Slug Defense

I'm trying to keep my ligularia from getting demolished by slugs. I've cleaned up around them and put down a ring of wood ash. That has helped a bit but they are still getting eaten. I'm thinking of trying a ring of pennies beyond the ash. Any other ideas that don't involve poison?

Look for the slugs on the plant itself. If they are already on the plant, nothing on the ground will kill them.

Oh man, my irises and a few younger daylilies are getting DECIMATED this year. Last year I was inundated with snails... this year seems to be slugs. I'd almost rather the snails, as they're easier to find/patrol for than an army of baby slugs hidden under the mulch.

If anyone has any non-bait related ideas I am also all ears... a line of pennies would have to go around my whole lot - and I'm afraid would only serve to keep the hordes in.

Ammonia water: 1 part ammonia to 9 parts water.
If you've got Lilies or Asters be extra-vigilant.

I like to use Sluggo.......It supposedly can be eaten, although I wouldn't, and I use it on my lettuce garden. I stay away form any poisons or chemicals in my yard as well

Ammonia & water worked well for me last year.

The ammonia doesn't harm any plants? Does it build up in soil at all?

Do you spray the plant itself or the ground around or both?

I pick slugs, don't kill them, so I'm not sure about drenching the plant itself. I had thought in earlier discussions that people were drenching the plant, but I haven't heard anybody say that this year.

The Hosta forum participants, as you can imagine, talk about slug control a lot. Here's this year's discussion.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1079583/

They are also trying using lettuce around the plants - it seems the slugs prefer that over Hostas.

I spray the plants directly, (it changes the pH of the Slug) then rinse the plants with water. I haven't noticed anything reacting poorly to it, other than the slugs. No build-up in the soil, especially since we have so much rain.
Too bad it doesn't kill weeds - straight Vinegar does, though.

We have such a problem that we have to use bait in some areas, but we use the ammonia solution as well, and it works wonderfully IF you are vigilant. I use a spray bottle and do ground/plant where I feel there may be little buggers hiding, or just the slugs themselves when I see them. I am also planning to do a drench on my lilies and certain other vunerable plants this spring to see if that makes a difference.

The years that I make a concentrated effort on patrolling the entire garden (or at least the areas of the worst damage) on a daily basis with my slug stick and bottle of ammonia water, I can DEFINITELY see a big difference in the amount of damage by mid season. It takes a lot of time to patrol though, and with about two acres of landscaping, I easily get behind!

We have been using the ammonia method for six or seven years, and have only found a few plants that react badly to it... one right off the top of my head is irish moss, which unfortunately slugs just adore. The ammonia seems to burn it. I have used on tons of different annuals, lilys, daylilies, iris, hosta, etc with no problem at all.

Copper is an effective barrier to slugs. I just buy it at the hardware store, but I think many garden suppliers sell copper tape. Copper compounds such as copper sulfate & copper silicate work too --I think slugs get a little shock from the copper.

The other thing that worked for me is diatomaceous earth but perhaps it is not feasible in the PNW because once the DE been rained on, the minuscule shards lose their abrasiveness.

The University of Minnesota that repelling/offing slugs takes a multi-pronged approach & lists the following predators to encourage: beetles (e.g. ground beetles, rove beetles, fireflies), toads, snakes, turtles, shrews, ducks, starlings and other birds.

Sluggo kills the slugs by causing them to ingest iron phosphate so, yeah, I wouldn't eat it myself! Doesn't sound very good.

Neither copper nor diatomaceous earth has been effective for me.

Well, crap. I'm probably going to sell my last baby Airstream next month, so I'm thinking that the massive, graveled RV corral will be the place to grow veggies, in raised beds. It runs north & south plus has a garden shed & covered area at the end that could be turned into a south-facing sun shed. I suspect that there is landscape fabric under the gravel & there doesn't seem to be a resident slug population.

It's something like 12x70 feet, see here (photo taken the winter before I moved in).

Plan A was to intersperse the veggies among the garden plantings, but obviously from what Katie says that is now Plan Z.

That seems to be an ideal place to site a veggie garden. So many possibilities. Could be very neat and formal, already has gravel down for walkways. Nice.

Thanks, Willow! I was feeling a bit depressed about selling my last Airstream, but maybe it's for the best, eh?

Oh, I found a better view, looking toward the road.

