2014 Snail Hunting Season Now Officially Open!

[Lindsaylew82]

I got a bad case of slugs.

With 24 marigolds I pulled AT LEAST 10-12 slugs per plant for a nice rounded estimate of 250 slugs. No snails. I've actually never seen snails here!

[tomc]

I mix 1/2 tap water with 1/2 common household ammonia. I spray it on plants in early morning or dusk in evening. As with the Wizard of Oz, they melt. The slugs that is.

And no it doesn't hurt plants.

[Lindsaylew82]

There is a large farm pond about 150 yards behind my house. It has ducks and geese that come back every year. The geese leave and come back daily. They lousy fly low, right over my garden... I wish I could attract them for a bit!!!

[Lindsaylew82]

Storms have been promised, but have not delivered... My slugs have gone covert.

Count stands at 250.

[applestar]

I haven't gone on a purposeful slug hunt yet, but have been on the look out after the two days of rain. So far have not been successful in locating the big mama and papa slugs that must have defoliated some of my beet and bean seedlings and have been making holes in some of the -now culled- cucumber seedlings, but have been encountering tiny little baby hatchlings -- only maybe 1/4" long and very difficult to even get hold of, plus more tiny snails 1/4" up to 1/2" both round spiral shelled and conical shelled.

I mostly found them while emptying containers that collected rainwater... on their bottom side.

So I've drowned -and squished- a bunch of babies that may or may not count in my soapy slug bowl -- mixed total of 12 today.

[Lindsaylew82]

All of my slugs were that small. Nothing larger than a half inch.

Deadheaded petunias tonight and I noticed some lacy flowers. I've got work to do tomorrow. Meh.

I'm both excited and terrified for the upcoming night slug hunt. Excited because it's new and something my permanent roommate agreed to do, terrified because I'm the biggest sissy EVER when it comes to getting spooked (and he most certainly will try)(and, he won't be the only thing to creep me out).

Also...skeeters.

[Tabasco]

I was cleaning out the hedges in front of my house and discovered these sleeping beauties.
They tried to make a run for it but they just weren't fast enough.

I imagine these guys (were) some of the ones chewing up my pepper plant leaves.

[ElizabethB]

shallow pans of beer or yeast tablets dissolved in water placed near your vegetables and crushed egg shell around the base of the plants will keep them from dining on your vegetables.

[Lindsaylew82]

About 35 more of the wee little ones. Only on the marigolds in the big garden. 6 more in the side bed.
Plus...

Big Daddy!!!! 2.5"! Caught him mowing Dow cilantro seedlings in the front beds.

So that's 250 + 42 = 292
Lots of skeeters.

[Lindsaylew82]

66 more this morning as I took my morning stroll through the garden. All itty bitties.

They tried to make a run for it but they just weren't fast enough.

I've noticed mine are much slower after they've gorged themselves.

I did a coffee spray yesterday evening. I hope they had tummy aches before the died.
292 + 66 = 358

[imafan26]

I got 5 of them today. two of them had shells so hard I couldn't break them by stomping on them.

[Lindsaylew82]

Well........
Its been pretty dry here, so I haven't seen a whole lot of slugs. One here or there. I decided to put a little Epsom salts along the edge of my flower bed out front. They seem to really like my petunias up there. Next early morning I go out to check, and I see a very large slug roaming his fat hiney back under the concrete step, with Epsom crystal stuck to his slime....
I just imagined him waving me the bird, laughing his head off and saying "nice try!"
He got the spa treatment shortly after. Bless his heart...
Newest cilantro seedlings gone...again...
I did notice a purple basil volunteer from last year!!! ( fingers crossed!)

[applestar]

It's raining this morning, so I expect I'll have something to report by tomorrow.

[evtubbergh]

We have something called Ferramol, which is iron phosphate and completely safe for earthworms etc. Biogrow makes it but surely someone there makes something like it?

[Lindsaylew82]

Got a very brief storm this evening after supper!
During the heat I got about 5 here or there. Tonight I got 33.


358+38=396

I squished one with gloves on tonight after I combed over my entire garden for an hour. I thought I was done. My back was killing me. I looked down and saw one and another and another. The last one I saw didn't get the spa therapy. I was fairly disgusted with their numbers.

You gardeners in the thousands....whew! It's a little discouraging to see so many when you're being so vigilant.

[Lindsaylew82]

Quick thunder shower followed by bright sun! Only 2 slugs, but I saw a 2 foot long garter snake! He was shuckin and jivin and so was I until I got a good look at what he was. I read they like to eat slugs!

[grwrn]

Slugs ate my okra and watermelon seedlings and munched on my collards. I bought diatomaceous earth and sprinkled it around my beds and haven't seen any since.

