A few people have mentioned having trouble with slugs. I have a lot of them here, but use beer to control them.
If you half fill a disposable pie plate with beer, they will crawl in to get to the beer and at first I thought they drowned, but maybe they're allergic, or the fumes get them. It can't be drowning, unless new ones burrow under the dead ones. There will be a pile 2 or three inches thick in the morning, if you have that may slugs around.
That's why you want to use a disposable plate, because believe me, you will want to throw the whole thing away. They really stink, and they all 'uncurl', and it's just totally disgusting.
Slugs
Ah, Marilyn, I feel your pain. So much in fact that I've made myself cross-eyed searching for a different way to combat slugs, because I'm extremely squeemish, and couldn't even go near the plate of beer once there were slugs in it. COFFEE GROUNDS!!! I sprinkle coffee grounds over the earth in the early spring. Voila, no more slugs. They didn't eat my plants this year! I haven't seen one when I've been planting. They're not there anymore. They may be in the grass, but they don't come near where the coffee grounds are sprinkled in the garden beds. Some people save all of their coffee grounds to use in their gardena and it works fine; some people get bags of used coffee grounds from coffee shops. I don't drink coffee, so I bought a huge, cheap can and sprinkled it full strength. The first few times it rained, the gardens smelled like they were good to the last drop! NO MORE SLUGS!!!
Christine
One summer I started counting the little buggers that I caught. I HAND captured 12,000 of the little @$#%%#$@!!! After the first couple of hundred I got over any squeamishness. So many around that putting out a dish with beer would bring thousands more from all over the neighborhood.
This year isn't anywhere near as bad so I should do the beer thing and start making coffee again (or collect the grounds from the staff room coffee maker).
This message was edited Jul 17, 2005 11:16 PM
Wow, 12,000!
I thought I had a lot the year I hand caught about 1500 although I know I only got a fraction of them. I put them into salty water and watched them WRITHE. Served them right for what they did to my plants.
Haven't done anything as dramatic since, I watered my hostas with 1 part ammonia and 10 parts water just as the leaves were unfurling. That's supposed to give pre-emergent control and kill eggs. and I've been using diotomaceous earth and egg shells in spots. Not sure how effective it is.
Ann
Yuk, I am glad I don't have any of those things. Or if they are here, they are hiding.
If you have a really wet summer you'll prolly discover them. The first five or six years I was unaware of them being in my yard. After I discovered them (massive damage gave them away) I would lift every pot , rock and brick that sat on the soil and that's where I got hundreds of them at a time. :b
Like cybercrone I too had a bucket filled with salty water. :^)))
Better yet when you catch them, feed them to your fish
Wilma
Had too many......saw my fish eat some but I liked the salt water treatment more! :)
There's something very satisfying about watching the miserable creatures writhe isn't there?
Ann
Ü
Well, I may try the coffee thing next, as long as it won't flavour my tomatoes and cucumbers.
I'm allergic to coffee and even don't like the smell, but don't like the smell of beer either but I don't have to put it on the plants.
The thought of hand-picking them, even with asbestos gloves, makes *me* writhe!!
What about copper?
I've heard of people putting rings of copper pennies around valued plants. Apparently the pennies are less expensive than the copper rings or netting that you can get at garden supply places.
Has anyone tried copper?
Ann
(thinking it's about time to try collectin slugs as I start to see slug holes in my hostas.)
Garter Snakes - I wish. 35 years of this garden and I've never seen one in my yard. Had a toad once, but only one year.
Ann
Had one in my pond just the other day. They are a little hard on the tiny Goldfish. It'll get the wrong end of my hoe if I can ever catch him. :-[