Subject: Re: Organically removing slugs?

From: [email-masked] (sonny hays-eberts)
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 09:40:33 -0700

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Anke
Kamrath,,) wrote:

> I've got slugs in my square foot garden and herb garden.
> I'm concerned about using anything toxic to get rid
> of these creatures since I'd like the food to be healthy
> (and I have cats in the area I don't want to poison).
> 
> Any suggestions on getting rid of them organically?

beer traps - they require changing the bait periodically; depends on how
much water gets in or how many slugs.

clean up your garden - mulch and rotting plants provide shelter for slugs

ducks - esp. muscovy ducks love slugs

diatomaceous earth/egg shells - minimal success imho.

copper holds a minimal charge which slugs are (supposedly) loathe to cross
- it's expensive and i haven't tried it

snake 'barbed wire' - using door screens, run a strip (upright) around your
beds  and remove the top few horizontal strands - this is much more
effective than 
eggshells and diatom. earth, again, imho, though some slugs burrow

encourage snakes and moles

and lastly (ick) handpicking

all lessons learned in the rainy northwest. :)

-- 
albert einstein nailed space-time
but the wild thing had him stumped
al baby, two and two make five and a quarter
that's why people fall in love
            -- t. dolby

sonny hays-eberts
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (GRKRIEBEL)
Date: 28 Feb 1995 03:45:12 -0500

I use beer in tunafish cans,  when and if it's not too rainy.  Slugs love
the beer and fall in and drown.  I'm serious, but use cheep beer!  Set the
cand flush with the dirt and check it out every morn.  Actually, doing
just that, checking the plot every early morning befor they get a chance
to slip back into hiding is best. Eliminating those hiding places, of
course.
Here in Oregon we have plenty of experiance with such beasts.  It's our
state mascot.
Or else, spread sand around?  maybe they don't like sand much,  but that's
not too successful I've found.
Good luck
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Vincent Jurgens)
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 17:10:37 -0600

Slug Slaughter!

An almost nightly ritual for me.
Armed with only flashlight, salt and a stick, I head out into the far
reaches of our estate and hunt down the mighty Leopard Slug of Central
Illinois.

Just a dash of salt, a little waiting, then flick the slimy hors d'oeuvre
deep into the bushes lest you step on the mess the next morning.
The bigger ones need a second visit, since one dash doesn't suffice.
Sometimes, I find them scaling the siding of our castle, as high as 15feet
in the air!  You have to be pretty good flingin' the salt that high.

Put beer traps out toward the end of the season.  Very good success, but
given the layout of the land, I think I'll need to put out 20 or so. 
There seem to be little autonomous slug fiefdoms spread around.

At almost a can per trap, that's a lot of beer.
And if you fail to clean the trap out promptly, the stink is unbelievable.

With all this, many of my hostas, marigolds and vegetables were destroyed
anyway ...

Happy hunting.

Vincent

-- 
Vincent Jurgens
Media Systems Specialist
NCSA

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 28 Feb 1995 11:00:17 GMT

Drown them in beer.

Chris Owens

>Thanks!
>---

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From: Susan Sanders <[email-masked]>
Date: 2 Mar 1995 18:51:31 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> Vincent
>And if you fail to clean the trap out promptly, the stink is
unbelievable.

Yes!  The only time there was a vile smell in my compost pile was when I
was dumping the beery slug traps in it.  (If memory serves, that is also
the time when I had the most living slugs in the compost pile).  How do
the rest of you get rid of the contents of your beer slug traps, old
beer, rotting slugs, and all?                -Sue Sanders

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From: [email-masked] (Harry Boswell)
Date: 2 Mar 1995 15:32:50 GMT

Our local extension service expert recommends laying a board flat on the
ground, supporting by a couple of rocks or something that raises it up
an inch or so.  The slugs crawl under it;  you then go out early the next
day, lift up the board, and mash the slugs.  Sound pretty messy to me - 
I think I'll just put up little signs:

              +----------+
              | SLUGS NOT|
              | ALLOWED  |
              |  HERE    |
              +----------+
                   |
                   |

;-)

--
Harry Boswell                 [email-masked]  
Information Technology Laboratory
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers        Vicksburg, MS

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From: [email-masked] (Sara Larson)
Date: 1 Mar 1995 16:17:21 GMT

sonny hays-eberts ([email-masked]) wrote:
: ducks - esp. muscovy ducks love slugs

I can verify this one. Actually, our pekins and mallards both loved
the slugs. They'd chase each other around trying to steal them from
each other. One thing, you probably will have to feed the ducks in
order to get them to stick around. An additional bonus is that you'll
always have a crowd of fans awaiting your appearance (the duck feeder
has left the building!). They also alert you to the presence of aliens
(people and animals who don't belong on your property).

-Sara

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From: [email-masked] (Craig Brossman)
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 12:52:08 -0700

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Graeme
Roberts) wrote:

> If the beer doesn't work, try a little table salt. It makes a 
> real mess of the slug and used sparingly, it will not harm the 
> plant or the soil.
> 
> Graeme.

-- 
My experience has been that table salt WILL harm plants if it comes in
contact with then. It seems to do the same thing to the plants as the
slugs, draws the moisture out. It kill slugs, and causes cell damage with
the plants. I killed 2 canalope plants, and severly damaged 2 Dills with
table salt last year.
There is currently a discussion about using a 1/3 amonia 2/3 water spray,
but I am not sure how that will affect plants.
I may try it, but in addition, I will plant some slug plants this year,
specifically dill (they seem to love it) away from the garden to draw them
elsewhere.
Others have mentioned about finding where the slugs live. How do I do this?

Thanks ... Craig

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From: [email-masked] (Graeme Roberts)
Date: 1 Mar 1995 04:06:05 GMT

Graeme.

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From: [email-masked] (Graeme Roberts)
Date: 1 Mar 1995 04:06:05 GMT

Graeme.

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From: [email-masked] (Valerie Colvin)
Date: 7 Mar 1995 09:50:23 -0500

> With all this, many of my hostas, marigolds and vegetables were destroyed

1 capful of ammonia and 1 qt. water. Spray on foliage. valerie
-- 
 Valerie N. Colvin  
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2018

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From: [email-masked] ()
Date: 7 Mar 1995 21:55:36 GMT

OIn article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Anke
Kamrath,,) wrote:

> ---Our garden club just had a seminar on them. The major winner of opinions was that slugs are lushes and cups or cans of beer work the best.  They are quite drawn to the stuff and feed on the dead ones at the bottom also.  You can also make a paste of flour water, yeast and sugar if you don't want the beer around.  Make sure the cups are deep so they don't crawl out.  Sharp bark as a mulch or no mulch helps somewhat. A more gruesome way is put down two boards that are separated from each other by small 
stones.  In the morning take the rocks out and stomp on the top board.  It does work.  I have also heard that greasy raw wool spread around the plants works, but I haven't tried it yet.