[Lindsaylew82]

I DID put out some DE tonight. We shall see...

OOOH! Grwrn! Upstate, SC TOO!!!!

Are your slugs AWEFUL this year, too?

[Lindsaylew82]

Tonight, I checked quickly with a flashlight when I turned the water off. ( I am POSITIVE it will pour tomorrow. ) I didn't see any slugs!! None! There WAS one HECK of a lightning bug show going on though!

I just love my garden!

[grwrn]

I had several on my container flowers/herbs on my deck one night when I checked and only a few in my raised garden bed on collard leaves. I have not seen one since I put DE around everything. *happy dance*

[applestar]

I really have to get out there for a serious slug hunt. It's a race between the beans and the slugs to see who out paces who. I'm also coming face to face with them since they like to climb the PVC picket fence. That's how they're getting in the fruit trees.

[Lindsaylew82]

I haven't seen ANY this week. But every time I do any garden chores, like spray neem, or put out DE, or deeply waterrrrrrrrrr....
Tonight we had a storm (still going) for over 2 hours! Not no sprinkly winkly... It's been pouring for 2 hours, and hail!!! Bye bye re-applied neem oil and DE!

Something is still munching on my sunflowers. I know it's a slug! They're getting sneaky!

[Pathfinder]

collect them put them in your compost pile, they help to eat the hard greens and their poop is the reward, people talk about worm poop but you never know about the others, who knows, they poop for a reason ... well your car can be a huge collector if it has a brownish, earthy paint ..else buy a silver car ^____^

I collect poop from every insects,bugs, bird, small size poops that is

[Lindsaylew82]

A slug is a slug, and they can travel! And they WILL travel, right out of your compost heap and onto you freshly regrown seedlings. While they are detritivores, at my place, they like seedlings, marigolds (but not Mexican tarragon..), sunflowers, petunias, and pretty much every living growing thing in my yard.

We have a zero tolerance slug policy here at our home!

[Pathfinder]

lol, my compost bin has holes only for worms to get in and out and to introduce oxygen, a snail will not be able to get out once it is inside, if they're hot they sit on the walls of the bin, when things get cool they will eat and give me poop.

maybe there's not 4x4x4 compost plastic bin, but my 4x2 foot does the trick. I think depending on the size of your compost you're able to use snails or not, the difference between us, is that I put them into slavery mwaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I've been like that since applestar told me to use the vacuum against white flies ....

[imafan26]

I found 4 slugs and two snails. Unfortunately some of the ones I did not find devoured the lettuce seedlings I transplanted out 3 days ago. There is no trace left of them.

[Lindsaylew82]

I've had to resort to cups... I've never had to plant squash and cukes in cups! They just won't let my vacant spots fill in! I've reseeded the empty spots 3 times now. Why won't the eat the crabgrass that's making it's home in the holes?! They keep mowing them down!

[Franenuss]

I went on the hunt last week and found around 10 or 15 snails and slugs in my tiny radishes . That night I placed a cup with beer on the side of my plantation and the next morning found a few more slugs. But they're so many that spending a cup of beer a day/week is too much for me.

I asked a few people and tonight I'll go with another technique: make a barrier of salt all around the radishes plantation. Oh, and I looked for diatomaceous earth in the stores around here, but did'nt find it.

Good luck in your huntings!

[Lindsaylew82]

Bagged 6 tonight at dusk! First I've seen in a while. Going for the squash.

[applestar]

Mostly finding a few of them on the inside of compost bin lid and on the vinyl fence.

Pole/runner beans in the sunflower barrier fence row has been hardest hit (that's the fence bordering the neighbor who I'm pretty sure uses chemical control for all her hostas.)

Seeing the fireflies dancing in the dusk, I'm wondering if they grew up eating them in my garden and if their younger brethren still underground are still eating them.

Also wondering if those snipe flies -- I'm seeing massive number of them not just inside the squash tunnel but all over the garden -- might possibly have found slug eggs and babies tasty while they lived underground in moist soil as larvae.

[imafan26]

I found a cache of slugs under a pot I moved and a snail on the grass this morning. I know there are more out there.

[Lindsaylew82]

142 slugs last night!!!!!

I thought they moved on! I've seen maybe 5 slugs after the masses dwindled. I was naive!

They're tearing up my big marigolds. I'm starting some bush bean seeds, beets, turnips and lettuces.... I wasn't nervous, but now I am.

I'm not sure what my count is, but I'm high alert!

[Lindsaylew82]

Oh! And 2 little 1 cm snails. They were kinda cute....

[imafan26]

I found a dozen slugs in the roots of one potted plant and two African snails in broad daylight. Imagine what I would find it I actually went out at night with a flashlight. I need to get more slug bait.