I do not know if you can get it over there, but there are products such as SLUGGO, which kills the slugs and snails.

I had problems with them until I used such a product, and a lot of it one year and now they are no longer a problem.

For me one year did it.

How are you cultivating them? letting them sprawl on a flat surface, or hilling in the traditional manner? I would think that the latter would provide a lot more protection from slugs and snails.

To kill snails and slugs safely, leave a bowl of beer out for them.

No really, they love beer, and they basically get drunk enough that they fall in and drown.

yes, I use beer in shallow tin plates, and many do die, but the potato patch is very rocky and uneven and too large a patch to do it. It's a toss up - but I go thru the gardens at least once a day to hunt them. The surface of the garden is flat, with hilly mulch around each plant. They've grown and spread, and as far as I can tell are happy underground. Its the leaves that have gotten chomped. I was just wondering about if the leaves are gone, will the healthy plant (stem, roots, etc) put out new ones enough to flower? Or might they keep sending up shoots from underground and replace what's gone?

I don't think I've ever seen that product in stores here, though of course I've heard of it. The amount would be prohibitive, as I live in a very green, very wet, sloping part of a mountain. Snails and slugs come in from all directions and pay no attention to anything but the next green bite. There's a huge amount of rocks and crevices in the mountain and the slope for them to hide in, bushes, trees and leaves for them to choose from, and they then come right into my plants. I've tried netting, beer, barriers, you name it!
We actually might frost tonight, for the first time in 6-7 years. I've just been out covering up and trying to protect, as it happens so rarely we really aren't set up for frost/cold/snow, etc. Hail, yes. What lives, lives, and what dies, , oh, well. The real delicate to frost ones (lavender, strawberries, garlic, 2 poor, lonely peas, celery) have all been covered and braced. The potatoes? We'll see!

Batya, I do mean making the foliage harder for the slugs to get to. My experience is that in cool wet weather that slugs love probably the best defense is keeping areas around plants bare and loose soil, since that makes it harder for them to get around.

If you frequently hill the potatoes as the shoots come up I don't think the slugs could do a lot, crawling up hill on loose soil is very difficult for them. Later when the plants are quite large and over-growing the hills some chomping isn't going to wreck the crop.

I've also heard that things like coarsely ground eggshells are effective in repelling snails/slugs as well, due to the sharp edges poking and cutting at their soft bodies like humans with bare feet walking across broken glass.

Anything sufficiently sharp and pointy may help.

Thanks pn. When things dry out a bit I"ll give it a try.

Go to what ever garden farming supply stores you have in your area and ask what they sell for slug & snail control.

Some are toxic and others are not concerning pets.

Get enough boxes or containers to spread heavily not only in the are you are growing potatoes but a dozen feet or so outside the area.

If to many leaves are eaten the potato plants will die early and yield is greatly reduced.
I have your problem only I now have potato beetles rather than slugs.

I used four large boxes in an area approx. forty by forty feet.

Batya - I feel your pain. I think that the advocates of egg shells, beer, hilling and who think slugs won't go uphill on rough ground have never had real gastropod problem. For example, we have a little black soil dwelling slug which eats the tubers. No amount of hilling will stop that because they live underground. They also eat bulb shoots and flowers as soon as they show in spring. The picture shows a few of my little friends gathered along with some runner beans.

The only thing I have ever used which will even begin to curb them is either metaldehyde pellets (not good for the environment) or iron sulphate pellets (less dangerous but less effective). Also those in non-slug devastated regions need to remember that in a climate where it rains constantly baits need to be renewed frequently. We have had mild weather so far and the slugs are still very much active.

Would Diatemaceous earth help ????

Pest control

Diatomite is used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive properties.[8] The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate.[9] Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical-grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and humans, with questionable efficacy.[10][11] It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and eventually eliminate cockroach and flea infestations.[citation needed][12][13] This material has wide application for insect control in grain storage.[14] It has also been used to control bedbug infestations, but this method may take weeks to work.[15]

In order to be effective as an insecticide, diatomaceous earth must be uncalcinated (i.e., it must not be heat-treated prior to application)[16] and have a mean particle size below about 12 microns (i.e., food-grade� see below).

Although considered to be relatively low-risk, pesticides containing diatomaceous earth are not exempt from regulation in the United States under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and must be registered with the Environmental Protection Agency.[17]

My slug problems (eating my strawberries) ended when ground beetles moved in. The site below may help you get some allies in the potato patch (assuming these preditory critters are native to Israel?).

Here is a link that might be useful: Snail & Slug Preditors

Would Diatemaceous earth help ???? Not if it rains. You can't really buy it in the UK, presumably because the weather makes it useless, not sure about Israel.

I can vouch for the uselessness of frogs when faced with a real slug/snail problem. I have a little pond in my garden. It is thick with frogs and the garden is thick with snails and slugs. I also have ground beetles and hedgehogs. Still no match for the gastropods.

Batya, did you get snow?

Flora, I guess we have whimpy slugs over here....

How about some ducks? They LOVE slugs. We had ducks in our garden when I was growing up and I don't remember them eating the garden, just the pests.

Hi PN - I think we provide optimum living conditions for them with our incessant rain, relatively mild temps and year round supply of yummy greenery. I think in the Gastropod Olympics UK slugs would be way up the medal table. We sometimes see snails on the upstairs windowsills - and we have 4 storeys.

are you sure it is slugs and not potato bugs? they will devour the plants,and the newly hatched hide on the underside and are hard to know without looking. flour sprinkled on the plants should help kill them safely.

Below is a link to a mechanical barrier for slugs, maybe this will help you.
A top rate site in the U.S.

http://parkseed.com/slug-shieldtrade-stem-barrier-pack-of-6/p/96973-PK-6/

countryfarm304 - not sure if your question is directed at Batya (OP) or me. If me it's not potato bugs as we don't have them in the UK. They are a notifiable pest and if you see one you have to report it.

japus - afik copper does work against slugs but is not practical for an entire garden on grounds of cost. People here tend to use copper just for really prized plants in pots.

Copper seems to work for me, I have placed copper pipe (leftover from the house pumping) around the garden bed. The slugs now concentrate elsewhere, and are easily to find and pick out. I will slowly keep purchasing some more until the whole area is covered.

Slugs hate plants with strong smells, Lavender, chives, strong smelling mint, rosemary, geraniums to name a few, if you put these next to the plants that the slugs devour it should deter them, naturally too. :)