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| Can my compost pile be a breeding ground for slugs?
I live in the woods for 10 years in northern michigan. The temps are cool and only about 3-6 days above 85 degree. Been working on building better soil by composting. 3 years ago I was overrun with slugs. Never noticed them before. I started out by hand picking the slugs and putting them in milk jugs. I carried away 3 gallons of slugs that first year. Then my friend told me about amonia and water spray. That is what I have used for the last 2 years. I start the season out by spraying the ground around certain flowers and plants and compost. I go out every morning and evening and after rains they climb the trees. Why do I have so many? Am I doing something wrong. It is soon coming time to start all over again. Help!!!!!!!
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Slugs live on organic matter and live where a cool, moist environment is provided, your compost pile is one and a well mulched garden is another. Those of us that garden organically find we have created slug heaven and working to control them is just something we do, constantly. Do not become over obsessed about them since they are part of a healthy environment, but do take some steps to control them. Their presence will attract predators, if you allow them, such as toads and snakes and many species of birds. While they re present in my garden I do not find they do enough damage to the plants to get overly concerned about them. |
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- Posted by albert_135 Sunset 2 or 3 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 11, 11 at 15:40
| There are several sites that say caffeine can be used for slug and snail control. You can find more information that you want at Google's ~ caffeine slugs snails site:.edu ~ . This site NASA ADS: Pest Control: Caffeine as a repellent for slugs and snails [Just a summation of a Smithsonian/NASA article published at Harvard.edu.] specifically recommends caffeine where residues are not allowed or desired in food products. |
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| Research done by USDA people in Hawaii found that slugs are repelled by spraying cold caffienated coffee on plant leaves. Some people pooh pooh that and someone even found an article written by a supposed "master gardener" that stated that spraying cold caffiented coffee on plants to repel slugs only worked in Hawaii. Since I have seen slugs repelled by that coffee spray, here in my garden, I would suspect that person really has no idea what they are talking about. |
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| Read the USDA research, when I said (on another web site)that it looked like someone shot my basil with a shotgun. The person linked the research for me & told me to put used grounds at the base of my plants. I found no more eaten leaves, all summer long. I now know that used tea or coffee grounds will work. All coffee waste works for me, whole beans, fresh ground coffee, used ground coffee,coffee chaff, all works. No snails or slugs. I tried beer in the middle of my CW mulch & got nothing but gnats in the beer, not even ants. |
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| Thanks grateful, for the link. Like the coffee waste, some persons say that the copper does not work. The Fact that orchard owner have used copper for year, does not sway them. I think the slug shield looks like jewelry for plants. |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Sat, Mar 19, 11 at 17:41
| Hi Brother jolj , The reason I don't use the slug shields is that they are useless for ALL of the plants that slugs like (at least in my garden), you can't put them on lettuce,cabbage, broccoli,radishes,turnips,chard etc etc etc... sure i could put them on plants that don't rest on the soil... but the slugs don't bother those anyways... Oy Vey ;-) |
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| Hi John, do you ever get tired of being right all the time or is it your gift? :-) How is that wonderful garden Paradise, you call home? |
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| I'm with Jon. My slug problems are with the greens and peas and brassicas, and even so, I can't see myself getting down on my hands and knees to wrap those little wires around each of my plants. Not discounting copper, mind you. But with raised beds, I'd be more inclined to take the less back-breaking solution of lining the edge of my beds with copper tape, if I wanted to give copper a try. I also have to note that Grateful_Gardener shows up and plugs slug shields every time there's a mention of slugs anywhere on the web (even showed up on my personal blog one time). So take that for what it's worth (cough-spam-cough). I am definitely going to try the coffee grounds, though. They are free, and even if they don't end up keeping the slugs away, they'll be good for my soil. A can't-lose situation for sure. |
Here is a link that might be useful: my blog
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| When someone builds up their soil with lots of organic matter they will create conditions that many things such as slugs really like and so those wee buggers will multiply. Some people have a great need to go out and spend money on products to control what they persieve as pests without understanding that they are only pests if the population is too high and that there are simple ways to control the population, without spending tons of money. Get your soil into a good healthy condition and create an ecosystem that is balanced and the pests will be controlled for you by the beneficials that will move into that envrironment. |
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- Posted by Shane_Genziuk (My Page) on Tue, Mar 22, 11 at 8:46
| I'd try used coffee grounds first, they are free and you can get heaps of it. If you are still having a problem, get some fresh coffee grounds onto those slugs and it will kill them as quick as anything on earth. Caffeine really hates slugs! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Ground to Ground
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