SLUGS!!!

[opabinia51]

Oh my goodness, slugs, slugs, everywhere! What to do? Well, here at The Helpful Gardener we have discovered that copper strips, wire mesh and coffee grounds can be used to repel slugs from you plants. And that beer attracts slugs away from your plants.

And, I have just discoverd a book entitled:

THE LITTLE BOOK OF SLUGS

edited By Allen Shepher and Suzanne Gallant

Apparently the book has over 70 different organic solutions to slug invasion.

I haven't read it myself but, people may wish to look it up.

[opabinia51]

As it turns out, beer actually attracts slugs. This is why we use it in the garden because it attracts slugs away from the plants.

Here are the solutions that I know of for deturring slugs,

Copper stips or mesh: Place these around your plants, the slugs will not cross them because of the electrostatic charge that accumulates on the metal.

Diatomaceous (sp?) Earth: Use this as a mulch around your plants, the spicules from the exoskeletons of the diatoms will puncture the slugs skin, and therefore, they will not cross it.

Cofee Grounds?: Mixed reviews on this one. It has worked for me. But, using cofee grounds as a mulch has done away with my slug problem. Others have had intensified slug populations after using cofee grounds.


If you're interested, check the above book out, I'm definately going to acquire it.

And Yes, at the HG we detur any use of poisons whether they are technically organic (made from carbon) or not. Poisons may rid the gardener of a pest in the short term but, they cause a lot more problems in the long term.

One of the largest problems that poisons cause is that they articially select for organisms that are resistant to the poisions. Therefore breeding populations of organisms that are not killed by these methods.

Futhermore, poisons don't just kill the intended culprit, they also kill all the beneficial organisms that live on the plant, in the soil and in neighbouring communities. These beneficial organisms are what naturally keep pests and pathogens in check.

This is why you will often see me advocating to people to use an aerated compost tea, keep the flora and fauna of your plants alive.

[Victor]

I have not read that slug book but will keep an eye open for it. A trick that I have used in the past when I had an allotment was to use plastic lawn edging around the site I wished to protect forming a low plastic wall within which the plants to be protected from slugs were planted. You then collect all the black beetles you can find and pop them over the wall, they are not able to escape as the wall too slippery, while trapped inside this compound they will search for food which in the main is slug and snail eggs that are buried underneath the soil.

[opabinia51]

Excellant idea Victor, I'll have to give that a try. Newt, I'll just bet that you have a nifty website up your sleeve somewhere on species of garden beetles and what they feed on, can you post it here?

[Newt]

Opabinia, you're correct. Most of the sites I found about slug predators and beetles are from the UK. Here's some interesting info on beetles that eat slugs and snails. There's even a snail that preys on slugs - the decollate snail.
https://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8778/snails.html#nat
https://www.fbmg.com/creatures1/beneficials1.htm

From this interesting site:
https://texasnature.blogspot.com/2004/08/slugs-are-not-loveliest-of-creatures.html

Does this suggest that our gardens are doomed once slugs invade? Although many unattended gardens can be impacted, slug control is possible. Controls can range from direct elimination, which takes a concerted effort once the slugs have invaded, to a number of ideas from maintaining soil free from decaying materials, establishing a barrier, to various chemical controls. I once attracted slugs to beer bait and physically killed those that I found in the saucer of beer. C. Malcolm Beck and John Howard Garrett, in the "Texas Big Book," suggest dusting "dry hot pepper in problem areas," or using citrus oil spray or coffee grounds "sprinkled on top of mulch." They also suggest some natural controls like planting "stands of clover and mulches to favor ground beetles and rover beetles (which eat slugs). Centipedes also eat slug eggs." And they point out that "in the insect world their biggest enemy in the larva of the lightening bug."

I found when the toads moved in the slugs disappeared. Love those toads. Of course that would mean no toxic chemicals can be used in the garden as amphibians are the most sensitive to the toxins. No toxic chemicals also means that there is a healthy population of birds who will feed the slugs to their babies. The ground beetles and other slug predators are in good supply with a diversity of flowers.

Newt

[opabinia51]

Do you know what else eats slugs?............Gardner Snakes. Personally snakes give me the shivers but, they do eat those nasty little devils so, another option is to create as many habitat sites in your garden for these snakes as you can.

There is a resident snake (probably several) that live in my garden (which I have come much to close to on a few occassions)...(they're good for the garden, they're good for the garden) and my slug population is at a nill.

Oh and THANKS NEWT! I knew we could count on you!

[Newt]

I forgot about the snakes. I actually like them! My son had one as a pet when he was young and it escaped in the house. My hubby slept at a neighbor's for a couple of nights until the snake was caught!

Newt

[opabinia51]

Oh, I am with your husband. I realize the important role that snakes play in the environment but, I still don't like them.

I think that I have described the story before about my garden inhabitant moving right by my head one time....(shudder).

[Newt]

I do remember! I felt so bad for you. That would have starled me too.

Newt

[opabinia51]

I have never jumped up so fast in my life. But, these guys do keep the slug population at bay so, I have to learn to live with them. Needless to say, I am very leary about lying down while weeding.

[galcho]

Chicken are very good at finding slugs.