slugs only drink imported beer

[stonysoil]

hi all.. i tend to have problems with slugs and tried the beer but my slugs are spoiled and now only drink the imported beers .. there habit has become too expensive to me.. i am trying a product this year called sluggo which is an organic substance i think composed of iron phosphate.. i like to mulch to improve my soils and tend to get a large population of these ravenous eaters.. has any one had success with this product or a similar organic one.. all input welcome thank you/ ira

[Gardenurse]

The only experience I've had with slug eradication is sprinkling salt on them. Sharon Lovejoy's book "Trowel and Error" has the following suggestions...

1. Copper strips produce a shock when snails and slugs try to cross them. Purchase inexpensive, thin copper in craft stores, and wrap pots, plants, and trees with a protective band. (Many gardeners lay these strips perpendicular to the ground for good contact with the antennae).

2. Fill a shallow saucer with molasses and a sprinkling of yeast (they dive into it and drown).

3. Leave leftover grapefruit and melon rinds in your yard each evening, scrape slugs into soapy water every morning, repalce with fresh rinds every few days.

4. Scatter pine needles, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, or diatomaceous earth to provide a scratchy barrier around plants you want to protect (replace after a rain).

Good luck!

[Nemophila]

I tried sprinkling sand around the garden and flower beds last year and it worked wonders! Apparently it hurts them to crawl over it, so they just don't. As with Gardenurse's suggestion #4, the sand has to be sprinkled again after a rain.
Hope this helps!

[SelfSufficientOne]

I quit using mulch, couldn't stand all the slugs and snails! However the crushed egg shells did work but just took too much of them even though I saved all mine and I also put lime around the plants and this worked as well. I have some stuff called Escar-go it has iron phosphate but has other ingredients too which I would have no idea what they are or if they were organic.

[vprince]

but my slugs are spoiled and now only drink the imported beers .. there habit has become too expensive to me.. i am trying a product this year called sluggo which is an organic substance i think composed of iron phosphate..


Hi, Stony:

I just had to laugh...we had this experience with imported vs domestic beer, too! As you, I am going to give a try to Sluggo this year. I hate to do it because it isn't "approved" yet as organic, but I've tried absolutely everything else including beer traps (imported beer only - Newcastle's Brown seemed to work the best ;)), copper strips, salt and flashlights (to see them in the dark and individually zap them), diatomaceous earth, mulch (really good breeding ground if you're interested in raising slugs - nests of several hundred at a go!)ground eggshells...and the list goes on. Being on the Oregon Coast, slugs are a *major* problem and I'm down to iron phosphate and a prayer!

Vicky

[veggiecanner]

I had them pretty bad last year. I used sand around the plants, Diamacious Earth, hand picking, newspaper traps, Sluggo. oyster shell, bowls with oatmeal and salt.
The best thing I did is turn the soil around the plants alot. Not sure how that helped but it did.
Also I don't mulch any more.

[Pharmerphil]

They actually spent some our tax money to study what type of beer worked best!They found that Michelob, and Budweiser Kingsbury Malt attracted were better than other brands.

Sluggo, Escargo, and Safer's Slug & Snail Bait. All are iron phosphate.
And our not considered organic. Much can be done tho, and I will attempt to be brief :rolleyes:
the best way to fight them off, is to "Know your Enemies" lifecycle. slugs made up of a high percentage of water and begin feeding as soon as soil temperatures rise above 40 F (5 C), emerging from the soil or from protected areas.usually they come out at night or on overcast, damp days. Their gooey, slimey eggs, are laid in clusters of 50-100, and are found in the soil, under rocks, boards and in outdoor pots (or under them) In the early spring, cultivate your soil to expose their eggs , this will dry them up, and give your birds and toads a chance to help you too! Keep your garden as dry as possible without letting your plants suffer.
Mulch, the time of year thta slugs are most active, your garden should.nt be mulched anyway, and when you do, the mulch usually provides a home to natural predators that like these creepy lil pests. and always keep your mulch back a ways from the slugs favorite plants.
HUNT EM' DOWN... :p hunt for slugs around 2 hours after sunset use a flashlight. drop the slugs off in a bucket of soapy water. If you are squeemish, use a snap clothes pin, or gloves..If you are going to say this is labor intensive, You won't get alot of sympathy from the wife and I, our garden is 6,250 square ft. :D However, we have very few slugs.

Best defenses:
Keep your compost pile far from the garden (slugs Love compost piles)
Remove all boards (except those used as slug 'traps') rocks, baskets, flower pots, plant flats...Don't let them have an unintentional place to hide!
Use natural oats, wood shavings, eggshells, sand, diatomaceous earth, hair or ash..But whatever you use..IT MUST BE DRY!!
Copper, there is a toxic reaction, similar to an electric shock, which repels slugs.copper barriers need to be at least two inches wide; slug barriers sold in stores are usually smaller and should be doubled or tripled when installed.
Plant Trap crops! Use the things they like to keep em' away from the things YOU like!
lettuce, cabbage, calendula, marigolds, zinnias and beans,comfrey leaves.
and one thing That is a year round help, is to feed, and support a large wild bird population, once you turn your garden in early spring, the birds will have a feeding frenzy.
Actually, I used escargo once, only once, and I believe the part about "not harming your "EARTHWORMS" to be very doubtful..why I only used it once. :cool: