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Ferric phosphate slug pellets: what to check before you buy

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have hostas with new holes, lettuce seedlings, or an allotment bed that was clean on Friday. The amazon.co.uk results call wool, powder and blue bait the same thing. This page is the check before you use the prices on our [slug pellets comparison](/hub/pest-control/slug-pellets). Ferric phosphate slug pellets are a pesticide you scatter so slugs and snails stop feeding. An organic or OF&G line is not permission to use more, and it is not a clearance for a dog. Entry tubs in the 19 October 2026 scrape sat at about £7 to £9. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have hostas with new holes, lettuce seedlings, or an allotment bed that was clean on Friday. The amazon.co.uk results call wool, powder and blue bait the same thing.

Our top picks

Provanto Provanto Slug & Snail Killer Max 800 g

Best overall

Provanto Provanto Slug & Snail Killer Max 800 g
8.8/10about £7.32
View offer
Neudorff Neudorff Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer 800 g

Alternative

Neudorff Neudorff Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer 800 g
8.6/10about £7.99
View offer
Pestshield Pestshield 4 × Slug & Snail Killer 300 g

Best value

Pestshield Pestshield 4 × Slug & Snail Killer 300 g
8.6/10about £10.93
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are allowed to buy
  2. 2.What the bait does
  3. 3.Rate, pack and the organic line
  4. 4.What to skip in this set

What you are allowed to buy

Metaldehyde pellets are not a spare for the hostas. In Great Britain, outdoor supply ended on 31 March 2021, use ran until 31 March 2022, and selling or using them has been illegal since 1 April 2022. An old tub goes to local-authority waste. If you garden in Northern Ireland, check the HSE pesticides register rather than copying those dates onto your label. What remains is ferric phosphate. HSE treats these as plant protection products, so the label is the instruction, not the shortest Amazon bullet. Which? still flags EDTA, the ingredient that keeps the iron in a form slugs will eat. Wool, seaweed and copper tape in the same search are barriers. The RHS lettuce result sits on slug pellets versus nematodes.

What the bait does

Ferric phosphate does not leave a path of corpses. Slugs and snails eat the bait, stop feeding, and often die out of sight. Sluggo’s bullets say there are no slime traces and no visible dead slugs. The active substance has to be named. JKG’s 800 g listing, B0F92HK454, does not state one, and the item form is powder while the bullets say pellets. FERRIS, on B09XJL6JTC and the two-pack, names ferric phosphate and then says the pellets are infused with nematodes. A nematode product is watered into moist soil. If birds are clearing the pellets, you are watching the dose disappear. That limit is on slug pellets, pets and wildlife.
Provanto Provanto Slug & Snail Killer Max 800 g

Testsieger

Provanto Provanto Slug & Snail Killer Max 800 g
8.8/10about £7.32
View offer

Rate, pack and the organic line

The gram rate is not one number. Sluggo’s bullets on B007W9STKK say 5 g per square metre. The title says 100 square metres from 800 g. At 5 g, 800 g covers 160 square metres. Follow the gram line on the packet. Ultra+ is a different Neudorff product. The manufacturer page states 2.5 g per square metre, and that rate is not on ASIN B07GZBGLJ1. Using Sluggo’s 5 g on that bottle would lay twice the scatter. Provanto’s claim of up to 210 square metres from 800 g is about 3.8 g if you divide it. Provanto names OF&G. Other organic lines in this set often name no certifier. OF&G means the product is sold for organic growing when you follow the label. It does not cancel the rate. The best slug pellets page names a tub.

What to skip in this set

Skip a listing that will not name ferric phosphate. Here that is JKG at about £8.95, with a powder-versus-pellet clash. Skip the FERRIS nematode sentence as a reason to buy. Provanto’s 4.4 from 6,699 is one conversation on two ASINs. FERRIS’s 4.5 is one conversation on a smaller shared sample. Pestshield is the best-value badge at about £0.91 per claimed 100 g, and half-full tubs are the limit on that saving. A 21 October 2026 check found no featured offer on the Provanto 800 g, so about £7.32 is a snapshot.

Common questions

Are metaldehyde pellets still legal?
In Great Britain, selling or using metaldehyde slug pellets outdoors has been illegal since 1 April 2022. Supply had already stopped at the end of March 2021, and a use-up period ran to 31 March 2022. Leftovers go to your council’s waste service. If you are in Northern Ireland, check the HSE register before you treat those dates as your law.
What should the active line say?
It should say ferric phosphate, sometimes hydrated ferric phosphate, with a strength such as Sluggo’s 10 g/kg. If the line is missing, do not fill the gap from another brand. JKG’s file in this set does not state an active substance. Blue dye helps you see the scatter. It is not the active ingredient.
Does organic mean I can use more?
Organic, organic-systems and OF&G describe a growing-system claim when you follow the label. The rate still binds you. Which? treats EDTA as a reason to dose only the plants you mean to protect. The RHS still advises against pellets, including organic ones, because of wildlife.
Is a granule the same as a pellet?
On these listings, no. Growing Success is granules in the title and pellets in the bullets. JKG is powder in the item form and pellets in the bullets. Buy the form the label describes, and do not assume a powder is the same bait as Sluggo.
Why is the two-pack not twice the evidence?
Provanto’s pack of two and FERRIS’s pack of two reuse the star line of the single tub. You may be buying two pots. You are not buying 13,000 Provanto reviews or 2,400 FERRIS reviews. Read the shared pool once, then decide if you need the spare.
Where do wool and seaweed belong?
They are barriers, not bait, even when the title says slug pellets. The RHS trial did not separate wool pellets from several other barriers on lettuces. If you will not use a pesticide, the nematode comparison is the next page, not a wool listing filed as bait.

Related pages

How to use slug pellets

Slug pellets

Best slug pellets UK: one tub and who should skip it

Are slug pellets safe for dogs, children and hedgehogs?

Slug pellets vs nematodes: when each one fits the bed

Sources

Public UK sources used for the ban, the label duty, wildlife and manufacturer rates. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures captured for these nine listings. Last checked 21 October 2026.

  1. GOV.UK metaldehyde ban (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. Defra media blog on the metaldehyde ban (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. HSE garden pesticides (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. RHS slugs and snails (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. Which? how to get rid of slugs and snails (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. Neudorff Sluggo (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. VPIS slug and snail control (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. Westland Growing Success slug killer (retrieved 21 October 2026)