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ellen_portland

Non toxic slug control?

ellen_portland
12 years ago

Hi,

I know this has been posted about many times, but I'd love to have some fresh answers all in one place- especially non-toxic- as I have a Golden Retriever who likes to graze and "inspect" my plants.

I am so excited about all my blooms etc. coming up this year and did a quick check around (in the rain) and many of my new shoots have holes chewed all over. My Peonies look terrible ;-(

I don't have raised beds or pots- the plants are all running along the fenceline. I don't want to put up any barriers that would block our view of seeing things.

Love some ideas/directions to go in TIA!!

Comments (8)

  • jean001a
    12 years ago

    - Daily Search-and-Destroy missions carried out by a determined gardener. Either *very+* early each AM or about 10 PM. BE prepared to either cut in half or drop into slightly soapy water.

    - Set a board (15" X 15")just beyond the planting you want to protect; prop it just aboveground by placing on 2 bricks, 1 each at opposite sides; go out early every morning, lift the board, the scrape the slugs into slightly soapy water; set board back onto the brisk. Repeat daily.

    - Use one of the iron-phosphate products according to label directions.

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    12 years ago

    The pet friendly iron phosphate baits come in many brands these days - Ortho Ecosense, Sluggo, Worry Free, Escar-go just to name a few.

    I go out (not in full rain gear, but when better weather permits) after dark with a flashlight and spray bottle of approx 1/4 household ammonia to 3/4 water and spritz them - dead in a heartbeat and the mixture doesn't harm foliage, so if you catch them in the act of feeding on your favorite plant, all the better :)

    It's enlightening to find whats in your garden at night, cutworms (carry your oldest pruners to snip those in half), I've even encountered deer and raccoons. Also - while having very little evidence of weevils on rhododendrons or azaleas, I've discovered those regularly on siberian iris and dwarf solomons seal - which explained why iron phosphate baits around those wasn't helping with the chewing.

  • Lorri_DK
    12 years ago

    Sluggo is awesome. Diatomaceas earth. Copper stripping. beneficial nematodes, but they only kill the slugs at certain times of their growth cycle. Egg shells, and letting the soil dry out on the top and remove places for them to hid. Rock, branches etc...

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    12 years ago

    There's also the always popular beer traps and there is a growing body of evidence that slugs are not fond of caffeine, either spraying leftover coffee directly on them and vulnerable plant parts or by bordering plants with a ring of used coffee grounds. The UCG's act similarly to diatomaceous earth in that they abrade the slugs' body so they avoid traveling across.

    Here is a link that might be useful: entertaining slug control methods -- however improbable some might be

  • tastytravels
    12 years ago

    I use beer traps (hopefully your pet doens't like beer). This year I'll also use crushed eggshells and used coffee grounds as borders. I hear that works.

  • jwestbury
    12 years ago

    I'm a big fan of beer traps.

    Ducks are also good. Get ducks!

  • laurell
    12 years ago

    I've had success mixing a huge cheap can of coffee up with water in a cleansing garbage can and watering my slug damaged plants with that. Caffeinates the soil and seems to give them a bit of oomph. Plus the grounds are somewhat unpleasant also. I also cut rings from 2 liter bottles and slip those around smaller plants as a barrier and use iron phosphate based sprinkle products on non food plants.

  • Embothrium
    11 years ago

    If the coffee waste is acidifying that could become a problem. Cultivated soils here may already be too acidic, even before acidifiers are used.

    Many years ago it was being recommended to put dolomite on rhododendrons here, gardened soils often being too acidic even for them. Since then we have developed acidifying precipitation.