Slugs...

[allabout]

I hate slugs. I love hosta. The two do not go hand in hand together. Now, I can live with a few on my petunias, but I collect hosta from all over the U.S. and I can't show off hostas with holes eatten away on the leaves!! Sooo, when it gets late at night after a rain, the kids and I go slug hunting. I hate the way they feel so we manage to pick them up with wooden shish-ka-bob sticks and place them in a small bowl of salt. My kids love this!! We see who can find the largest and who can find the most....

Well, the other day I was planting a few annuals around and found slug eggs! I did not know what they were and had to do some research on it but sure enough they were what I feared....SLUG EGGS. These look like tiny, clear glass marbles and are usually found in groups of one hundred or more. I now know that if you ever find one or two in the soil, dig around the area to see if you can find more. Throw each and every one away.

Marble hunts during the day and slug hunts at night..alot of hours spent on pest control at my house.

 

[me&thegals]

That's great! Thanks for the info If my kids ever weary of collecting Japanese beetles for a penny apiece, I'm in big trouble, too!

 

[Rosalind]

You don't do the beer traps? I set out four beer traps over the summer/fall, you wouldn't believe all the slugs that got in there.

Slugs have to be the dumbest critters ever. Seriously, if YOU saw a pile of dead curled-up bodies covered in mysterious yellow liquid, would YOU dive in to see whether or not it was good to eat? I always picture them like the dumb teenagers in those Friday The 13th movies--two of 'em get hacked to pieces, and the other eight say, "Hey, did you hear that? It sounded just like Fred and Mary getting chopped up by a chainsaw. Let's go check it out!"

 

[beavis]

I wonder if you could sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the Hostas as well?

Its non-toxic.

 

[allabout]

You don't do the beer traps? I set out four beer traps over the summer/fall, you wouldn't believe all the slugs that got in there.

Slugs have to be the dumbest critters ever. Seriously, if YOU saw a pile of dead curled-up bodies covered in mysterious yellow liquid, would YOU dive in to see whether or not it was good to eat? I always picture them like the dumb teenagers in those Friday The 13th movies--two of 'em get hacked to pieces, and the other eight say, "Hey, did you hear that? It sounded just like Fred and Mary getting chopped up by a chainsaw. Let's go check it out!"

I've tried the beer traps....a long time ago. I don't remember why I gave it up...I more than likely didn't do it right or something. This year we will try it again. Seem like your suppose to put it in a tuna can...dig it down where the lip of the can is level to the ground...does that sound right?

Beav. I dug out my D.E. -Ant & Crawling Insect Killer and it is a brand produced by "Safer", I was reading the pest it is used to control and low and behold there it is...SLUGS! (Also it said "Made in U.S.A." haven't seen that in a long time) Well, I'm not going to play dumb...I am dumb. I bought this bag, never opened at a yard sale, for a whole dollar, with the thoughts of ants. A nursery went out of business and they had a ton of stuff on a dollar table. Wish I had bought more... But, is that type okay for around my chickens too?

 

[Boonducks]

Almoast 5yrs ago my boyfriend and I impulsively brought ducks into our garden in an effort to wage a serious organic war with our slugs and snails. Since then we have increased our flock every year to total 30 ducks this spring with three endangered conservancy breeds, the Ancona, Bantam Silver Appleyard, and Welsh Harlequin. I would give anyone who could find a slug or snail on our property a whole lot more than a penny... there are none for houses down!
diatomatious earth and well dried and crushed egg shells will work to destroy and deter at the base of plants... but sometimes not enough!
PS: also guilty of late night slug hunting...
BoondockersNaturals dot com

 

[simple life]

The DE must be labeled food grade for it to be safe for the chickens.
Anything else is extremely bad for them. There is the food grade and there is the type they use in pools.
I have also heard that coffee grounds are good for getting rid of slugs, the theory is that when they slide over the grounds they absorb the caffeine into their systems which is toxic to them.

 

[vfem]

simple life, I may try the coffee ground idea.... sounds marvolous!!!

I got my ducks to do their job on slugs around here. We'll see this summer how good they are at their job as slug hunters. Then again, its only 2 ducks!

 

[simple life]

I don't know if you have a Starbucks near you but they save all of their used coffee grounds and put them in bags for customers to take.
I pick them up all the time to use in the garden, I put them around the tomato plants and use them for a few other things.

 

[vfem]

You have no idea how much coffee I drink!!!

I don't need no stinking starbucks... 2 pots a day here.