I'm obsessed.

They are my favorite spring flowers! They are not going to get them. I have lots of primroses... and I love them Ronna

ew yuck....I think they are as fond of DL's as they are of hosta...but the damage is less noticeable because of the shape of the foliage. I have seen them on Hakone grass. And I confirmed today that they do in fact climb trees because I happened to look at the bark of a big maple and saw many on there, at eye level with me.

yuck pirl!!! Makes me want to go and search for them in the yard right now but its to light now!!! Bummer. Ronna

Ok, it's time to suit up and head out!

Oh, one other thing that takes major damage- Sedum (Blackjack, I think is the name of the one I have) They devour that.

Is it to light I usually look in the early morning. Maybe after Americas Got talent is done. I love the show! Ronna

Dave's Garden has talent, too! We have the slug hunters with Noreaster in charge.

Noreaster - it's catching. I venture out last night with a flashlight and a bottle of ammonia mixture. Saw quite a few, but much smaller than yours. Also saw quite a few earwigs. Am not sure whether the ammonia dispatched them too.

It's just become my routine at this point. I doubt I'd be able to sleep if I hadn't done my job for the night. I have to say that pump garden spray works great to broadcast a wide mist...saw another petiole down in Regal Splendor, so I shot some into the center of that one. Some areas seem to have less slug activity than usual, and some more...frustrating. I really want to use the spray wand over where that lazy toad is hanging out, but I don't want to hurt him. So I'm just tossing lettuce in there and basically just feeding the slugs. Gotta choose your battles. Ann, you have to get the head lamp thing....fantastic invention!

A garden sprayer is definitely the way to go. You can cover a much larger area in less time. Ammonia is cheap. A gallon will last a long time. Just keep at it this summer. You may not see much improvement this year, but next year I think the slug numbers will be down, especially if you get a good early start in the spring again.


Gary

Alright please tell me the recipe for the ammonia again.... You can use it all summer? I will try it also. You are right pirl we do have talent!!! Look at all the beautiful gardens and cans full of slugs!!! Thanks to Noreaster... ;) Ronna

kitgary (Gary) said, above in this thread regarding the fear of harming plants:

I think it was stated on one of the forums last year that a 40:1 solution was just as effective as a 20:1. We use a 10:1 solution and have had no ill effects.

thanks pirl will get some ammonia on next trip to store... Ronna

I believe that Sandy mentioned that the 1:40 ratio was using industrial strength ammonia. Our local radio gardening guru. Ed Lawrence, has long recommended 1:10 but only really early in the season. That's why I settled on the 1:20 as I'm using the grocery store ammonia and using it later in the season.

Yep, the 1:40 ratio was meant for the industrial strength ammonia.

Due to the fact that a few years ago I burned my hostas using a strong ammonia mixture applied in the heat of summer with a garden sprayer, I'm gun-shy about applying the ammonia if the weather has been hot and dry at all. It would be a waste anyway, as I read the slugs bury themselves in the soil, cover themselves with a mucous and go into suspended animation during dry weather.

I'll wait for a showery week with moderate temps (like this week) - the slugs are active and the ammonia kills them on contact within seconds. I'll get out the garden sprayer and spray into the petioles and the base of the hosta where they like to hang out the daylight.

Sandy

Noreaster, that Ninja/Mission Impossible slug pic is amazing!

Sandy

Yeah, since we're having day after day of cool, wet weather, I feel pretty confident about spraying everything....probably won't be as spray happy when AND IF it ever gets warm and dry.

I have two types of ammonia- one was the one that was 10% and labeled "janitorial" strength, and the other just said "household ammonia", with no percentage given. When I mixed them both at 20:1, the "household" one did not seem to work as well...some slugs seemed to survive the spray and need a second shot. But I think I need to test that out again. Because I have yet another cold, rainy day I'll do it today.

Thanks, Sandy- now that I know they climb trees, I'm pretty sure he did rappel down!

A very long time ago I had them crawling up the side of my English Tudor home on the brick! Here we sit thinking gravel or chicken/poultry grit would bother them but the brick didn't deter them one bit. There were hundreds of them and I was new at gardening and went back into the house telling my husband and father. They came out with brooms to get them down but that just meant they ended up in the pachysandra. After that I tried hard not to use that side of the house but it's where we had the garbage cans.

Yep, I really don't think coarse or sharp surfaces bother them like we always hear they do. Like I said, they seem to have no issue with my pine needles, those prickly gumball things, and the bark of the tree I caught them on was very coarse, too.

I just had a brilliant idea- I have couple Lancifolia I wouldn't mind sacrificing for the greater good- I will saturate drench and/or spray those daily and see how they fare. If they don't make it, oh well, I guess I'll have to replace them. ;)

Hey Noreaster, thats a great idea! Take a picture when you start and keep a "log" about the findings and keep us all updated. I will try to do the same thing. Ronna

Ok, I'll take a picture tomorrow...but they already have lots of holes. You probably can't kill Lancifolia by pouring boiling oil on it, so I'm going to sacrifice Island Charm to this experiment, too. That one is already full of holes, and just not worth the trouble anymore.

