Pests: Calling all slug experts! (Not for the faint of heart)

Thanks Much appreciated :-) I’ll get some questions together. :-)

The link works if you take the ) off the end. Didn't see anything about slugs though.

All that you would ever want to know about slugs control:
http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/research/biodiversity/staff/wocs2.html

Ok Ive got some Questions together. Id be really grateful if anyone could answer them and if you have a website etc you’d like me to put on the site too. The longer the answers the better. Thanks muchly. :-)

You can email any answers too if its easier: Farmerajf@hotmail.com

1. Do slugs have blood?
2. Why are slugs slimy?
3. Are slug’s really just snails without their shells?
4. Where do slugs go in the summer?
5. Would a slug eat cheese?
6. Can slugs hear?
7. Do slugs sleep?
8. Can Slugs and Snails mate?
9. Whats the longest slug you have ever seen?
10. Why does salt kill slugs?

Id just like to say thank you very much for the questions answered. Very much appreciated. :-)

I have read that putting out beer etc. will attract and
drown your slugs-but the smell will also call every slug
within 300 feet to come as well. We had an unusually
wet summer 3 years ago and our garden had literally hundreds
of the things (ours were the small variety). I tried
everything but was reduced to lifting every pot, rock,
etc. and hand picking the little monsters!

Yuk, I think I'm gonna be sick! haha...I have tons of slugs, but am working on chipping away at them. I love the sweet gum ball idea! Will definately give it a try. I also grow bonsai. The copper wire I wire the trees with I wrap around the bottoms of some pots, like my geraniums and it keeps them off anything special. But in the garden... whew! THAT"S where the gum balls will go! Thanks!

Once again, I want to mention the Iron Phosphate pellets available under the names 'Escargot' or 'Sluggo. They are safe for use around birds, kids, pets, etc. Slugs are attracted to the pellets, but the iron phosphate in them causes their little guts to turn to mush and they quit feeding, then die. You spread it thinly around the plants they are feeding on. It even withstands a bit of rain.

I will definately look for the "sluggo". I dont recall seeing it anywhere.

Wow - on the Biocontrol Network, you can buy 50 POUNDS of Sluggo for $135.! That should knock 'em out. Heh, heh, heh...here, sluggy, sluggy, sluggy!

http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/sluggo.html

Wal Mart carries a brand by Shultz. It's called "Garden Safe Slug and Snail Bait"... it's the same stuff as Sluggo. It runs around $7 or $8 for a 2 pound bag.

If you try any other product, make sure it is the iron phospate kind, since many baits are quite dangerous to other critters. I buy Sluggo from a Pleasant Valley Farms in Oregon or Washington (can't remember). Fifty lbs. is around $60, but it cost about $60 to have it shipped up to Alaska by parcel post.

I don't think I've heard what I use so I'll throw it in the soup. I love to go out at night with a flashlight and see what's eating and crawling around. A mixture of water and non sudsing ammonia works on my slugs, they fiz and ooze a lovely acid green, I'm sure it's a slow painful death. Be careful not to spray delicate foliage, it can burn. You folks rock my world, happy hunting!

Hi, Calliman I'll be you have some lovely little Sluggies in your neck of the woods. I used to go out of an evening and looks for he slimey little buggers, but I've lost my joy de spray or salt. I'd rather leave them a tasty meal that makes their little guts turn to goo. 'The prisoner enjoyed a last hearty meal!' Guess I'm getting too old to bend over that much!

I have 2 places that I have put pine needles in for mulch (info from Tom Clotheirs web site) and one of the side benefits is that I have not seen a slug anywhere near any of the plants with the pine needles around them.
I can hardly wait until I can find enough more to cover the rest to see if it works on everything or if I just got lucky. This is a link to his site. Good Luck
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page24.html

aknapp: My only concern with pine needles or spruce boughs as a mulch is the tanic acid that does along with them. If you've ever tried to grow plants under a spruce tree, you may notice that nothing much lives inside the drip line of the boughs.

So far everything looks fine, one spot has been down for all most 2 months and the other for about 3 weeks. I only used needles that were on the ground dried out and didn't use any boughs at all. Everything I put down was all ready brown and dried. I don't know if that makes a difference or not.
So far everthing looks great I will let you know in the spring if it still looks okay.
Tom Clothier has entire beds made out of pine needles and says everything grows better than the same items grown under different conditions, so I thought I would give it a try. I just didn't have enough for a bed so decided I would use as mulch until I could collect more.

