sigh. It's under row cover. I thought I'd read somewhere that they don't like crawling across rough surfaces like straw. Guess that was wrong. Or maybe it's just been too wet. Or maybe it isn't slugs?
Any recommendations? What about a little ring of cedar mulch around each plant?
Pac choi isn't safe either.
Having had an attack of slugs myself this year I would agree. My came from overwintering under the straw I had in the raised bed I had covered with plastic to over winter vegetables. The other beds do not seem to be suffering.... I think they like to hide under the straw. Beer will help to get rid of them.
Yes. You can sprinkle coarsely crushed egg shells around the bases of your plants or sprinkle Sluggo Plus around the plants to deter the slugs and snails.
"Beer will help to get rid of them." And make you feel better too!
Slugs love the yeast in the beer. Set some low cans like cat food or tuna fish cans in the soil so that the top of the can is slightly above the soil. Fill the cans with beer to below the top of the can. Stale beer is ok. The slugs climb into the can and drown.
Just be sure to check them every morning and dispose of the remains or it'll soon start to stink.
The problem with the beer is that I'm not there everyday to check it and refill it and whatnot. And I'd rather drink it myself! I think I'll pull back the straw and try all of the above. Geeze, I really hope they don't go after my straw-mulched potatoes!
Ok, I'm looking at info on Sluggo. It's weird that both Sluggo and spinosad are OMRI approved, but not Sluggo Plus. I wonder why that is.
I don't know but it works so well!
Ok, I removed the straw and put cedar mulch in place of it. But I found a sow bug/pill bug in the center part of a pac choi, attached to the spider who was feeding on it. So I suspect that some of the damage might have been done by those bugs.
I guess I could put out diatomaceous earth to kill the roly poly bugs (for lack of a better word because I don't know if they're pill or sow), but wouldn't that hurt the spiders? I saw more of those spiders out there, so maybe I should just let them try to control the problem? A week after I first discovered the damage, there's more damage, but not so much that the plants have died. I am tempted to put something out to kill what's damaging the plants. But if I kill the predators, too, I'll end up in worse shape, potentially. Just thinking out loud here.
(p.s. Potatoes are safe and healthy.)
I would handpick the bugs until the plants are big enough to fend for themselves and the natural predators take over.
That makes sense. Looks like you can also lure them to a spot and kill them in the morning.
You can try sprinkling coffee grounds (used) around to deter them or use Sluggo Plus which will kill them.
Still mulling that one over, Stephanie. They're under row cover, so the bees will be safe, but I can't find out if spinosad is safe for spiders.
dividedsky - your damage could be caused by any number of pests, but slugs would be a good guess. Diatomaceous earth will kill earthworms :(
My yard is almost covered with leaves, so I have a huge slug problem! I have sprinkled Sluggo Plus and coffee grounds in my strawberry bed, and the number of slugs and pill/sow bugs has diminished.
I put coffee grounds around the tomatoes, and that seems to be working, too.
However the flea beetles are a problem! I'm waiting for the preditors to show up and turn them into their dinner!
Good to know. I've got lots of fat, juicy worms breaking up the clay. The dirt is already a bit easier to dig just from the amendments I put in it last year.
I'm going to try the coffee grounds, too. Just forgot this weekend.
dividedsky - my fat juicy worms must be irresistable 'cause every night some critter comes along, digs holes all over the place, and feasts on them! This is my third season with the same problem (sigh) - sometimes I wish I hadn't taken a pledge to be a "Wild Life Warrior"
Digging for grubs, maybe? Hopefully?
I know what you're saying. Sometimes I think, why do I have to make this so dang complicated?
I couldn't do it any other way. It's just my nature to overthink things. And once I found out that there was a way to work with nature and protect the critters vs. spray chemicals and not protect them, it was an easy choice.
But sometimes we wish that the critters would just give it a rest, eh?
Honeybee, I wouldn't think the worms would be that close to the surface. Are you sure they're after worms and not something else?
I'm pretty sure it's the earthworms. There are grubs to be had, but far more worms. I've gone as far as to remove any earthworms I find in my raised beds to discourage the critter, and up to a point this has worked. Some mornings, there are trenches/holes right along the outside edges of the raised beds. When that happens, I say a quiet "thank you"
This year I have three rows that are not raised beds, and the critter has not been so kind. The pea fences around the tomatoes seem to spare the plants to some degree, but some of my melons have had their roots disturbed.
For some reason, the critter only visits for a few weeks and then disappears - at least that's what has happened the past three seasons.
stephanietx - the areas between my rows are covered in a heavy layer of leaves, the earthworms are right at ground level.
dividedsky - I was raised with a "We are all in this together" attitude, so have always gone out of my way to protect the "wild things." I didn't like seeing rats in my backyard in Florida, but with all the canals around, trying to get rid of them would have been a waste of time - so we put in a wood pile to harbor snakes! A very large black snake got into the house one day - what fun we had encouraging it to leave :)
Its probably just filling up after winter. When better stuff and a safer area appears it will leave. Unfortunately for me, the digging and chewing critters are pets. Love them to much to get rid of them. I just put some fences with overhanging netting around each bed in addition to the large one around the garden. This year, I will have tomatoes!!!
dlbailey -
Its probably just filling up after winter
Leave a bucket of worms outside your window and you might find out! ha ha.
Your snake story reminds me that it was an unwelcome house guest that brought me to Dave's Garden about this time two years ago. After the screaming stopped, I got the camera and summoned the courage to scoop it up and take it outside. Suunto IDed it, and after clicking around and doing some reading, I decided it was time to find some garden space and get growing! Funny to think about what that spider started.
OMG!!! Must be one of those corn-fed spiders!!! AAaagggghhhhh!!!!!!
Good story, though.
Holy cow! That is one scary looking spider!
He said it's a fishing/nursery web spider (family Pisauridae) such as Dolomedes tenebrosus. Why it climbed up into my second-story apartment I'll never know. Apparently, they don't typically bite humans unless you mess with them. http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse/dolomede.html More interesting than slugs and pill bugs, I'd say.
So it runs freely over water and will dive if frightened? Is there no place safe?? DDT!!!
lol! I won't tell you how many doors I pounded on trying to find someone braver than me to remove it. In the garden, I call it a beneficial. In my house, I call it OMG!!!
I think I'm going to have nightmares - lol...
