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floridahillnursery
- Cool Member
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:44 am
- Location: Orlando Florida
The active ingredient is 3.5% metaldehyde. This is absolutely a synthetic ingredient. Please note that this discussion is under our "Organic Insect and Plant Disease Control" section, where chemical means are eschewed. Metaldehyde has been responsible for cat and dog poisonings--probably child poisonings, too--and is not a choice for any organic gardener.floridahillnursery wrote:Hello, we use a product called trails end around our grow tables. This stuff stops them dead in their tracks. It even kills those pesky pill bugs around the strawberry beds in our personal garden....
https://fs1.agrian.com/pdfs/Trails_End_Lg_(11338-1)_Label.pdf
If you have organic recommendations for slug/snail control, please let us know them. Chemical means are beyond the scope of "Organic Insect and Plant Disease Control."
Thank you for understanding.
Cynthia H.
/moderator/
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floridahillnursery
- Cool Member
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:44 am
- Location: Orlando Florida
Thanks Applestar ROFL, I didnt notice the organic part... Yeah, its definatly not organic...
Thanks Cynthia_h, I would like to add to your post if you don't mind. Poisoning in pets does not occur as result of application. (at a ROA of 1 granule per square foot) Poisoning occurs as result of improper storage. As with anything bleach, peroxide, cleaning products and one of the largest killer of pets radiater coollant fluid "Ethylene Glycol" (Antifreeze) it all must be handled and stored properly by responsible persons.
Organic option. Put a can of beer in the ground level with the soil....
Thanks Cynthia_h, I would like to add to your post if you don't mind. Poisoning in pets does not occur as result of application. (at a ROA of 1 granule per square foot) Poisoning occurs as result of improper storage. As with anything bleach, peroxide, cleaning products and one of the largest killer of pets radiater coollant fluid "Ethylene Glycol" (Antifreeze) it all must be handled and stored properly by responsible persons.
Organic option. Put a can of beer in the ground level with the soil....
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GardenGnome
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 755
- Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:26 pm
- Location: paradise,ca
Someone suggested crushed eggshells spread on the ground around plants you want to protect from slugs and snails. I tried it with varying success. Another person suggested baking the eggshells to make them harder. Has anyone tried that?
Also the copper penny solution sounds promising. Has anyone had success with it? Wondering if enough copper is in pennies to make it work.
Also the copper penny solution sounds promising. Has anyone had success with it? Wondering if enough copper is in pennies to make it work.
If I'm not mistaken, pennies are made mostly of zinc, with just a thin coating of copper.
I've tried the eggshell thing, although I didn't bake them. I've read studies that show slugs and snails crawling over and along razor blade edges. Whenever they encounter an uncomfortable surface, like the shells, they just exude more of the slime they're so well known for. It's quite protective.
The only solution I've found that really works is hand picking them.
I've tried the eggshell thing, although I didn't bake them. I've read studies that show slugs and snails crawling over and along razor blade edges. Whenever they encounter an uncomfortable surface, like the shells, they just exude more of the slime they're so well known for. It's quite protective.
The only solution I've found that really works is hand picking them.
So you seem to be saying that all means of preventing slugs from attacking plants are useless in the end, that the only way to lessen the damage is to catch the slugs and then to kill them. That is not the answer that I or the OP was hoping for.Kisal wrote:If I'm not mistaken, pennies are made mostly of zinc, with just a thin coating of copper.
I've tried the eggshell thing, although I didn't bake them. I've read studies that show slugs and snails crawling over and along razor blade edges. Whenever they encounter an uncomfortable surface, like the shells, they just exude more of the slime they're so well known for. It's quite protective.
The only solution I've found that really works is hand picking them.
A friend suggested raised beds as an effective solution. It's more work but maybe worth the effort. Has anyone had any success with raised beds?
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Nope, sorry. I grow mostly in raised beds. Some of my pepper plants are in tall raised beds, wooden sides, sitting on top of concrete patio. They were getting chewed to death until I started treating them with diatomaceous earth and eggshells. Since I used both, I can't say what worked, but it definitely slowed the damage down, though didn't entirely stop it. Slowed it down enough that the plants can grow again.
