DE for killing slugs???

[homestead holdout]

Has anyone used DE? Been successful? I just got a bag but the guy at the store didnt think it works on slugs... ???? I read that it did (on BYC) and assume it would based on dehydration factor, maybe they are not attracted to it? Would love to stop guessing.... THANKS!

 

[injunjoe]

I would think if it got wet it would not work as well, on that note if you can get the slugs to pass over dry DE it will work as you said.

I use DE inside the house and out.

If It gets wet not to worry when it dries out it will work just the same.

Good luck! Joe

Sorry I'm so graphic!

A post without a picture is missing about a thousand words!

 

[patandchickens]

I have used DE successfully to keep <expletive-deleted> slugs from mowing down newly sprouted lettuce seedlings in flats that were outdoors in a shady coldframe -- I put a thick 'mulch' of DE in a couple inch wide band all around the outer edge of the soil in the flat. This completely stopped seedling loss, and I saw next to no slug trails on the flat after the DE went around the edges. HOWEVER this was in a covered frame that did not get rained or 'dewed' on... I am suspicious how well it'd work in a more open environment and where the DE could get wet.

Also, I would not use DE in the garden at large as it is harmful to *all* arthropods not just the relatively few kinds that eat yer plants.

Slug traps and hand-picking (at night, or from hiding places intentionally placed there to concentrate the slugs for daytime handpicking) work best IMHO. Or to protect small areas, e.g. potted plants, a strip of copper is supposed to work reasonably well tho I have not used it myself.

Good luck, ahve fun,

Pat

 

[homestead holdout]

Uggghhh Slugs are the BAIN of my existence!! Probably fellow Seattle gardeners would not think it's crazy that I actually want to MOVE to Oregon to get away from slugs! I "pick" them as I find them and I can always be found on a drizzly spring morning in pajamas with spear in hand murderously wandering around my property (I dont just give them the el cabatske, I spear and then dump them in a salt water bucket, learned the hard way that cutting may kill a mom but just releases lots of babies into the paradise that is my garden). But the DE idea I'm hoping to dream up the right system to accomplish everything that it is helpful for - worming my chickens, killing flys and slugs, drying mold producing areas..... Still not exactly sure where to put it and when since like you've said, if I placed it around plants that were say, under a dry eve, then they would not really be plants when I dont water them... hmmmmmm. I was really hoping that just like slug bait, maybe I can put it in a plastic container - I use shredded parmesan containers with a small cut out for slugs to slither into - but I what I dont know is if DE will actually attract slugs to it, like slug bait. The advantage would certainly be that if a dog or cat or chicken was somehow able to get into the container, I didnt poisen them.....

Agree about pics, I love Canada!! Took this in Jasper Nat'l Park - horseshoe lake, backpacking with MANY bears:

 

[wifezilla]

The ducks have cleared out the slugs from my back yard. I am trying to get them to go in the front yard too, but idiot family members either leave the gates wide open so they can wonder the streets or close the back gate so they can't go up front.

The side yard needs them more but I am short on fencing at the moment.

The whole reason I got in to ducks was because of their slug eating abilities. I didn't realize they also like the PLANTS the slugs are on...LOL

 

[injunjoe]

The ducks have cleared out the slugs from my back yard. I am trying to get them to go in the front yard too, but idiot family members either leave the gates wide open so they can wonder the streets or close the back gate so they can't go up front.

The side yard needs them more but I am short on fencing at the moment.

The whole reason I got in to ducks was because of their slug eating abilities. I didn't realize they also like the PLANTS the slugs are on...LOL

You get a lot of use out of those ducks.

Sorry to drift off the subject but the gate problem could be addressed if I could have a look see of it. I am a garage door man
You could set up the gate with a remote and an automatic closer that will close the gate after the car passes.

Feel free to PM me about this.

 

[patandchickens]

the DE idea I'm hoping to dream up the right system to accomplish everything that it is helpful for - worming my chickens, killing flys and slugs, drying mold producing areas.....

Please remember DE kills BENEFICIAL insects too, as well as other beneficial or neutral arthropods. It is something to use judiciously, not as a broad-spectrum cureall.

what I dont know is if DE will actually attract slugs to it, like slug bait.

No.

Best nontoxic slug bait is the ol' flat beer trick, manually emptied and replenished every day or two.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[homestead holdout]

By beneficial insects in the garden specifically, do you mean spiders? pollenating insects? worms?

I may have to face it and fence every garden area that I have, which would be alot of fence, because my dog loves beer apparently, and it gets tipped over, etc.

 

[injunjoe]

By beneficial insects in the garden specifically, do you mean spiders? pollenating insects? worms?

I may have to face it and fence every garden area that I have, which would be alot of fence, because my dog loves beer apparently, and it gets tipped over, etc.

You think your dog is trouble around beer/slug traps.

If I set out beer in my yard this would be my problem!