Aloha,
I am trying to raise vegetables here in Hawaii. I was a very successful backyard gardener on the mainland. I built 6 ft x 4 ft cedar containers with a 4 ft depth and filled them with "Super Soil" and compost (from my bin). I seem to only have success with eggplant, cucumbers (sometimes) and Hawaiian chili peppers. I even built a frame with window screen on one of the boxes to keep the birds from eating the tomatoes. But my real problem is slugs. I've never had to deal with so many and so big even when I had hundreds of hostas in Ohio. They seem to eat the seedlings and bedding plants (they can make a pepper seedling disappear overnight). I've tried diamotaceous earth, hair clippings, beer. I'm afraid to use slug bait because I have 2 dogs and I don't want to poison them. I wondered if millipedes from the compost might be eating some of the plants but I think the slugs are the biggest problem. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Please. At this point my vegetables are a pretty hefty investment.
Help! The slugs are doing me in.
Guavagirl,
I just read somewhere that someone sprinkles coffee grinds around the plants and containers, and even inside the containers of plants that will tolerate them (I pour 50% diluted coffee on my hydrangeas -- they love it).
I was gonna try this in my yard at some point, but, it looks like you're gonna let ME know if it works...
Good Luck!
Linda
guavagirl, there are a few snail and slug baits on the market that use iron phosphate instead of metal aldehydes. The iron phosphate ones are safe for pets and wildlife.
Sluggo
http://www.pestproducts.com/sluggo.htm
Have you considered getting some pet ducks? These are great ways to control snails and slugs in the garden and fertilize at the same time!
check out these ducks on the poultry and livestock forum.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/940704/
You may want to try DE. (Diatomaceous earth) I would think that would be easily available in hawaii. It is non-toxic, inexpensive and works against many kinds of insects as well. Sprinkle around base of plants. It is commonly used as a pool filter material.
krowten, does DE work well for you after a rain?
I found it ineffective for slug control when wet.
Hey Guava! I used to live in Kona, upslope with minimal slugs.
Moved back here to Washington: a virtual slug nirvana!
"Sluggo" has worked nicely for me - we have extended periods of cool, wet weather, and it holds up well. The only other thing that I've found to be successful was to fill a spray bottle with vinegar water (at least 50/50) & spray all the tiny ones. They are too little to pick off manually. Afterwards, I rinse the plants with water. The idea is to change the ph of their exterior; ammonia water works, too, but you only need 10% ammonia.
A friend nailed 4" copper stripping around the base of her raised beds - she claimed it kept them away.
Thanks alot everyone. As I mentioned, I did try DE---actually got a huge box for the pool (cheaper than the kind sold for gardens), but as much as it rains, reapplying it is way too hard. I had heard about the copper stripping but the price of copper was so high that the copper thieves were stripping the wiring off the lamp posts along the freeways at night so I thought the price might be prohibitive. I will try Sluggo. Does using Sluggo still make it as "organic" gardening?
It is so bad here, that I have actually seen slug eggs, even slugs stuck together making eggs.....
I have been petitioning for chickens but the idea always gets nixed.
If anyone else has other ideas, I'm open.
We have periods of dryness here regularly and seldom daily rain. I use it (DE)in my pots for ants, etc and it does seem to work for slugs, but using containers, they dry out fast. The surface dries quickly.
Something else to try might be containers of fruit juice. I use jugs with 2 1" holes cut in them about 1/2 way to the top. Fill to the bottom hole with fruit juice and a couple of drops of liquid detergent. I use these to trap fruit eating insects, such as yellow jackets and fruit eating wasps, as well as my neighbors excess flies (they don't cover their garbage cans). I always find a lot of slugs in the traps when I empty them. If you don't want to catch the flying bugs, you can leave the tops off of the jugs. (Traps sit on the ground)
Crushed up egg shells around your plants will work. They won't travel over them but you do have to have a pretty solid band so it's something you have to work on for awhile. Beer in a pie plate buried to ground level used to work for me. Fortunately I now live where slugs are not a problem.
I put out shallow pans of beer. They drink it and die. Copper wire also does he trick.
