Subject: slugs in garden

From: [email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT)
Date: 20 Mar 1995 19:33:56 -0400

Has anyone found the solution to the unkillable slugs that eat transplants,we have a cat and a dog and do not want to use any pellets.We have tried the beer in the can trick, but that has only limited effect.HELP............

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From: Kendra Walsh <[email-masked]>
Date: 21 Mar 1995 14:10:24 GMT

> Has anyone found the solution to the unkillable slugs that eat transplants,we have a cat and a dog and do not want to use any pellets.We have tried the beer in the can trick, but that has only limi…

Yes, there is some help.  Try crushed egg shells around the plants in
trouble.  Slugs do not like to crawl over the sharp shells.  I have 
tried this myself and found it to work quite well.

I also leave gratefruit halves placed upside down under my hosta plants.
Midday I lift the rinds and kill the slugs sleeping underneath.

Hope this is of some help.

Kendra Walsh (zone 4) Potsdam, NY

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From: [email-masked] (Henling, Lawrence M.)
Date: 21 Mar 1995 17:34 PDT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Thomas Kinsman) writes...
>Slugs are an annual problem.  I planted about $50 worth of tulips in the
..
>I have heard of copper, and salt, but all of these are a bit difficult to

 How does the copper work? I have some copper foil; can I just make
little cylinders around the base of plants or seedlings?

thanks,
larry henling
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Jen Mayer)
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 03:18:00 GMT

[email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT) wrote:
 Has anyone found the solution to the unkillable slugs 

Be sure you don't water your garden in the evening. This creates a 
soggy slug heaven. Water in the morning instead and let the sun dry the 
garden out over the course of the day.

 * RM 1.3 01256 * * Anatomically Correct beats Politically Correct ANY DAY!

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 23 Mar 1995 05:29:06 GMT

> * RM 1.3 01256 * * Anatomically Correct beats Politically Correct ANY DAY!

The problem with morning watering is that it can cause burn
to a lot of tender leaves if you use a sprinkler.  Plus, you are
spending a lot of water to evaporation instead of watering.
If you are watering correctly, the ground should be dry enough
to walk on half an hour after you turn the water off.

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (Vince Miller)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 01:13:30 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT)
>Subject: slugs in garden
>Date: 20 Mar 1995 19:33:56 -0400

>Has anyone found the solution to the unkillable slugs that eat transplants,
>we have a cat and a dog and do not want to use any pellets.
>We have tried the beer in the can trick, but that has only limited effect.

You can set out a board or some other object they will use as shelter when 
the cool night turns into hot dry nasty day.  Then just lift it up and kill 
em' with your favorite method.  Unlike earwigs, slugs are pretty easy to 
catch on the run ;-).  It may take a few repeats to get them all, but this 
will work.  

Vince

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From: [email-masked] (Thomas Kinsman)
Date: 21 Mar 1995 01:29:23 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT) writes:
> Has anyone found the solution to the unkillable slugs that eat
> transplants,we have a cat and a dog and do not want to use any pellets.We
> have tried the beer in the can trick, but that has only limited
> effect.HELP............

Slugs are an annual problem.  I planted about $50 worth of tulips in the
fall and find that I'm not growing tulips, I'm raising slugs.  They sit in
the ground on top of the shoots and eat the plant as fast as it tries to grow.

The problem I have found with the beer trick is that you don't just
attract the local slugs into the trap, you attract the neighbors into your
yard too.  So, you kill some, but attract more.

I have heard of copper, and salt, but all of these are a bit difficult to
use over an entire garden.  I'm ready to go non-organic for a while just
to set them back a bit.

This must have been covered here every year.  Those of you who read this
last year, what was the verdict?  Anyone recomend a "slug-a-cide"?

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From: Susan Sanders <[email-masked]>
Date: 21 Mar 1995 18:57:25 GMT

>Has anyone found the solution to the unkillable slugs that eat
transplants,we 
>have a cat and a dog and do not want to use any pellets.We have tried
the beer 

Well, the one sure, completely organic method is . . . go out there in
the evening after a soaking rain, and hand pick the damn things.  When
the conditions are right, I've gotten over 150 of 'em in less than half
and hour.  Disposable plastic gloves are a good idea, since slug slime is
almost impossible to get off of your hands.  I usually just carry around
a plastic bag, like a plastic grocery bag, pop 'em in, then when I'm done
put that inside another plastic bag, stomp on them, and throw the bag in
the garbage.  Clearly this is not the most *pleasant* method of slug
control, but you can make a real dent in the population, real quick, and
without having to worry about what kind of poisons you're putting into
your immediate environment.  (I often see birds pushing around my pine
bark mulch looking for just such juicy tidbits.  Since I want to keep the
birds around, both to help with insect control and because I'd rather
have the robins visiting my yard than be responsible for killing them
off, I'm sticking with the non-toxic way, even if it is icky).           
-Sue Sanders

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From: [email-masked] (sonny hays-eberts)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 09:49:38 -0700

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT)
wrote:

> I thank you for the tip on the watering, but understand, my problem
> happens mostly in the spring time just after the planting for the summer
> and the weather is not dry or warm enough ,plus the frost is comming out 
> of the ground creating slug heaven.They continue to eat my plants till
> late May or start of June  until it becomes hot enough, so you can understand
> my problem, after buying new plant every two weeks it can be very testy
> to say the lease.HELP

i understand. here in the northwest, spring is prime slug time. there's a
pretty dicey period when my peas emerge; the slugs eat them almost as fast
as they grow. after a certain period they're able to grow faster, but some
loss is inevitable. it's natural selection at work.

i use quite a few approaches - i plant seedlings and seeds combined, and
overplant at first. i replant the bald areas. maybe it's my imagination,
but insects seem attracted to the weaker plants or those already under
attack. i leave a few of those in the hopes of distracting the slugs from
healthier plants. thin as needed. combined with beer traps, handpicking
(thankfully my game hens are happy to eat slugs), and a healthy snake and
mole population. every slug you eliminate will prevent thousands more from
being born. and i think the thousands of tiny slugs do more damage than the
older ones you can see easily. destroy the slug egg clusters on sight when
working the ground. keep your garden cleaned up - slugs will hide under
tall grass, weeds, esp. broadleaf weeds like dandelions, and discarded
refuse. you can collect slugs my leaving out cardboard overnight - in the
later morning they'll collect under it. i've heard (garden.legend perhaps?)
that slugs can travel almost a mile in a day. they can also burrow. if your
climate supports them, you'll never get rid of them entirely.

-- 
like the forest's fight for sunlight, it takes root in every tree
pulled upwards by the magnet, believing they are free
         -- genesis

sonny hays-eberts
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Henling, Lawrence M.)
Date: 21 Mar 1995 17:34 PDT

..

thanks,
larry henling
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Jen Mayer)
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 03:18:00 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 23 Mar 1995 05:29:06 GMT

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (Vince Miller)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 01:13:30 GMT

Vince

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From: [email-masked] (Thomas Kinsman)
Date: 21 Mar 1995 01:29:23 GMT

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From: Susan Sanders <[email-masked]>
Date: 21 Mar 1995 18:57:25 GMT

transplants,we 
the beer

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From: [email-masked] (sonny hays-eberts)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 09:49:38 -0700

sonny hays-eberts

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From: [email-masked] (ANDY HEBERT)
Date: 23 Mar 1995 20:11:41 -0400

to say the lease.HELP/////////////////////