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jennypat_gw

Slugs

I have lived here for 11 years now, and have never had a problem with slugs. UNTIL now! They are eating up my flowers. What do I do??

Jenny P

Comments (4)

  • dentaybow
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It seems like everyone has their favorite way of waging war on slugs. Everything from beer in shallow containers, coffee grounds, egg shells, copper tubing, diatomacous earth, hand picking those slimy things at night, etc.

    My favorite ways? Commercial slug bait. If you want to go organic, buy the one that contains iron phosphate. Does kill slugs but safe for cats, dogs, birds, etc and decomposes to a soil additive. Other slug bait products are available and are effective.
    The one concern I have with slug baits is that I feel it attracts them into the bed. If they are already in the beds in large numbers, placing the bait directly in the bed is a good thing. If they are coming into the bed from another hideout, then placing the bait in the bed may not be a good idea. Example, - one of my hosta beds is adjacent to the shady side of our deck. Under the deck it is cool and damp. The ideal daytime place for slugs to hide out. So I never put the bait directly into this bed but instead place the bait under the deck. Kill 'um before they get to the plants!

    The second thing I have found to be effective is spraying with an ammonia solution. If slugs are a major problem and you have large beds, it is worth buying one of those sprayers that attaches to a garden hose. Fill the jug up with straight ammonia (not the sudsy kind) and set the sprayer to the highest setting or as close as you can get to producing a 10-20 percent solution. Spray away....the whole area.....plants and all. Spray around the outside of the bed too where the slugs may be migrating into the beds. Most effective if done after dark when the slugs are on the prowl. A 20% ammonia solution doesn't hurt the plants in the least. In fact, gives them a little shot of nitrogen! The one exception is blue hostas....takes the waxy 'bloom' off and they end up rather green looking. If slugs are at their peak and really on a destructive mode, I would repeat the ammonia spray after dark every few days x2 and then every week x3 or until you have them under control. In the fall and early spring.....even if you don't see slugs or their damage...give the dormant beds a good shot of the ammonia spray. Keep their egg count down!

    I accidentally achieved slug control (so far) in my two large hosta beds. They are located under spruce trees. This spring I never got around to cleaning these beds so I have a nice thin layer of spruce needles interspersed with lots of spruce cones in the beds and around the beds. Since slugs are slimy, soft bodied creatures they avoid crawling over things that would rip their bodies to shreds. Spruce needles qualify. So you could mulch with pine or spruce needles. Lots of folks do this to control slugs. My other Hosta beds are not so lucky and do not have the naturally fallen spruce or pine needles. Those I have been spraying with an ammonia solution.

    Whatever method you use, use it consistently all this year and next year. Eventually you might get rid of them.

    I know what you mean when you said "I've never had a problem...". For me it is - I have never had a problem with cutworms. This year? They are mowing down my plants at an incredible rate. Going to launch a major assault on them today.
    Jan

  • jennypat Zone 3b NW MN
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you so much!! I think I know what the difference is, why I am now getting slugs. Until recently I never mulched! Now I mulch everything!

    Jenny P

  • dentaybow
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That will do it! I quit mulching all my shade beds several years ago and it really helped. This year, that thin layer of spruce needles is impressing me with the way it is controlling the slugs in my hostas. Gonna ask the owner of the pine plantation across the road if I can rake up a couple of bushel of pine needles. Want to try that in my shade bed by the deck which is still problematic.

    Good luck,
    Jan

  • Mary4b
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Coffee Grounds are doing the trick for me. I've never been a big coffee drinker, but recently I've gotten hooked on Starbuck's Frappucinos ventis. The saving grace on my expensive new habbit, is that I always ask for grounds when I go through the drive-thru. Every time I get about a 4 lb bag and I sprinkle them around all my wild ginger and hostas. So far, it's really doing the trick! I did do the math though, if my husband and I both get a large Frappucino once a week for a year, it's just over $400 a year! That's WAY too much for my budget, so I'll have to cut down now. Anyway, I know they'll give the coffee grounds without the purchase! Good luck!

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