Dig around in your mulch and see what is hiding under there. My guess would be potato bugs or earwigs, maybe even grasshoppers.

Should you worry about it? Not really. It's minor and poses no real threat to the plant.

No sign of slugs at night?

Dave

Thanks for the responses.

No, I haven't seen any signs of grubs. At least in that bed. I have in another and am taking action! :)

This can't be OK. My peppers are being eaten up. They are growing but I think they would be doing much better if something wasn't eating the leaves.

What could it be and what can I do about it. Please help.

Wow that's bad. I'm using sevin dust since now something is eating my actual peppers.

Thanks for the responses. I am not really comfortable putting anything like Sevin in my garden. I'm not a fanatic about being organic but I want to make every effort to only use natural methods.

So Kevin, your idea of gallon water bottles is intriguing. What is it that the bottles would keep out? Have you seen this kind of damage before and know what's causing it?

I have a bunch of gallon plastic milk jugs with the bottom cut out. I use them for early plantings when we have possibility of frost. Maybe I could use them.

Iamzvoko: I do it to make it more difficult for slugs et al to get to the plants. They still get to them but not as much as without the bottles. Next thing you know, the plants have enough foliage to "outgrow" the fears I have.

I've been using DE lately and it pretty much does a good enough job. If the slugs are too much a problem, I just lay down some sluggo.

But lately I've read about a couple traps for slugs and earwigs -- we've all heard of beer for slugs, but i recently found out that just some active yeast and water will do a number on them( a lot cheaper and i get to drink more beer). I also read that it takes care of pill bugs too.

For earwigs, I just read this morning about a soy sauce and oil trap -- sounds very promising. Going to try this one this week. Google earwig trap.

Good luck.

Kevin

Well, I went to the local garden center. Surprisingly, they did not have Diatomaceous Earth but they recommended Neem Oil so I got some of that and sprayed the heck out of the plants.

Hope it works. I'm really bummed about the peppers. That's my favorite crop in the garden. I'm planting some new peppers tomorrow just in case I'm not able to save any of the current ones. ^%$#! critters!

iamzvonko: Save the neem for some aphids, whitefly or fungal problem -- it will not take care of earwigs.

Actually, Lowe's, maybe Home Depot, carry DE. Garden Safe or Safer brand are the brand names but on the bag the big type says "Crawling Insect Killer." Just make sure they don't try to sell you the stuff made for swimming pools.

Other than that, I really would google earwig trap. Either just vegetable oil OR soy sauce, oil and molasses(corn syrup) in a small dish and level with the soil.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: DE

Agree that it sure looks like slug/snail damage and Sluggo or one of the similar products will resolve the problem.

However, having your mulch down this early and so close to the plants is also contributing to the problem. Slugs and snails thrive in wet, cool soil covered by mulch. Which is one reason why it normally doesn't go down until the weather settles into its hot, dry summer pattern and the soil warms substantially into the 80's. Do you have any idea what your soil temperature is right now?

If you are going to put down mulch this early in your zone 5 then you need to pull it back from the base of the plants at least 6-8 inches.

Dave

Thanks Kevin. Just googled earwig and Holy Cow. That's exactly what I have! Look out. Some earwig/slug genocide coming tomorrow

digdirt,

I didn't know that! Thanks for the tip. That's an easy one to fix. I'll move that back tomorrow

I have the same problem with my peppers and had the same problem last year..Its either Japanese Beetles (really shiny exoskeleton) or Asian Beetles (Yellow Ladybug look alike). If you do not use anything to stop the Japanese beetles they will destroy your garden, so unfortunately you will have to use some sort of pesticide.

I couldn't sleep last night thinking about this so I got up in middle of the night, put on a head-flashlight and went hunting. Wow, there were hundreds of slugs all over the peppers, kale, melons and beans.

Took a salt shaker out there and spent the better part of an hour salting those buggers! Its amazing how many there were. Where do they all go during the day?

Today I'm going to put out a bunch of small containers filled with beer to trap them. Little $#@!s

Maybe I'm just imagining but it seems like the new leaves at the top of the pepper plants looked better today than new leaves have looked in a while. Either way, it's the second night of my war against the slugs. Got my salt shaker ready.

LOL.. good deal. Glad you identified the culprit. That's HALF the battle.