Found a slug on Liberty tonight- GRRRR! but luckily killed it before it could make a hole. All the ones that are within copper collars are in great shape (Liberty, Diana Remembered, My Cup of Tea, STained Glass, and Lakeside April Snow) but I have picked off slugs from all of them, so I know the copper is not infallible, unless maybe I put them on too late and slugs were lurking in there . Or it could be that all the mud that splashes onto the copper from the rain negates the "shock" effect. Lakeside A.S. is the only one not in good shape from that group. That's another one that may have to go unless I can get control of this slug issue in the future.

The ones in my garden that I consider truly "slug resistant" are: Tokudama Flavocircinalis, Heatwave, June, First Frost, El Nino, and whatever that mystery hosta I have that looks like a cross between June and Gold Standard. Those are the only ones with NO slug damage right now. The rest range from a couple of holes, to a whole bunch of holes.

This message was edited Jul 1, 2009 10:19 PM

My Wolverine has a lot of holes this year despite my best efforts but they haven't yet attacked the two beds with Plantaginea.

The best bed is the one I gave the most attention to starting in March.

I need to put out new copper mesh collars. I re-used one from last year around Center of Attention and found 3 slugs on it the other night.

If the hosta leaves touch the ground (or another nearby plant) the slugs get a free pass.

I know, but they don't (that particular hosta anyway) unless my slugs are trying ninja tricks from the tree above.

There is a photo of a slug hanging (by mucous thread) from a tree somewhere in one of the several slug threads this year. I'll try and find it and post a link to it.

What about trying an exterminator? Is there anything that can be sprayed or sprinkled professionally to get rid of the things? If not, I fear all you SlugBusters are fighting a losing battle, you will be spending the rest of your lives up all night trying to terminate a critter that is probably never going to be gotten rid of.

Ann, I wonder if the smaller slugs are able to scoot under the collars.

jmp, I don't think there is anything a pro would use that isn't available to us....I think metaldehyde bait would be considered the big guns, but as I mentioned, with dogs around that can be risky. One of my dog's eats everything. I think I could put the bait where he wouldn't get it, but I'd still worry that he would find and eat a poisoned slug.

Yeah, there is no way to get rid of them....I'm just trying to make a dent in the population and keep my hosta looking pretty as long as I can.

Pirl, that bed is gorgeous. My Wolverine had HVX this year, but before that it was always one to take heavy slug damage.

Thanks. Sum and Substance is also slug free.

Plantaginea has been attacked repeatedly by the deer and they have to pass Sum and Substance to get to it so I guess it isn't a slug or deer favorite.

eewwww....noreaster, your dog eats slugs? If i ever come to visit, remind me not to kiss him....

My Parhelions have some holes, but they don't seem to be a slug favorite. The Halcyon family has been great- but they do like the white centered ones like High Society and Remember Me. Both those have holes, but no new ones since the lettuce/hunt began. Touch of Class only has holes in the young leaves in the center.


Yeah, I have been known to wipe orange slime off Mickey's muzzle once or twice. That was when he was younger, but I doubt he's grown out of it. Mickey kind of looks like a slug from some angles...

This message was edited Jul 2, 2009 9:31 AM

No! Don't say that! Mickey doesn't have horns and isn't slimy.

LOL and thumbs up for Mickey's acting skills! Too cute.

Sandy

Knock wood, but so far my 'High Society' has been OK this year. I got rid of the sedum which surrounded it last year.

Pirl - the pic with the 'ninja' slug is just higher up in this thread. I think Noreaster might be right that the small ones crawl under. But I think a new piece of mesh might be more effective. Possibly once it gets tarnished, it doesn't react with them the same way.

Ann

Thanks!

It is so cold, and wet and miserable today (again), and I just went out and saw yet another petiole down. I feel like just giving up on everything this summer. :(

Ok, have any of you who are having problems tried crushed egg shells, or diatomaceous earth. Snail do not like to crawl over anything sharp, diatomaceous earth is very sharp to snails. Don't know what they were able to crawl over the lava rocks.

Janet

I found crushed egg shells looked awful and didn't seem to deter slug. Diatomaceous earth has to be replaced each time it rains.

Janet, I've tried eggshells, once, a long time ago when I was just starting out...as I mentioned in an earlier post, I couldn't get enough eggs to surround all my hosta. I've heard of D.E. , but that has to be reapplied after it rains or when you water, which makes it impractical to me. Based on my experiments, I'm very skeptical that my slugs mind crawling on sharp things. I would like to know if it's ever been scientifically studied, or if it's just anecdotal that they don't like crawing of that stuff.