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Garden Gate:  Help--Slug problem.....  |
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pennyhenny
True Blue Farmgirl
304 Posts
Missy
Dayton
OH
USA
304 Posts |
 Posted - May 07 2012 : 2:50:15 PM
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I'm new to fighting off slugs. I found about 17 of them just eating away at my beautiful Irises. Please help me with what I can do to naturally to combat them. I'm trying the beer method but honestly after touring the fornt yard and the garden I think I will need about 50 pie pans full of beer. Oh yes we have a SLUG problem. I never had this problem at the lake so I'm quite at a loss at what to do.
HELP ME!!!
hugs,
-missy-
http://citychickblogging.blogspot.com/
Sisterhood Member#4003
Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.
John Harrigan |
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Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2012 : 2:59:33 PM
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Missy: We have been fighting slugs for the last 7 years. I save all the round cat food cans daily. We fill them up with cheap beer and in the morning, we usually find 20 to 30 dead slugs. If you find something different, let us know. Good luck.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2012 : 3:58:47 PM
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Missy - You can also try using regular old flour around the base of each plant, too. The flour dust adheres to their skin and suffocates them. It's amazing stuff. Sometimes I just dust flour all over the garden bed, and if it lands on the plant's leaves, I leave it - it works really, really well. Good luck! - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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emsmommy5
True Blue Farmgirl
1547 Posts
Angie
Buckley
WA
USA
1547 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2012 : 5:18:05 PM
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Honestly, I have battled slugs with ammonia for several years. It does the trick. It entails slug hunting at night with a flashlight and a sprayer bottle with half ammonia and half water. Tried the beer, slug bait, flour, diotam... whatever it is earth, salt, and a couple of other things. But the ammonia defense. It works.
Year one.... HUGE problem with HUGE slugs. Year two Moderate problem with moderate slugs. Year three... barely a problem with big slugs and minor issue with those dang babies. It's the babies that kill everything overnight! I am pretty good at spotting them now. The ammonia doesn't hurt the plants and kills the slugs on the spot. I go all around the garden and most of the yard and shoot to kill. By morning, most of the time, the bodies are all gone. So no slimey beer to dispose of.
I am starting tonight as a matter of fact because it's been sunny today and I can see where the slimey buggers have been gnawing on the strawberry plants. Plus I just planted cucumbers this afternoon and they will be gone by morning without a hunting trip. It's a little more work, but the result has been much better.
Maybe when the chickens get to finally go outside they can help with the hunt too. =)
Do what you love, love what you do. |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2012 : 5:48:04 PM
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Try this:
:D
Great for slugs... great Christmas dinner.
~*~ http://silverstarfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/ ~*~
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.”
~Erma Bombeck |
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MiaBella
True Blue Farmgirl
100 Posts
Michelle
New Caney
TX
USA
100 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2012 : 6:12:00 PM
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DE (Diatomaceous Earth) should work. You should apply it after you water or after it rains, don't be stingy with it either. It may take a day or two to work, but it does.
Michelle
Farmgirl Sister #4097
MiaBella Farm
New Caney, TX
www.miabellafarm.com |
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countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
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countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2012 : 06:36:39 AM
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Okay, I found this HUGE slug and I went to try the flour trick on it to see if it really works... I got the flour out and stuff but before I could see if it worked... One of my ducks ATE it!!! I guess the duck did the trick, hope to find out about flour soon though!
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
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delicia
True Blue Farmgirl
917 Posts
delicia
cincinnati
ohio
USA
917 Posts |
Posted - May 15 2012 : 08:25:21 AM
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| I heard that if you put a coarse sand down around your plants that it will kill the slugs. Not sure if it works or not. |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - May 15 2012 : 1:07:09 PM
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Do you think the flour thing would work on snails?
Betty in Pasco |
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StrawHouseRanch
True Blue Farmgirl
1044 Posts
Paula
Holt
Missouri
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - May 15 2012 : 2:05:32 PM
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I think they are going after my rhubarb. I need to try some of these things to see if the leaves start looking better. Thanks for the tips!
Paula
Farmgirl Sister #3090
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a Gift.
"Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better."--Albert Einstein
"A meal of bread, cheese and beer constitutes the perfect food." --Queen Elizabeth I
http://www.etsy.com/shop/StrawHouseDesigns |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2012 : 08:27:39 AM
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The snails are getting larger and larger here. Some are almost an inch across. I'm going to try the flour and see how it works. They are making lace of my iris.
Betty in Pasco |
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2012 : 08:36:10 AM
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I heard that beer attracts snails from all directions. I've never heard of the flour trick, but have heard of DE.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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dreamingofmygardens
Farmgirl in Training
48 Posts
mn
48 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2012 : 07:35:29 AM
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| put fine sand down, they hate sand and will not cross it. |
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one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2012 : 06:22:39 AM
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I have never actually battled with them. I plant with the expectation of half will survive the slugs and birds. I heard egg shells work. Right now we are planning how to fence the yard so that the chickens can be on the perimeter of the garden. My chickens are crazy for slugs.
“It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black.”-Charlie Brown |
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Erin Rock
True Blue Farmgirl
103 Posts
Erin
Grand Blanc
MI
USA
103 Posts |
Posted - Jun 13 2012 : 5:54:27 PM
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We have had problems with slugs in the past but not so much this year thank goodness here is a post I did about how we solved our problem http://whathefork.blogspot.com/2010/06/dirty-rotten-slugs.html it worked really well for us.
Erin Rock (sister #4131)
Tree Huggin'
Bunny Lovin'
Dirt Worshipper! |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2012 : 08:09:23 AM
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Betty, I just saw your post, I'm sorry... I'm thinking that the flour might work on snails, but I'm not sure because I don't know whether the flour would get up under the shell or not. The whole thing about the flour is that it coats their skin and they cannot breathe. I think it'd be worth a shot, though. If you try it, please let us know what happens!
I know salt kills slugs immediately, but I also know salt is very, very bad for your garden. I do know, however, that Epsom salts are good for plants like peppers and tomatoes - and that you can even put a ring of it around the base of the plant. I wonder if it would work the same way as regular salt on slugs and snails? It's a different type of salt, but maybe it's chemical composition would cause the same reaction? I don't know....
Erin, I really like the cornmeal solution! But I can also tell you - the beer WORKS... We have good friends that use it faithfully. I just don't want to spend money on beer. I would love to see drunk squirrels, though! You crack me up!
Also, another thing you can try is to lay an old piece of wood near the plants. In the morning when the sun rises, the slugs retreat to underneath the wood, and you can just pick it up and pick off the slugs. I've never done it (squeamish farmgirl here), but it's worth a try! :)
Happy slug hunting!
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2012 : 09:47:44 AM
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I've found something commercial that rids snails from my garden, but I'm not sure how organic it is. It's funny that I never had snails until about three years ago. The worst thing I had was those terrible tomato hornworms--but they are easy to dispose of and I didn't need to use anything other than a jar and a pair of tweezers. Don't like touching them at all!
Thanks for your suggestions.
Betty in Pasco |
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Fiddlehead Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
4562 Posts
Diane
Waupaca
WI
USA
4562 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2012 : 09:53:55 AM
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I save all my old coffee grounds and egg shells, then I crunch up the shells and mix them with the grounds. I use this mixture to form a circle around my plants. Slugs don't like to cross this mixture. It has worked for my cabbage and broccoli plants.
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
I am trying to be the person my dogs think I am.
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
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Garden Gate: Help--Slug problem..... |
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Help--Slug problem.....
