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OT - The slug war continues!!!
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Posted by northerner_on Z5A ONCanada (My Page) on Fri, Jun 26, 09 at 13:56
| This is a follow up to Tiffy's post which said that alfalfa attracts slugs. Well I can tell you that my slugs do not like alfalfa. Since I was so inundated with slugs last year, I was armed and ready for them this year with Tiffy's information. I also bought a bag of slug-bait 'just in case'. I put out two plates of crushed alfalfa early and moved them around that garden - front and back - in areas where I had problems last year but nothing showed up. Then I saw the familiar nibbling on my Daturas and assumed the culprits were earwigs, so out went my traps. Nothing there. I still noticed that the overall damage to the garden was less than last year, then I discovered 3 little frogs in the back and I decided to see how good they were, but still went for my bait. I found that somehow water had got into the bag and it was useless, so Wednesday night after 10:00 p.m. I went out with my flashlight and saw two slugs gorging themselves on my Yvonne's Salvia. I quickly squirted them with 10% ammonia and delighted in watching them squirm to death in a slimy mess!! Yesterday I replaced my bag of bait and spread it around, so I'll see how that works. Last year I needed two bags and still had slugs on my lettuce, but last night I only needed a couple scoops. Let's see how this goes. Anyone still at war? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| Another thing you can use is salt, if you want to go out and hunt them down. They just seem to melt away when they have a little salt sprinkled on them. Kosher salt or table salt will do the job nicely. I tried the earwig trap recipe, and found a number of smaller slugs in it. I have used the slug bait and found them dead laying on the bait. The slug bait and the traps seem to do the job for me at night, but if I see one during the day they get zapped with salt!! Mary |
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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- Posted by morz8 Z8 Wa coast (My Page) on
Fri, Jun 26, 09 at 18:10
| Mary, salt will harm plants though, while ammonia/water will not. Not unless you spray it in the heat of the day (on plants), and slugs aren't out then anyway. Northerner, I up the ratio here and use it about 25% ammonia to water. Am I still at war? Always. I bait for and hunt slugs 11 months out of 12, just part of gardening in this cool coastal climate. But we don't get japanese beetles here :) |
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| Well, as much as the alfalfa pellets worked for the most part, I've resorted to bringing out the ammonia as well. Just like Morz8, I have that cool coastal climate and the fact that we've had rain, fog, drizzle, and showers for the last while hasn't helped either. Of course this is all coupled with the fact that most of my gardens are along the edge of the woods which is boggy... Could anything else work against me here??? I must say that things are quite lush right now and green IS my favourite colour. :O) |
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| YES, YES, YES! I had to get a step stool to get them on top of the 7' Joe Pye Weed! Diomataceous Earth wasn't doing anything so cleaned off any leaves or debris from just 2 beds and spread a 2 lb./$17.99 canister of "Slug Magic" which like all other "safe" baits has only 1% Iron Phosphate. For that kind of money I want more of the stuff that causes them to be no more...LOL. I'd used it before but switched to DE for some reason. This better work. If I have to do this every 2 weeks for 8-9 months of the year that'll total almost $300. per year! 2 garden beds never really dry out completely and a third is surrounded by miserable hardwood mulch my father's had piled on over past 30 years. It's a slug haven even though I removed from anywhere I garden. I'm out in the garage with the door open using my laptop because the power keeps going off and cable is out. Why? Wind storm and MORE RAIN. At least I don't have to water all the Sweet Alyssum and other things I planted yesterday and today. :) The salt solution is disgusting. I do it but I hate it. I'm going to switch to the Ammonia solution so I don't damage the foliage. I've already got spray bottles for deer repellant, insecticidal soap, fish emulsion and seaweed extract. What's one more? I had my Datura chewed too. Don't they get enough toxin from leaves to bite the dust? Even if they do, the damage is done and there's always the extended family of thousands to take their place the next night. Okay, I've had my rant. :) Oh, except for one thing. Seems all this rain has given us a bumper crop of grubs. Moles and raised tunnels through lawn and mulched areas. Went to deadhead Lychnis Coronaria and entire stem came out of the ground. There were only a few blooms because deer has sheared top top with blooms last month. Tugged a bit on other stems and they all came out of ground. Dig down and there aren't any roots to speak of. Okay, now I'm really done. Sorry...no one around here cares about my plants. |
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| I should have added that I only use salt on slugs if I find them on the walk or on the landscape ties. It only takes a pinch of salt or so on the slug's body to do it in. Usually it's the biggest and ugliest ones moving around as it begins to get dark out. I made 2 earwig traps from the recipe someone posted here, and I learned that the slugs love it too, I found dead slugs and no dead earwigs. Now I know what was eating my lupine leaves. Mary |
RE: Vera's post and recipe
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| Vera, thanks a bunch, this is really easy and it works!! Mary |
Here is a link that might be useful: Earwig trap recipe
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| A couple summers ago the slugs were eating up my garden. I poured straight ammonia (non sudsing) into a gallon hose sprayer. Set the hose sprayer on the highest setting (mine is 1 TBS) and spray down everything when it gets dark. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was nuts hosing down the gardens at 10:00 at night. The next morning I saw several dead slugs on many of my hostas. Plus the ammonia gives the plants a dose of nitrogen. -StLGirl |
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| StLGirl, I am on the way to get ammonia. I was almost late to work because I had to spray some slugs on the way to the car! Hey, it gives the neighbors something to talk about. My neighbors are just getting started with the fireworks so they won't notice if I do it tonight. Kathy |
RE: OT - The slug war continues!!!
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| I'm filling up my spray bottle now with ammonia/water! I've tried eggshells (need to eat more eggs to have enough!), diotomaceous earth (have to keep reapplying because of the constant rain) and salt (keeps caking due to the humidity). I hand pick them and throw them in a jar or squash them but they always come back and the little ones are hard to find. I had a toad living in the garden and that seemed to help quite a bit but I haven't seen him in a while and think he may have met his end with the lawn mower. I wonder if ammonia works on squash vine borers too.... |
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