I think the problem is the very hard monsoon type rains that Kaneohe gets. As far as pans of beer: you would need a moat around your garden. And I know what you mean about the eggs having eggs!
We have more of a continual wet here, so the application of 'Sluggo' lasts.
Guavagirl, I would try it. I have dogs & cats - no one showed any interest in Sluggo, unlike the 'Deadline' I put down at the very base of my raised beds.
Copper is expensive - but it did work for my friend.
If you live in an area that has an enormous slug population, it becomes a major effort to lessen their numbers.
How many beds do you have Guavagirl? And have you noticed that the slugs tend to come from one direction of your garden, or is it more like troops from all sides? The only other way I have dealt with them is to hand pick on a daily basis, at dawn & dusk & absolutely right after the rain. But this can be so discouraging as there are so many... How close to the Pali are you?
One tactic is to sprinkle a few grains of table salt on an offending critter who will begin disintegrating instantly. Of course, this method can't be used widely because of the danger of harming the soil's chemistry, but an occasional "Take that!" is a bit of grim revenge.
If handpicking is in your future, you can help make things a bit easier by putting down a board. Daily turn the board over and you will find a lot of slugs hiding there. You can check this during the day when the slugs hide. You won't get all of them this way though.
Thanks Katye and everyone for their input. I'm looking up a good source of Sluggo now and trying to find someplace that won't kill me with shipping costs.
I'm actually in Kahaluu right under the Koolaus so it is even wetter than in Kaneohe.
I have 4 of the raised boxes and then many plants in pots (left from the previous owner who didn't seem to believe in planting anything in the ground). The other day when I was repotting my orchids that were hanging from the noni tree in wooden boxes, I found several slugs nested inbetween the roots!. There was also slime all over the very tops of the tomato vines. When I repotted the herb box there was a large chicken egg sized ball of slug eggs. It is a huge infestation everywhere in the yard. So even though I do handpick, it seems very ineffective. I compost all my food waste including the eggshells so the compost has lots of eggshells in it. I confess though, I can't imagine placing the eggshells into a fortress around each plant. The hair clippings did work a little bit around the new seedlings for awhile. I think it irritates the slugs (like DE and coffee grounds, perhaps). But then it gets matted down in the rain and I think if I'm not immediately there to replace it, the plants are goners.
No way about it, Hawaii is paradise for pests.
I don't know if you can do this but it worked for me. When we had a rather rainy summer it seemed like everything was being devoured by slugs. I diluted some vinegar and put it in a spray bottle. After it got dark I would go out with a flashlight and look for the trails and pluck the ones on a plant and stick them in some soapy water. Where I could spray them just one spray would do the trick. I would think if you can lessen the numbers you won't have such a huge continuing problem.
Too bad you couldn't borrow a couple of ducks or chickens.
Guavagirl - I can seriously empathize.
I was stunned in Kona that there were any slugs at all; yes - silly me! But because of the property having shallow soil over lava, they were all congregated in the garden. When I was able to get rid of them, the ants came to devour my white pineapple. Then something - not sure what - decimated the lettuces, cabbages, carrots, even the parsley - what eats parsley??? This went on & on - lots of pests, and nothing to deter them.
Came back to Washington - more slug relatives lying in wait! Living next to an undeveloped, treed parcel of land did not help: I was certain that's where the slugs were invented.
This is why I asked about which direction they come from - like the trails, and egg clusters might provide some clues. If you notice they are on one side of the beds or another, you might try your stealth attack on that side first. I have had slugs crawling on the siding up above the door, so I don't think they're really limited. But I am thankful they can't fly...
This is quite a useful link. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7427.html.
In England I used liquid metaldehyde with great success. I was surprised by the abundance of slugs here in Finland. Seems there's been a plague of Spanish slugs here!! Organic gardeners in England are using nematodes- microscopic parasitic worms which enter the slug and eat him/her. (Slugs are hermaphrodites). Still quite expensive; but can give protection for several weeks and quite harmless to wildlife and the environment.
If you go back through this forum guavagirl you'll find quite a lot of threads about this topic.
Here's a link for using coffee grounds to kill slugs - look towards the bottom of the article.
http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm
Oh, I just love to salt the slugs, reminds me of the wicked witch melting from the water.