Aknapp: your growing and dormant periods are probably quite different than mine. We have lots of winter rains here, and consequently, lots of leeching. If pine or spruce needles work for you in your area, give it a try and let us know!

Weezen, your growing sounds quite different. We don't get the winter rains here, just lots of snow. The rains would have to make it like a completley different challenge. I took pictures just before I put the needles down and another set just before I covered stuff with mulch, and I'll let you know in the spring how they look after I get them unburied.
I am hoping it works not only because I like the way it looks, but it was certainly nice not to see any slugs in there for a month or so.

Yes, Aknapp, please let me know how it goes.

I will post in the spring as soon as I uncover everything and see how they have come through the winter.

Thanks so much for the great information about those nasty little slugs. Practically over-night my hostas have developed tiny little holes all over them. I'm assuming that slugs are the attackers. I'm going to try the beer. I like the idea of putting it in soda bottles on their sides. That way my dog won't be intoxicated. I just joined you guys today, so this is my first message. I'm sure I'll have many more questions. Thanks!

Where's the best place to buy things like Sluggo in bulk? I couldn't find the Pleasant Valley Farms referred to above. The best price I found online so far is $56 for 10# of Sluggo. That still seems pretty steep given that its active ingredient is 1% iron phosphate, a common chemical.

I was surprised to see how old this forum is, did anyone mention coffee grounds around your plants, slugs hate them, this is my first year and not one hosta has even a pin prick hole. The roses love the coffee grounds, all the plants that I've put grounds near seem in great shape, and the acidity of used grounds is 6.9, isn't 7.0 ideal for most flowering plants?

I haven't tried coffee grounds to deter them. I'm afraid our sprinkler would wash them away, not to mention our summer rains. I live in a coastal town, so we get lots of precipitation.... and a lot of slugs! Ours are not the huge banana slugs of the Northwestern states, but damaging, none-the-less.

I misspoke, the name is Peaceful Valley Farms and is located in California, Kudzu9. Here is a link to their website: http://www.groworganic.com/ and here is the page for Sluggo: http://www.groworganic.com/a/a1.html?pMode=Search&sText=Sluggo&sCategory=catalog As you can see, you can get a 25lb bag for $49. That would last the average gardener several seasons. Since we live in Alaska, the freight costs about as much as the Sluggo, unfortunately!

I would like to thank everyone for almost killing me.. I'm reading this at work and dying! (and getting alot of stares) Excellent tips on slug control. I don't have the 3 - 8" ones but I have thousands and thousands of the little ones. I also have raised beds - SURPRISE they climb! Who would have thought! The woodchuck climbs the fence eats the plants down to about 3 inches and then the slugs move in....I think it's a partnership.. Anyways,,I have used the Ecargot (spelling) and it's works.. I just need alot more of that,,,(bank loan) so I will try a web site that was so generously offered for a bait that is sold in BULK...!! I was also just told by a lady that cheap baby powder works (also on rabbits) They cannot breath in the stuff.. Poor babies!! Thanks again! I'll be back...

flowerschild, we have the littler variety of slugs here, too. Some are dark and others are much lighter in color. I call them the palominos. LOL! One of the nice things about Sluggo or Escargot is that the pellets seem to hold up pretty well in the rain or under the sprinkler. Baby powder would turn into a sad goo around here, I'm afraid. For wetter climes, the safe slug bait seems the best option.

Little hotels or inverted pop bottles or saucers of beer will all work, but you still have to 'deal' with the little buggers. It is also less than attractive in the garden... "Come see my lovely hostas... oh, and see my lovely slug terrarium... care for a saucer of 'Snail Ale'?" No, I'd rather feed the Sluggo, let them get a tummy ache, and crawl off to expire under a delphinium leaf.

Hi Folks, HELP!! I need help identifying and dealing with something that is eating my asiatic lilies, favorite rose bush and all the nearby annuals. OK - here goes - I found this mud looking substance on the stem and underside of leaves on my asiatic lilies. When I wiped some off there was a small, orange slug looking kind of bug in the black muck - sorry this is soooo gross. I got rid of as many as I could and put some beer out but I'm still seeing chewed leaves (my poor rose) and some of the slug like things in the soil. I've looked in all my garden books but can't identify this insect. Buy the way, no results at all from the beer. Thanks, Anne.
(Dave's Garden staff - please, please don't remove my posting - I can't afford a membership).

rhonda..are you sure the orange-looking thing was the culprit?