In the previous photo, that gate to the left leads across a bit of grass to my bedroom deck, where I keep a coffeemaker in the summer, so that would be convenient for bathrobe gardening I think!

OK, I'm feeling better now, both about selling the Bubble & about keeping the slugs off my tomatoes. Thanks, Willow.

I love your beddeck. I can see a large greenhouse with shed in the back. And rows of boxes with veggies, herbs, flowers. All you need are some boxes and some soil. Put in a window so you can see inside from your deck.

Summer, your photos remind me of the approach to a covered bridge (Bridges of Madison County). Hmmm...???

Oh, this whole property is beautifully built & there's still so much potential.

What did you think of the "Madison County" book?

Summer, I thought the book was excellent. It's on my 'keeper' shelf in the den. I also enjoyed the movie which I rented after reading the book. I'm liking Clint E. in his elder years.

I went over to the hosta forum and read the post about slugs. One suggestion, which even came with a photo, was surround the hostas with romaine lettuce leaves and then when a bunch of them gather there, spray them with the ammonia & water mixture. Seems easier and better than drenching the hostas.

ooooh, that could be a long wait.

What I is to ddry my eggshells in the oven and then crush them up and put around any plant that the slugs/snails love and this kills them dead because it tears up their stomaches.

D

How long do you leave them in the oven and at what temp?

If you pull off the film that sticks to the inside of the shell, they won't stink. Does it make them shaper to bake them?
I used to be a Brownie Troop leader and we did a shell dyeing and making pictures craft one time. I got a bucket of shells from Denny's restuarant.
Maybe the stink would keep away the deer.

I found out that by baking them they are much sharper and kill those nasty devils faster. 350 for about 10-15 minutes..

Removes the stink from the egg but does seem to help around here.
D

Happy belated B-Day to you Irisloverdee. Hope you are doing well.

Thank you Willow for the greetings.

Hope you all try this it really has worked. The only other thing I use is Sluggo because it is save for animals (4 cats and one puppy age 3 months) so I need save. Thing is you have to use it often. And with the rain we have had here that is almost daily

D

The past few days, with the rain and drizzle, have been perfect for slug hunting. I have been going out in the mornings and afternoons and finding so many. But the things is, I don't like starting my day gathering those slimy creatures! They are eating my hostas!

pic of beer trap in action!

Oh wow - mine never looked like that!

All right, Ms. I-Never-Kill-Anything is going to have to backpedal here ... my new roommate smokes, unfortunately, so has to do that outside. Yesterday, while planting hellebores, I came across an ashtray in the back right about the time that I was finishing up an MGD, so poured the last bit of the beer in the ashtray & put it in one of the big raised beds on the deck just to see what would happen.

Didn't really give it another thought until just now, when I went to check on the hellebores -- that dang ashtray has exactly a dozen slugs in it from overnight!!! And this isn't even a fancy trap, just a little black plastic ashtray with half an inch of beer in it.

So I can see that the fact of there being a varied, well-established garden here doesn't mean slugs won't be an issue for many of the things (things>=tomatoes) that are must-haves for me.

Anyone tried "Citrus Peel"? they and snails are attracted to it, die there. so far, lemon works. just cut or whatever, pick it up later.

So you put citrus peels out and it's toxic to slugs? Do oranges and grapefruit work or just lemons?

I've also read that fresh citrus peel will either kill or repel fleas. If you are having an infestation, try shredding some and rubbing down your animals and sprinkling some in their beds (if they have one). If nothing else, everything will smell fresh. I do this occasionally for my dog, usually to counter a 'dead animal' aroma rather than for fleas.

Since moving to WA, we have fleas on our animals this year for the first time in 9 years. And it's only about one or two fleas, nothing major like we'd have back in Calif. We did get some of the flea stuff from the vet and used it once. Good to know about the citrus. It's great not having to deal with fleas! Must be the colder weather.

I read in the paper this morning that oat bran will kill slugs if they eat it. It was in Binette's article. That should be safe for everything.

So now I go slather my garden with oat bran? That doesn't sound time consuming, at all.

Dang, if only you had posted that earlier today. I caved in. This year and last have been the worst slug years ever, with this year being just ridiculous. I went and bought Sluggo Plus. It said it was for organic gardens. It was $32!!!!! And it's not even that big a container.