pd, the Sluggo isn't an upfront poison and not meant to be a barrier. They eat it, it constipates them or otherwise shuts down their digestion, and they quit eating your plants and die. They may continuing munching for a few days after you place Sluggo around, but once they slow down so will your plant damage.

Nothing wrong with hand picking the ones you see. Drop them in salt water, squish them, whatever. You will be doing your plants a big favor and cutting back on their future reproduction as well.

No, I´ve never seen a dead slug ( usually they desintegrate ) but I´ve seen the damage they can do to my plants ( needless to say I hate them having my plants as main course ), I use Bug-Getha Snail & Slug killer sprikled regularly on the flowerbeds to get rid of them. I wish fire ants were so easy to get rid of as slugs and snails, not that they do much damage to your plants but OUCH !!!!!!

Hey Raul in hot, sunny Mexico: I can scarcely believe you have slugs in that paradise. Fire ants I can do without. Is there any defense against them besides avoidance?

We see lots of dead slugs- every time Walt puts Corry's Slug & Snail bait around there's hundreds of them dead all around the perimeter of the gardens-- that's how we keep them out- don't put it in the garden- just do a sprinkling all around the outside. We've never had any problem with cats, dogs or birds eating it, either-- they're all far too smart to do that I guess!

Our first dog wasn't so smart Cory and ended up in the Animal ER. Luckily she was spared and went on to live 13 years, but metaldehyde kills lots of less fortunate pets. It does work on slugs though, you're right.

I used Sluggo early on and haven't seen very many at all except banana slugs in the woods around here: a good thing.

Pdshop, I just noticed you mentioned grit around your plants. What sort of grit is that? Our dahlia association is having a speaker on Sluggo products this month, so fire me any questions you want me to ask and I'll try to do so.

Ah, the slugs. Little buggers got into my very first dahlia (the mystery purchase at a nursery which got me hooked on dahlias in the first place). I saw TONS of dead slugs once I put out a nightly frisbee full of beer. They drank themselves to death or drowned, not sure which. That tided me over until I got some Eliminator Snail & Slug Bait II. The "bait" bit scared me a little, but it does poison them. According to the carton, it can be sprinkled lightly in the garden, and a "pencil-thin" line around the garden acts as a barrier. It also claims to be so irresistable that it draws them out of their hiding places to feast on it. I have noticed dead snails in it now, and I haven't seen any slug damage on the plants since putting it down. Has to be re-applied ever ten days or so, and you're supposed to dampen the ground first. Beer was a great quick fix, I thought it was a wive's tale, but tried it out of desparation and it really worked well.

We get lots of slugs and snails down here in hot sunny Mexico Poochela, it´s seasonal and has to do with the rainy season ( late May until late September ), it´s hot but not sunny anymore, cloudy, lots of rain and humidity perfect for slugs and snails, once the rains stop you very seldomly see them anymore and they only come out at night.

Fire ants spread just about when the season begins after the first couple of rains, at night if you happen to see a nest you can watch hundreds of winged queens ready to flight and create new colonies. I hate them, there I am doing my chores as the master gardener of the house ( my kingdom ) putting my hands in the flowerbeds and OUCH !!!!. The only way to control them is with Ant Stop.

Oh well, warm climates have hot bugs associated to them.

I make up the grit from sand a Diatomeasous (sp) earth. As you can see that isn't working. I have never heard of the 2 mentioned above and will try and find them. I don't know why as the animal and slugs are already in the garden under other plants.

pd, whatever you use to fight the slugs snails and critters, it will pay off if you do it consistently. Diatomaceaous earth, crushed baked eggshells, slug baits, whatever: just use them.

I never had much luck with the beer traps though. I think they got too diluted by our frecuent spring rainfalls. They'd only catch one or two overnight.

Years ago to entertain a young nephew, I promised him a new video game if he and his sibs could pick 100, 200 or 300 slugs (I forgot the number now, but it was a lot.) They were done with the task and home with a slithering, disgusting 5 gallon bucket crawling with slugs in about 45 minutes! So much for entertaining youth in Western WA.

But the population has dwindled to completely manageable since those days with seasonal baiting, and occasional slug-icide. It's really quite rare to find anything but new slug hatchlings and the big banana slugs in the woods these days. Three cheers.

Raul, ah yes,I remember hurricane season now. I think I'd prefer hot and cloudy to cold and rainy, except for the fire ants! Every climate has its own pests and set of challenges, doesn't it?