I am an enthusiast for growing Hostas but the slugs and snails are destoying the leaves before they can flower. I will not use slug pellets because they might kill the birds and frogs. I attacked them last night at 03:00 am while it was lightly raining and picked up over 200! Now I know how General Custer felt.
How am I going to stop them? Somebody must have some great idea. *************************************************************** 06-03-02, 07:55 AM Hi, I don't know about snails but I know that whenever we come across slugs we pour salt on them which kills them right away.
06-03-02, 08:10 AM cap'n kane Try putting a bowl in the ground with the rim level with the earth. Half fill the bowl with beer, the slugs are attracted to the beer and will drown..Cover the top to prevent rain getting in. (Support the top with small stones so the slugs can get in).
06-03-02, 09:22 AM MrSensitive Coming from Seattle, the Slug Capital of the world, I've tried both the salt and beer methods, both of which work well- though I am partial to the salt method, since beer is too precious a commodity to waste on the likes of slugs.
Just sprinkle salt around the perimeter of the garden. Better yet, cut a 3" pipe in half along it's length, embed the half-pipe into the earth around the perimeter of the garden and sprinkle salt in the half-pipe (a variation of the beer-bowl method)
Good luck and happy hunting!
06-03-02, 12:10 PM Chicabird I'd go with beer- you only need a few bowls and maybe three cans of it..plus its an excuse to buy beer! Plus if you use salt around the garden, you'll find yourself overwhelmed with bunnies. Its happened to me. The bunnies really seem to like licking the salt. And if salt runs down into your garden if its on a slant (mine is) it will also kill plants.
06-03-02, 03:15 PM soaringhorse I can just picture you picking up all those slugs, LOL, what'd you do with them afterwards, General Custer! Hehe! All the home remedies sound great but I rely on the good old home and garden store supplies, alot of my flowers have been getting attacked too. There is a product called Seven dust or spray you can purchase and works well with most animals, try that one. Good luck on your quest! Haha!
06-05-02, 08:22 PM Godess of the Garden I've had problems with slugs at work (man, is that ever a led in for a joke). The best organic product I have found is diatamacious earth. This is ground fossil material. It is sprinkled on and around the hostas. When the lugs and snails cross it, it shreds them. They are evicerated and they dehydrate to death. Gruesome but effective. You can find this stuff in any garden store. It comes in a box about the size of Raisin Brand. You'll have to reapply after each rain but it is well worth it. Good luck.
06-08-02, 11:38 PM I'd have to say that I tend to go for the BEER remedy!
The salt makes them EXPLODE from inside out!! (YIKES how cruel)
The other thing is similar to Borax - that is like tiny bits of sharded glass - is also cruel....
The beer one, I've tried. They are attracted to the yeast in beer. They come, they get loaded, they drown. WAYYYY more humane! (lolol)
06-09-02, 06:19 AM Tefler I've not tried this myself, but am told it works. Try putting some petroleum jelly on the stems of the plants. The slugs and snails can't climb up, so can't do the damage to the leaves that they are planning on!
06-13-02, 07:55 PM DvdGStwrt Copper.
Copper carries a current, you can find garden copper tape at any garden center. It is used for this purpose.
Though I like the diatanacious (whatever the spelling is) earth, it does need to be replaced often.
Around your plants or your plant bed, lay out a strip or two all the way around the plants. The product comes with staples to keep it on the ground.
After laying it out, if you have mulch, remove it. Snails and Slugs just love to hide in mulches, and under things like rocks, bricks - remove these as well.
Allow the ground to dry out completely before replacing the mulch.
If I where you, I would use several of these ideas together, the diatamachious (Where is that bloody spell check) Earth, the beer and the copper tape. A combination of all three will take care of the problem.
If not, try a b.b. gun - hours of wasted fun shooting those slimey critters
Truth be told the slug is the only little beastie I can not stand, not because I don't like their looks or what they do to crops, but I always find them under the rock, brick or what ever I pick up when my finger squishes them - again YUCK.
Cheers
David
06-16-02, 11:15 PM nursey63 I got a product for my hosta's and other plants that looks like saw dust that you shake on them. I works great and I have never seen a bird go near it.
06-17-02, 02:52 PM Pace~Ace Here is something I got off a garden website. Hope it helps you.
Cut Oranges in half,take out the fruit and place the remaining skins(to form a dome)in a damp shady spot,where you have seen the damage. Check inside them every morning. Any that you have caught can then be placed on the bird table and you can then have the pleasure of watching their EXECUTION. You may have to change orange skins frequently as they tend to stop working when they are rock hard.
06-17-02, 05:19 PM soaringhorse Excellent idea, Thanks! LOL, Now thats what I call recycling at its finest! Haha! I'm going to try it just to feed the birds, hehe!
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