloggers and I've taken advantage of it and yes I'm waiting for them to arrived.  So if you have not heard of Nematodes, you don't know what they are and how they work then below are three very informative videos that will bring you up to speed.  






How do Nematodes work? 

Can I see the wife allowing me to store these in the fridge, I very much doubt it! 

However the literature and guidance from web sites is that when you receive your pack of Nemaslug place it in the refrigerator immediately and use in one go within the use by date (which can be up to four weeks)  



BASF Factory Tour 



Why choose Nemasys and Nemaslug? 

Nemaslug is less effective on cloggy clay soil, which has not been worked and / or has become waterlogged so it's not going to be too effective down on plot 1 which has not been dug over or the beds put in yet. 

Nemaslug comes in two pack sizes to treat 40 sq metres at a cost of £12.99 and 100 square metres at a cost of £23.99.

Based on treating a 2.4m x 1,2m bed which equals 2.88m a 40 square metres  pack will cover 13.88 beds and a 100 square metres pack will cover 34.7 beds. At the moment I have no idea which one they are going to send but I suspect it will be the 40 sq metres pack. The figures are obvious based on mixing correctly and applying as directed on the pack.  

There is a good article from the Daily Telegraph written in 2011 that explains in detail how you can make your own free version of Nemaslug and the video below shows how to make your own nematode solution if you would rather watch a video rather than read the article. 




Slugs are generally active when plants start growing and soil temperate is over 5 degrees C  Young slugs tend to stay underground, feeding on decaying organic matter, developing unseen and waiting for young seedlings to be planted. They breed all year with two overlapping generations. Peak egg laying is March to April and September to October. So if the soil temperature is adequate Nemaslug or Nematodes can be used between March and October.

Bearing in mind that it's only effective for six weeks, I think when I get mine I will use some of the nemaslug to infect slugs caught and placed on an island of vegetation in a bucket with a lid so that a couple of weeks later I have another batch ready to use and again use some of that batch to create a third batch if I'm still able to catch enough slugs to make it viable I shall keep producing home made Nematode Solution and keep applying for as long as I can between March and October. Next year I will buy a pack and use some of that to start off the DIY Nematodes in bucket process.  

For those that are too lazy to find the slugs and make their own they can buy nemaslug every six weeks so that's about four times a year, between March and October.

I will update you on how things pan out with Nemaslugs and the home made version.