Do you see Jap Beetles anywhere? Small caterpillars? Let's see if we can narrow this down.

Hi Horseshoe, We had a very heavy rain last night so this morning I went to check on the asiatic lilies and have learned a little bit more about the orange bugs. I found clusters of very tiny orange baby bugs on the underside of some of the leaves - they look like premature orange grubs. The black stuff got washed away from the larger ones I missed the other day. I think the black stuff the adults live in might possibly be bug poop - sorry..... I have seen a couple of Jap beetles in the garden. Could these orange things grow up to be Jap beetles? If my problem is beetles how do I fight off the little gobblers? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Nope...Jap beetles come from grubworms that live in the ground, pupate, and eventually become adults.

Your orange bugs might be stink bugs/squash bugs that have recently hatched or could also be harlequin bugs. (Squash bugs will hatch out en mass and hang together for a while...wonder if that is what you saw.)

Could the "black stuff" be honeydew from aphids by any chance?

Hi Rhonda, I'm really at a loss here. The black stuff is defenitely not honeydew from aphids. Looks like pea sized blobs of black, greasy mud. Whatever these creepy crawlers are they sure grow fast-from aphid size to rice size overnight and I'm killing them as fast as I see them. One of my asiatic lilies has lost the bottom 2/3rds of it's leaves. Whatever these are they seem to like the asiatic lilies best and are thankfully leaving my daylilies alone.

I don't think we get harlequin bugs this far north. The closest description I can find in my gardening books is "larval stage Fuller Rose Beetle" but there are no pics of this bug. Thanks for your help, Anne.

This message was edited Jun 25, 2004 10:00 PM

They sell these little ceramic slug catchers up here. We have em BAD! The catchers look like frogs standing on their hind legs with their mouths OPEN WIDE... you put beer in them, but the dogs can't get their snouts in there. My dogs also looooove to booze! They're just prettier in the garden than an empty 2-liter bottle. I didn't think they would work b/c the little devils would hafta crawl all the way up the frog, but apparently they are Jimmy Buffet of bugs. Mere

LOL! Little Buffets! The little hatchlings are starting to come out now... quite small, but just as invasive. I'm getting my Sluggo out early this year.

Hi hpluver, Thanks for the suggestion. I agree that ceramic frogs are much nicer than bottles or saucers. Might just keep the skunks out of the beer also, lol. They make a nightly tour of the garden. These little orange things aren't attracted to beer but we do get slugs here also. So far I'm just hand picking off the little orange gobblers. Thanks, Anne.

No problem... I just hate it when I spend so much time making my garden look pretty and then have to resort to recycling things that aren't so pretty to help it. Don't get me wrong, I recycle, but I don't buy pop. We're a kool-aid family! Mere

Pine Needles

Like yourself I had a very big slug problem. I do not like to have to dispose of anything so I ran them off. I have hostas and furns around each tree in my yard. I water often so I really encouraged slugs. I go the the country and gather sever bags of pine needles and lightly spread them under the hostas. The plants seem to be able to handle the acid and the slugs do not like the feel of the pine needles. They just disappeared. Several years ago when we built a deck I even layered under the deck with a lot of pine needles to try and help.

I'm a Sluggo fan myself - although there's a comparable product at home discount stores that costs about a third which is really what I buy.

I put a lot of Hostas, Clematis and Dahlias this year and I've had to use a ton of it. I probably put in down twice a week during the spring -- We have Escargot snails here too. Then at least once a week or until I couldn't see any any more. Up to the fall I've been using it too. I am going to put some earth, beer etc. I am seeing some good results and I'm hopeful for next year. However, it can cost a fortune depending on how much space you need to cover.

My mother used to go out at midnight and do what she called her "snail dance" whereupon she would squish snails and catch slugs.

Gross story: In the California costal redwood forests we have bright yellow slugs that can grow to almost a foot long. Youth group leaders used to have the kids lick the slugs to overcome fear. Now it is against the law to lick Banana slugs here because they were becoming endangered and the saliva is bad for them. Maybe you can pay the neighborhood kids to lick your slugs for you?

My goodness! Slugs a protected species! Who'd a thunk it!

Well, you know that we California people are a little strange. Yes I can say it - been here a lot of generations and it rubs off on you (or we rub off on them). Wish that they hadn't brought the snails from France here with their wine grapes.

It was pretty fun to have snail races as kids. The tempo of everything was slower then. : )