My mother used to kill slugs with a sprinkle of salt, but I always wondered if this caused them pain, so I kill them as quickly as possible with the "heel-of-foot" method.
I fed a big one to my salamander.
HoneybeeNC: Thanks for that link! I'm fascinated by the information on how caffeine repels/kills slugs. What a great solution - fertilize your plants and deter pests at the same time! Environmentally friendly and inexpensive to boot.
Guavagirl, I hope you'll provide us with an update. In your place, I think I'd be trying a three-pronged approach:
1. Sluggo
2. Coffee (both grounds and brew)
3. Hand-picking - I like the board idea, too.
I'd stay away from any of the acidic or salty methods; too much risk of negatively altering your soil or burning your plants.
The seed balls from sweet gum trees are supposed to keep slugs away, they are sharp. We put them under our hostas.
I just ordered something called "Suggo Plus" which is supposed to kill cutworms as well as slugs and snails. Hope it works, 'cause the slugs are eating my baby veggy plants faster than they can grow!
Wow, I amazed at the wealth of info I just read. Thanks everyone. Here on the Queen Charlotte Islands ( BC) we have a real slug problem too. I still find turning over boards and hand picking morning and evening the most reliable. But heaven help you miss a night! It's pretty crazy. Ducks are wonderful slug eaters, if you can handle them and believe it or not earwigs eat slug eggs! Have to be good for something I guess.
Good luck..... Nana elaine
Too much property to lay boards down - I'd need a lumber yard.
Ducks are messy, but cute. I had no clue that coffee grounds had any affect on slugs. That I can try for sure.
I have used the sand that my husband uses to sandblast his old trucks when he is repainting them ( he gets crotchety when I take off with a mice bag of it, ha ha. I use it as a band between the lawn and the flower or veggie patches. It needs replacing spring and fall only so thats not bad, and is effective for slugs travelling from the lawn into the flowers. Its not hard to come by, just ask a guy.
Update on the "Sluggo Plus" - I found two sick-looking slugs and a dead cutworm one day after using this stuff. Hopefully many more slugs crawled back to their hiding places and died there!
I have been using Sluggo now for about 3 months. I'm a happy camper. I have actually been harvesting vegetables from my garden! (Brocolli, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers) I'm beginning to feel successful. I love it. My seedlings are surviving and all is going well. I'm still on my first jug too. I just sprinkle some out every week or so---sooner if it has been rainy. I did find an entire nest under my parsley, but I handpicked those, put down some Sluggo and they haven't returned. Thanks so much everyone.
I currently use Escar-Go Supreme from Gardens Alive! I had used the older version, Escar-Go, for 10 years or more, but the folks at Gardens Alive recently improved the product to also kill cutworms, sowbugs, and pillbugs in addition to snails and slugs. I used to have real issues with slugs on my hosta and broccoli, but have had no problems since using the two versions of Escar-Go. It appears to be very safe, as my cats often spend time in the garden, and have shown no adverse reactions. The label does warn against hazards to aquatic life, and states that it cannot be added to ponds. I absolutely love this product, and find it to be very effective ... and, it's easy to use.
The "Slugo Plus" is working nicely. I harvested our first golfball-sized turnips last night. When the turnips were small, the slugs almost killed them with their hungry ravaging night after night. Gotta love a plant where you can eat the roots and leaves, too - no waste!
I've been contemplating using Sluggo Plus. We've had such a damp spring and the slugs are out in full force!
Today's article might help!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2357/
I have a trick that has worked like a charm: I get a copper product called "chore boy" in the household cleaning section - they are pot scrubbers. I pull them apart (sort of), to create a thin ring of copper strings. I put it around the seedling before it gets too big. Slugs and snails won't cross it because the copper creates an electrical charge (or some such). It's a little expensive, but they last forever. At the end of the season, when I pull out the plant, I wash the copper loop and reuse it the following year. Never had a problem with slugs with this method (and I have plenty of slugs otherwise!)
Happygirl, what a great idea! I have used copper strips a long time ago, but they are very pricey- the choregirl thing sounds very good. If I ever have a slug problem I'll use them.