Slugs - girlfriends? enemies? the conference of Hervé Coves

[perseus]

Hello,

Ha yes I had already seen his video on aphids. Interesting, but not always easy when you have a limited area to grow elder hedges or other.
The fact is that at home, it has calmed down since the spring, I am amazed by the quantity of Syrphids and ladybugs now. But winter / early spring outing remains a problem. I would watch the end of summer carefully.
On the slug side, I have fewer worries or not the same and rather snails. Cabbage vaguely attacked, nothing on salads.
The only plants that cause concern in spring are; the young basil plants, and on the ornamental side the sunflower, dahlia. For sunflower seedlings if I do not want to use ferramol I have no other solution than to physically protect them with a plastic bottle bottom for example until the first leaves are well developed. Otherwise, the slightest snail will knock out the cotyledons overnight.
I eliminate snails manually from time to time (under planks, stones ...).

Personal and at the risk of repeating myself , I remain convinced that the notion of balance has a dynamic dimension especially in our latitudes, I even spoke of imbalances in perpetual compensation. Not to mention that there is what we see (slug, aphids, their pests) but also what we do not see, bacterial flora, mushrooms .... Did took the image of walking and I find that this is appropriate.
Therefore, I am convinced that there is not a single form of equilibrium but a multitude and that the temporal notion must be integrated into it. At a time T, talking about balance in my vegetable garden would make absolutely no sense to me. But maybe over a period of 5 years, it makes sense.
Finally in my opinion, one should not personify the balance as if it were going to settle everything by itself. In 1840, Irish and Scottish soils were surely less clubbed with pesticides and herbicides than today, but the unpredictable arrival of downy mildew changed the situation and hurts very, very.

@+

[Ahmed]

Perseus, the arrival of late blight is one thing, the agronomic context is another and the disaster to which you allude results from the meeting of a pathogen and a human error. For socio-political reasons, the cultivation of potatoes had spread beyond measure: when you put everything on a single production, you are at the mercy of a hazard * with very serious consequences ... Unfortunately, the Irish had no choice ...

* We even provoke him, making his task easier.

[Did67]

and ornamental side the sunflower, dahlia.

Two martyr plants that I "cultivate" in my "hedgehog garden" (I also lost a few sunflowers and a dahlia).

[perseus]

Hello Ahmed,

Perseus, the arrival of late blight is one thing, the agronomic context is another and the disaster to which you allude results from the meeting of a pathogen and a human error. For socio-political reasons, the cultivation of potatoes had spread beyond measure: when you put everything on a single production, you are at the mercy of a hazard * with very serious consequences ... Unfortunately, the Irish had no choice ...

* We even provoke him, making his task easier.

Absolutely. My point was reductive, its meaning was correct to say that having an agriculture free from an intensive use of "-cide" products is not enough to guarantee a super balance that happens naturally.
It's just that I often see around me, here or there, people who say: "I don't do anything for the slugs and I have no problems, it's proof that it is balanced [... ] so I don't see why everyone else wouldn't do like me. "

You are absolutely right, for example, that intensive monoculture was a terribly aggravating factor.

@+

[perseus]

Hello,

and ornamental side the sunflower, dahlia.

Two martyr plants that I "cultivate" in my "hedgehog garden" (I also lost a few sunflowers and a dahlia).

Mmmh, I fear that Madame is hardly motivated to see her future flowers martyred
Perhaps I will see to arrange an adapted martyrdom zone which is appropriate.
My more limited and confined space than a large vegetable garden at the edge of the forest, with the search for a small floral garden in addition will impose on me some production of gray matter juice ... If I am still able.

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[Ahmed]

As you understand, my point was not a criticism of your message, but a complement.

I have already told this story, but it is perhaps not useless to start again: a selection of a poplar clone (Beaupré) had proved very refractory to leaf rust (a common parasite of these trees ); as it had very interesting characteristics, and despite the warnings of its designer, it was planted on huge areas, in pure plantations (without a mixture of several clones). The result is that after several years without problems, a rust mutation suitable for this clone found abundant food and quickly spread, to the point that Beaupré was banned for sale and planting.
Obviously, genetic uniqueness was the factor here that exploded this propagation phenomenon, but the same thing could be observed on different individuals of the same species or relatives, with parasites with a wider attack spectrum.

[perseus]

Hello,

As you understand, my point was not a criticism of your message, but a complement.

No worries at all. :-)

I have already told this story, but it is perhaps not useless to start again: a selection of a poplar clone (Beaupré) had proved very refractory to leaf rust (a common parasite of these trees ); as it had very interesting characteristics, and despite the warnings of its designer, it was planted on huge areas, in pure plantations (without a mixture of several clones). The result is that after several years without problems, a rust mutation suitable for this clone found abundant food and quickly spread, to the point that Beaupré was banned for sale and planting.
Obviously, genetic uniqueness was the factor here that exploded this propagation phenomenon, but the same thing could be observed on different individuals of the same species or relatives, with parasites with a wider attack spectrum.

I didn't know the story, but it's interesting. I work in the wine sector and I am convinced that the selection of Clones (trend very very heavy for decades now) is likely to constitute a certain danger for the profession because of the genetic standardization that this entails. Even if I understand the advantages that can be linked (uniqueness of characters, virosis allowance etc etc).

@+

[Adrien (ex-nico239)]

and ornamental side the sunflower, dahlia.

Two martyr plants that I "cultivate" in my "hedgehog garden" (I also lost a few sunflowers and a dahlia).

And on the side of predators is there no way to favor, pamper, "cultivate" the carabid population?

I think they like hedges ... but it's true that they were destroyed a lot at one time

[Ahmed]

Yes, the use of clones is a dangerous facility, in the sense that it is difficult to obtain a plant having all the characteristics desired by the breeder (and which reflect what they want, rightly or wrongly , professional users): as soon as the plant lends itself to it, it is extremely tempting to reproduce it identically. It is the case of plants from cuttings, or as in the one you cite (grapevine), of grafting, but it is also that of stable or hybrid varieties, whose diversity of genetic inheritance shrinks like skin of grief.

[Did67]

... and I am convinced that the selection of Clones (a very very heavy trend for decades now) is likely to constitute a certain danger for the profession due to the genetic standardization that this entails. Even if I understand the advantages that can be linked (uniqueness of characters, virosis allowance etc etc).

@+

The varieties propagated by cuttings or grafting (whether they are vines, fruit trees, or small fruit trees) are de facto clones. Clementine is a naturally occurring mutation identified by Father Clément. All clementines are clones of this unique subject. All Burlat cherries are clones of the first leg of Burlat identified and multiplied identically until today ...

[We can sometimes "regenerate" strains or varieties by cultures of meristems, to start again on clones free of various viroses, but still with the same genetic heritage]

Hence the extreme fragility of vineyards and orchards and the extreme "actions" undertaken as soon as a pest appears: compulsory systematic treatments, sometimes compulsory felling ...