Just not too much salt. Can't be good for small seedlings. After a few treatments of salt, you may want to give the soil a good soaking to wash some of it away. Thing is, more moisture, more slugs. I set some yeast traps(rather than good beer) up in my garden today.

Results will follow.

Kevin

Good news is it rained pretty hard today so it washed away any salt left on te plants. I'm still worried what the salt will do to the plant since its going into the ground.

I did spend a good bit of time today putting out a bunch of mayonnaise lids with beer in them.

When I checked tonight there were some casualties in there. There weren't as many slugs on the leaves but there were still too many. is there hour that I'll eventually get rid of them with this method or should I be doing something else add well?

Salt, if sprinkle on the soil around the plant will lose its effect by attracting moisture. NEVERMIND RAIN... Unless it is spread over some plastic or news paper.
I am trying this recipe : salt : coffee ground, pavers sand ,saw dust, Slugo type bait . So far , I have not seen any outcome, one way or the other. Because I have very few slug around. I have almost gotten rid of them by mostly hand picking and GET BUGA .

Beer traps help. The salt and self removal helps. if you really want to go at them hard, get some bait(Korry's Pellets or Sluggo). Sluggo is OMRI listed. If you have pets, you may want to go with the Sluggo.

Kevin

seysonn - I didn't really think the salt would help if sprinkled on the ground. I was worried about upsetting the soil chemistry if I sprinkled too much on the plants and it went to the ground and/or hurting the leaves (can salt burn the leaves?) By the way - what is "BUGA"?

Kevin - Oh, I want to go nuclear on these suckers. It is so frustrating to baby these plants from seeds and then see them get eaten overnight. The fact that Sluggo is OMRI listed is good. The fact that it is effective even after rain and for 4 weeks is even better. I'm going out and getting some this afternoon.

Thanks all for replies!

Also, could the salt hurt the leaves by burning them?

Yeah.. I wouldn't sprinkle salt on any part of the plants. I thought you were just doing that to ones you saw on the ground or what have you. I wouldn't even sprinkle it directly on the slugs themselves that may be on plants. Gotta think, it "melts" slugs as it gets wet on them!

I think seysonn meant BUG GETA.

Kevin

Yes to sluggo it works great. And to immediately stop the damage, form a barrier around the plants being eaten using the sluggo. Good luck

Kevin - I was salting them while they were on the plant. I did try to remove a few and THEN salt them but they'd drop and I couldn't find them. I notice that a few of the leaves on the smaller plants wilted and it had to be from the salt. So Sluggo it is!

Hope it works.

You guys are awesome! This is one of the many lessons I am trying to work through and my plants look just like the tattered ones above. I know I have earwigs and will happily go to war on them. I didn't realize they were that big of a pest, somehow I thought they were just a harmless bug that lived in the garden. Another lesson learned. I also apparently made the mistake of mulching too early and too close to my plants as well. They weren't doing well and I thought that would hold in the heat and moisture earlier this year. They are finally growing, but fighting a real battle with chlorophyll hemorrhaging.

I think I am winning the war on the slugs with my Keystone Light (cheapest/can I could find) traps. I was finding the traps literally full of slugs each morning and now only get a couple a night when I set them. Going to try the yeast, definitely need a cheaper alternative with the number of traps I have out there.

I found a recipe for pests using Dawn, Listerine, cayenne pepper, and water. I sprayed that on everything last night, will take awhile to see results.

This is really good stuff, thanks!

Ouch! Dawn? Listerine?

I think Dawn is one Soap that SHOULDN'T be used. "REAL" soaps like Fels Naptha, Castile, and original Ivory is all I've ever read that are acceptable. You might want to rinse that stuff off immediately.

Also.. listerine... I've read of alcohol being effective but I'm not sure of other ingredients in listerine that may be harmful.

Generally earwigs aren't a problem for me.. However, with seedlings(with such little foliage to begin with), it is necessary to take steps. Sure I get the occasional one boring into a pepper, but for the most part, there are much more pesky pests.

Btw, I set up a few yeast traps last night and I don't think I saw any slugs this morn(milky liquid, maybe I'll dig at the bottom of the trap). However, I did see some earwigs...LOL Funny because the trap for earwigs that I researched was made from soy sauce and oil and molasses.