The raised bed didn't seem to slow the slugs down at all.
A lot of people swear by beer traps, but my slugs appear to be teetotalers.
If you are willing to use it, there's a commercial product called sluggo, which slugs eat and it poisons them. It's active ingredient is iron phosphate which in itself is non-toxic. Sluggo is OMRI certified organic. However, it is 1% active ingredient and 99% unlisted "inert" ingredients and there is concern that some of the inert ingredients are actually toxic in the environment, to earthworms and even to dogs that would eat the stuff.
There is something called Slug Shield
https://www.slugshield.com/Home.html
which is basically woven copper wire to wrap around the base of your plants. Completely non-toxic, doesn't have to be reapplied after every rain. I would think the main drawback of this would be it costs about $1/plant and has to be applied individually. Not too bad if you have a few plants you are worried about protecting, but not easy to do for fields of them.
In an old discussion we had about Sluggo, Kisal posted a trapping method:
I don't recommend slug & snail baits other than beer, but back in the bad old days, my neighbors and I would save small jars, such as jelly jars, put a little of the bait in each one, and lay them on their sides in our gardens. Except for the slugs and snails, animals didn't seem to bother the stuff, and it didn't come in contact with the soil or our plants.
A similar method is to cut little half-circles out of the edge of a container such as cottage cheese comes in, place the container lid on the ground with the inside up, lay a little bit of bait in the center of it, then "snap" the container onto it. The snails and slugs could get at the bait through the little half-circle openings.
We liked the jelly jars, though, because, being clear, they weren't so visible and gave the garden a neater appearance. Even so, I no longer use baits. I've found hand-picking the critters to be most effective.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=176562#176562
There are many things people have tried against slugs and most of them seem to work for some people some of the time. You have to figure out what works for you.
The raised bed didn't seem to slow the slugs down at all.
A lot of people swear by beer traps, but my slugs appear to be teetotalers.
If you are willing to use it, there's a commercial product called sluggo, which slugs eat and it poisons them. It's active ingredient is iron phosphate which in itself is non-toxic. Sluggo is OMRI certified organic. However, it is 1% active ingredient and 99% unlisted "inert" ingredients and there is concern that some of the inert ingredients are actually toxic in the environment, to earthworms and even to dogs that would eat the stuff.
There is something called Slug Shield
https://www.slugshield.com/Home.html
which is basically woven copper wire to wrap around the base of your plants. Completely non-toxic, doesn't have to be reapplied after every rain. I would think the main drawback of this would be it costs about $1/plant and has to be applied individually. Not too bad if you have a few plants you are worried about protecting, but not easy to do for fields of them.
In an old discussion we had about Sluggo, Kisal posted a trapping method:
I don't recommend slug & snail baits other than beer, but back in the bad old days, my neighbors and I would save small jars, such as jelly jars, put a little of the bait in each one, and lay them on their sides in our gardens. Except for the slugs and snails, animals didn't seem to bother the stuff, and it didn't come in contact with the soil or our plants.
A similar method is to cut little half-circles out of the edge of a container such as cottage cheese comes in, place the container lid on the ground with the inside up, lay a little bit of bait in the center of it, then "snap" the container onto it. The snails and slugs could get at the bait through the little half-circle openings.
We liked the jelly jars, though, because, being clear, they weren't so visible and gave the garden a neater appearance. Even so, I no longer use baits. I've found hand-picking the critters to be most effective.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=176562#176562
There are many things people have tried against slugs and most of them seem to work for some people some of the time. You have to figure out what works for you.
I have used slug shields. They work remarkably well and they're great for most of my plants - brassicas, romaine, tomato, cucumber, pepper, and Dahlias, etc. The upfront cost is worth it b/c they last all season with virtually no maintenance and they say they can be re-used. Just my two cents - I feel I've become a slug expert this year!
And, yes, Sluggo (and other Iron Phosphate baits) is NOT organic in my book! I can't believe they get away with that...
And, yes, Sluggo (and other Iron Phosphate baits) is NOT organic in my book! I can't believe they get away with that...