Slugs and more slugs

[PKBoo]

Has anyone had any luck with DE on slugs? I've read conflicting reports about it.

We covered our garden paths with carboard then straw, and the slugs are now rampant! The lettuce is COVERED with them! Made the mistake of picking the lettuce one evening - blech

I found this website, so I'm going to try a bunch of these methods http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_nat_slug_cntrl.htm

...anybody have any luck with any of these?

[NostalgicGranny]

I've read baking soda helps, but I am not sure what that would do for the garden.

[where I want to]

Move over all other parts of the country- no one has the magnitude of slug problems that are where I live............

DE only has a modest effect when it is totally dry- when damp or wet, it clumps in a layer and ceases to be effective- so not really useful in damp or after a rain.

I have done the beer trap thing- got lots of little slugs drowned each morning but their bigger, tougher relatives happily munched on. A good trap is a soda bottle with the cap end cut off to form a funnel that you reverse into the remaining bottom- slugs go in but can't get out. If your slugs are all little this may work for you. The biggest one I measured here was 9 inches.

Sluggo and it's knock-off cousins is non-toxic and workes well- does not hurt animals. But needs to be kept dry too- so the bottle thing works well.

Oh one more thing- if you can afford it and have raised beds, a copper barrier works well. But so pricey............

I have found the most universally effective thing is to sprinkle the garden with slug stomping rocks (a big flat rock on which an errant slug is placed and smooshed,) and simply snipping them in half with your prunners any time you see one.

Also keeping care to confine watering to the beds and not mulched walkways can help.

Going out after a rain first thing in the morning nets the biggest haul of slugs to hunt.

Keep singing the Rider's in the Sky song- the "Salting of the Slug"- might just scare them into your neighbor's garden.

[hunter63]

The most effected way I have found is a version of the beer trap.

BUT instead of drowning them in beer, (waste of good beer), put on a head lamp in the evening, pop the beer, carry a salt shaker in the other hand.

Now walk around sipping the beer, and salting down the little critters, and watch them "melt" form the salt.

Keeping count helps, as does a lively competition.
What, never heard of a slug party?
Worked so good, now I have to inport slugs to have some for the party.

[tinda]

I use crushed egg shells. Don't crush them too fine, sprinkle heavily where the slugs are. They will not crawl across the shells because the sharp edges will cut into their protective coating.(slime)

[naturelover]

Some slug tips here:
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=311992

[mayfair]

You need ducks and more ducks.

Sorry, couldn't resist. We have ducks and they clean up the slugs. I have a few slugs in the garden since I fenced the ducks out.

[HorseFeatherz]

Ducks - the best control there is. Get a pair of small ducks.

[J-jay]

DE We buy at 7 Springs Farm in Check Va. $24. for 50 lbs

WWW.7springsfarm.com 1-800540-9181

E Mail ,7springs@swva.net

[TheMartianChick]

I use beer.. I don't consider it to be a waste of good beer because I don't like beer and there is no such thing as Good Beer! Now, I'm not willing to share my favorite bottle of wine with them, of course!

[hunter63]

Originally Posted by TheMartianChick

I use beer.. I don't consider it to be a waste of good beer because I don't like beer and there is no such thing as Good Beer! Now, I'm not willing to share my favorite bottle of wine with them, of course!

LOL, send your beer here.
DW doesn't like it either, so more for me.

Speaking of ducks,
Last nite on our way to get a bite, saw mom and about six babies, (not so little any more), jaywalked (duckwalked?) across a 3 lane, each way, intersection, and everybody stopped till they passed (including me).

Sorta made me feel good about MOST people..

[snoozy]

Ducks. And more ducks. I've recently gotten a pair of Khaki Campbells, a breed I hadn't kept before, and they are the quietest ducks I've ever kept -- and they are thrilled to go around industriously defragging the homestead. I also got 4 little mutt ducklings who are growing and seem to be taking their cues from the grown-up Khakis, so all is quiet and slug-free here in my corner of Kitsap County.

[Micheal]

I've been using up my winter's pile of wood ashes to ward off most of the critters that are feasting on the garden. A band of ashes laid around the plants and a dusting on them seems to do the trick, temporarily anyway - most likely it would last for more than a day if'n it would ever stop raining....