Kevin

Google "Spinosid" is is derived through the fermentation of a naturally occurring soil bacterium. It's Certified Organic Pesticides. I used it this year for the first time. It's great the best thing I have used. It works on any bug that eats the plants. It want kill bees or any good bug that eats other bugs only the bugs that eat the plants. The one I purchesed was "Monterey Garden Insect Spray" There are other to buy. Just make sure it has "Spinosad" in it. It even killed all the potato beetles. only takes 2 oz. per gallon of water. Also said right on the lable "for organic production" Give this a try and thank me later.

the local store where I usually buy supplies didn't have Sluggo but they had something called Natria by Bayer. it seems like it's OK since it didn't have any of the dire "not safe for pets" warnings on it that all the other slug killers had.

I spread it sound all the plants last night. This morning I went out there too check on things and it was a bit anticlimactic. Not sure what exactly I was expecting but there was nothing. With the salting it was so clear...our salt watch the little bigger melt. Guess I was thinking I'd see dead slugs or at least polls where they melted.

well, here's hoping this does the trick.

The directions on the bag were a bit confusing to me. It said it works best when ground is a little moist. It was when I put out the it out the Natria yesterday evening. Today was a pretty warm day and, since I took away the straw mulch, the ground dried up. Should I wet the dirt where I spread the Natria?

Also, it said to "form a barrier" around the plant but not to pile the pellets. I wasn't sure how dense the barrier should be. Here's a picture of what I did around one of the plants. What do you all think? Enough, too much?

Yeah.... mist them some or apply after watering or right before rain. And yes.. you don't need that much. maybe 20% of what you have there.

You may have gotten a lot already with the salt. I've seen them lying there lifeless the next day after the poison, but I would imagine a lot go back under mulch or whatever and then croak.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 0:29

DigDirt identified the problem -- mulching too early in rainy weather -- but I'm still seeing mulch in the newest picture. You are providing attractive habitat for the slugs, then wondering why they are there? In rainy years like this, delay mulching until summer kicks in. Rake it off and put it in a pile for now. You are playing with fire using salt around any young plants. It ain't natural.

I think seysonn meant BUG GETA. "

------------------------------------
Yes. That is what I meant. I just remembered that there are the words ; "BUG" and "GET" in the name. LOL.

ABOUT SALT: You don't have to sprinkle a whole lot on a small slug. a few grain will do. For big ones I get a bamboo skewer . When I find a slug, just flip it over and push the skewer through its belly so that skewer goes down in the ground couple of inches. This way there is room for more. Sometime I get half a dozen of them on the same skewer. Then I put it in the open, maybe the bird can have a feast.
You can also use tooth picks and just leave it there, one per fat slug. This way, I do not have to touch the slimy thing.

Just wanted to update everyone because I appreciated all the responses.

It's been several weeks since I put down the first application of Natria. It worked wonders. Peppers are doing awesome. It's been raining almost every day for the last 4 days so I haven't gotten a picture. Will post some when it's safe to take camera outside

Looks like mine that f**king earwigs have been chomping on. Found a solution on youtube that works amazingly well. Search youtube for earwig traps. Also gets ants and slugs from my experience.

search youtube for earwig traps??? LMAO

Do you know how many people upload earwig traps to youtube?

Do share the link, please, gsweater.

Thanks

Kevin

Thanks for the tip about the gallon containers and salt water. The first day I used the containers I discovered snails. The salt water took care of the snails. My daughter is saving me her coffee grounds to mix with the snail bait and egg shells. However, on the 3rd night I discovered a caterpillar in the garden. Placed it in the salt water, but the salt water is not having any effect on the caterpillar. Do you have any suggestions?.

Recently saw for earwigs, roll up some cornmeal in a damp newspaper, place in the affected area overnight and throw away the newspaper full of earwigs the next morning. I'm going to try it tonight! Nancy

10% ammonia & 90% water mix in spray bottle and spray the slugs. Been using it for years. Works for me.

Best way to find out if you have a lot of slugs and want to get rid of them.... Pour a bottle of beer into a shallow container like a cake/roasting pan, and put it out in your garden on the ground. Slugs cannot resist the smell of beer and will all drown themselves in it. I had a huge slug problem at my old residence, after one week, my beer trap killed over 100 slugs and I never had a problem again.

Well, all I got with the cornmeal in the damp newspaper was a bunch of baby centipedes! No earwigs! Nancy

Sorry took so long to respond woohooman. Here's the one I'm referring to. I did this last year and it did in fact work. I'm not ambitious enough to go out with flashlights, filming at night like he does, but I caught a bunch. Cheap too.