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Garden Gate:  How do I get  |
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N@n
True Blue Farmgirl
223 Posts
Hackett
Arkansas
USA
223 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 04:00:35 AM
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rid of slugs!!!! I have put out shallow dishes of beer and they do love it. We kill several dozen--yes several dozen--each day. It is like you can almost here the squishing sound as these oozy creatures slime their way toward my pumpkin plants.
We are in an area that has never been planted before in the woods. I have never seen so many slugs.
Are they good for fish bait?
Can I enjoy them with garlic and butter as escargot??
Any help would be appreciated.
N@n in Michigan
keep searchin'-it's out there somewhere. |
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Cozynana
True Blue Farmgirl
1123 Posts
Kem
1123 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 05:46:07 AM
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| I think I have read that you lay out low laying lids of beer. The slugs love it, but can't process it and die. Might be worth a try. |
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Bart
True Blue Farmgirl
115 Posts
115 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 05:56:19 AM
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| Well - gross as it may be - if you put a moat around your garden and fill it with salt they turn to pure slime when they go in it. Salt and Slugs - not good :) |
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msdoolittle
True Blue Farmgirl
1152 Posts
Amanda
East Texas
USA
1152 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 07:58:54 AM
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Yuck! Sounds like you're doing well trapping them. Hopefully the numbers will continue to drop? I'd keep on with the traps, maybe adding even more traps.
Since they like cool, moist conditions, where do you think they are hiding out during the day? Can some of that area be raked/cleaned up? They will hide under just about anything, and maybe you can start eliminating more that way. You could be the Slug Hunter!
Slugs are pretty gross, lol.
FarmGirl #1390
www.mylittlecountry.wordpress.com |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 09:31:44 AM
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You can sprinkle epsom salts around your plants, but it will raise the acid level some. You also need to inspect every plant espacially underneath it, for the little critters. If you want to try a pre-emptive strike for next year, till in epsom salts in the fall kinda heavily. It will raise the acid level in the winter, but it will drop back down by spring. It will leave the good salts in the ground that the plants love and need that the slugs and snails hate.
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Cowgirl Cocinera
True Blue Farmgirl
105 Posts
Dana
Chelsea
OK
USA
105 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 10:48:11 AM
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I had slug problems with the hostas I planted in a forested area by our house. I got diatomaceous earth (DE) which really does the trick! DE is made from fossils of prehistoric fresh water shells created by one cell plants called diatoms. This material is finely ground to a powder, but it still has microscopic razor sharp edges that punctures the exoskeleton of insects and dries them out, especially slugs. It is a natural occuring product, not a chemical. There is food grade DE that the ranchers and chicken farmers here feed to their animals to get rid of internal parasites (worms). You can rub it on pets to keep fleas and ticks away.
Put the DE in a shaker and shake it on the ground around your plants and on the leaves, or wherever the snails are slithering around. One thing, water can wash the DE away, so you have to reapply after a rainstorm. Look at dirtworks.net for more info on DE. It works for me.
Dana
Cowgirl cookin' makes you good lookin' |
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cheneygal
True Blue Farmgirl
503 Posts
Suzie
Cheney
Wa.
USA
503 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2010 : 9:23:38 PM
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Great info Dana, we sell it where I work, but as we have no slugs here, I had no idea it would work for them, have to tell my co-workers on the "slug side" of the mtns. about this!!!
live, laugh, love |
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Mama Jewel
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Jewel
Sweet Peas Farmette,
Bend, OR
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2010 : 1:28:44 PM
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Two things you can try: egg shells (free & easy) or diatomaceous earth (sold at farm & garden) --it's non-toxic to kids & animals & is safe for an organic garden. It's made out of fossils. Both of those two things work on the same principle: it slices/dices up the slug when they crawl over the substances
Love...always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Cor 13:7
Living Simply & Naturally
http://www.piecemama.etsy.com |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2010 : 7:20:08 PM
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eeewww I hate slugs - I was scared to death of them when I was a kid!
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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delicia
True Blue Farmgirl
917 Posts
delicia
cincinnati
ohio
USA
917 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2010 : 8:21:44 PM
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I heard if you put sand around your plants that you can get them that way or sand paper pur around the bottom of your plants will also get rig of them.
delicia |
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N@n
True Blue Farmgirl
223 Posts
Hackett
Arkansas
USA
223 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2010 : 05:11:51 AM
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Thanks so much every one. I have been away with graduation stuff for five days. Came home to pumpkins and peppers totally stripped. But the little beer traps are full of dead slugs. Am going to try each and every one of the suggestions. Slugs will Die!!!!!
N@n in Michigan
keep searchin'-it's out there somewhere. |
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msdoolittle
True Blue Farmgirl
1152 Posts
Amanda
East Texas
USA
1152 Posts |
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Gloria Bonde
True Blue Farmgirl
103 Posts
Gloria
Hot Springs
SD
USA
103 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2010 : 12:58:27 PM
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I order from Gardens Alive a product called Escar-Go Supreme. It is iron sulfate, a naturally occuring compound in the soil. It works wonders. The slugs eat it and can't digest it and "go" - With so much rain comes so many slugs.
www.DakotaGarden.com |
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Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2010 : 5:28:45 PM
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My hubby has been fighting snails forever!!!! Now, he walks around with a can with a little gasoline in it. He picks off the critters and dumps them in. However, the population hasn't seemed to slow down. LOL.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
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ScotDeerie
Farmgirl in Training
19 Posts
G
western NY area
NY
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - Jun 15 2010 : 11:02:12 AM
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| Get some OLD pennies -- wheat pennies are good. Make a circle around the plants and the slugs will get shocked by the copper. But they have to be old pennies. Pre- 197?? something, IIRC, because only the old, old pennies are made of copper. By that reasoning, I suppose old copper wire might work, too. |
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Mary Ann Newcomer
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Mary Ann
Boise
ID
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 15 2010 : 12:40:53 PM
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Used coffee grounds are supposed to work too! The slugs don't like the coarse texture. I've not tried it until now, but found a half dozen of the little beasts the other day, so I am going to give it a try.
Farmgirl w/a city garden, Dirt Diva on the radio. Sister chick #246
www.gardensofthewildwildwestcom |
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Garden Gate: How do I get |
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How do I get
