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ruthz_gw

slugs/snails

ruthz
9 years ago

They are so bad this year. They are ruining a bunch of my plants. I don't know if I'll even see any flowers on a couple of my poppies.
What are y'all doing about them that won't hurt the good insects and dogs.

Comments (8)

  • gardenper
    9 years ago

    I am using iron phosphate products. You can get that through Sluggo product or Natria slug killer product. You can find them at your local big box hardware stores. I tried the Natria first and it seems to work well, so I probably won't try Sluggo, though many people have success with that as well.

  • Lynn Marie
    9 years ago

    They are eating the hell out of my daylilies. Grr!

  • copingwithclay
    9 years ago

    Here in my slug manufacturing facility, I have tried multiple slug fighting ideas over time to slow down the factory output. The best one is to go patrol the garden after a big rain and smash LOTS of those that have slithered up off the wet ground on trunks, walls, posts, etc.Instead of waiting for a big rain, a sprinkler can flush them out in a small area. A 4 ft long pc. of oak trim that is 1/2" thick and 2" wide makes a great slug smasher. Second place goes to doing an occasional search and destroy mission by looking for any kind of moveable object that can be flipped over to find hiding slugs. I actually made some slug garages that they can conveniently park under for daytime snoozing. I sometimes go check the garden area at night with a bright flashlight and the slug smasher to find slugs on the move heading to fruit and veggie pots and plants. The next slug strategy that is slated to go online for the Fall veggie gardening is by using pots to grow various plants and to have those pots elevated above the ground on a shelf with four legs. Each leg will stand inside of a shallow container filled with soapy water. That should stop the snails, slugs, pill bugs, and other crawling night eaters who love eating human food plants.(basil, lettuce, etc.) The best kind of shelf that I have tried so far is the aluminum dunnage racks made for restaurants to stack their rest. supplies off the floor. They are strong, lightweight, and do not rust. Suppliers who sell used rest. equip. are a good place to look for them. Other than that, reducing slug factory output can be accomplished by having a long, hot, dry Summer.

  • junegreen
    9 years ago

    After I give my DH a haircut - we are old and he wears a buzz cut - I take the oil cloth and the cape out to the area where I have seen them, especially around the hostas, etc. and shake it out. It has controlled the problem. Get your hairdresser to give you your clippings, cut it up really fine with some scissors and there you go. They are drawn to the oils in the hair and ingest it and it kills them. Also put DE around problem plants.

  • ju1234
    9 years ago

    This year for first time I recognized the slug problem and after reading about it on some link here this is what I did: I cut small containers out of the bottom of plastic cups. Set them out in the garden in several places in the ground so top of the container is almost level to the surface (i just built up the mulch around it). In evening pour some beer in them. In the morning I find 2-3 slugs in each container, dead. Only problem is it gets expensive. One: the beer dries up in the sun. New beer has to be added every night. I tried just pouring some water in those cups to the left over beer. It did not work. I think it has to be fresh beer. IT works though.

  • ruthz
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for all the suggestions. I wanted to look for something organic at the nursery to use, but forgot to the last time I went.
    They were ruining my poppies, so I took off all the bottom leaves and that seems to have helped.
    I'm also looking at and under the plants every day and killing all I find.

  • copingwithclay
    9 years ago

    Under the "practice what you preach" category, I went outside with the slug smasher yesterday after a good, heavy rain to patrol the garden in search of snails and slugs that slithered out of their ground level hiding spots during the rain and slithered upward on trunks, posts, pots, walls, etc.. About 50 got smashed. No apologies for slug huggers.

  • Jathompson
    9 years ago

    Since both of my dogs are infinitely inquisitive about getting into things, I opted to go the manual method as well - seek and kill by hand after it rains or early morning.

    I have to admit, I was going to try to cohabitate with the snails at first; this is my first time with a yard to garden in, so I don't have any experience with them as pests. I think they're charming to look at and I'm container gardening anyway, plus the containers are big, so snails won't even bother crawling up them, right?? NOPE. They are merciless, ravenous engines of vegetative destruction that will travel monumental distances to devour my plants. They're killed on sight now, but I still feel a bit bad every time I smush one. still, after keeping at it really diligently for a few weeks, I hardly ever see them out there now and vegetable damage is almost nonexistent. Definitely time well spent.

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