Slugs and stuff

GWN wrote:Hi there and welcome
I am trying a new technique this year on my strawberry beds...
I am covering the beds with a wood chip mulch.  It is based on a form of gardening that is mentioned on this forum called Back TO Eden.
But the suggestion is to put an inch or so of wood chips   (which is essentially chipped up tree products, mine currently has many pine needles in it which the strawbs are going to love)
Similar I guess to adding the straw though.
I do not worry too much about pH, and the wood chips will break down over the winter to provide compost theoretically  

GWN ,
Please keep us up to speed on the slug situation if you do use chip as mulch on the strawbs.

Our experience with mixed alder and fir chips is: slugs just move over the chips on extra slime.  Dang things went over 4 feet of chip aisle to get at my fall-planted Napa cabbage!  Nonna

I have had the wood chips in my strawberry beds for this past year and no change to the slug situation...We have the very small ones here, and they did not bother my strawbs
The wasps towards the end of summer seem to get them more
The thing I like about my strawberries being in wood chips is that the ripe strawberries are easier to find, are sitting on wood chips instead of the ground and so are cleaner.
I have the wood chips in several of my garden beds this year and have not noticed a problem with slugs.. in fact,I would say they are likely better this year because I have not really seen any... now that you mention   EXCEPT....
The other day my dog was scratching like mad an area on his upper leg... and we found.... A SLUG.... WEIRD

NONNA..... thanks for the great recipe leads.....

OH I should add that though my strawberries have been growing in wood chips for a year, what i am doing differently this fall is covering all of the plants with wood chips, to encourage only the young healthy strawberry plants in the spring. It is a form of thinning

GWN, you reminded me of another slug happening: several years ago, we had an inside-outdoor cat with semi-long (and slightly curly) hair.  One day he came in, plopped down as per usual and began grooming himself.  When I noticed he seemed to be having some trouble dislodging a large knot, I checked and found a 2-1/2" slug wrapped in his hair!  Ick, double ick!  Took scissors to remove the wad of hair-slug.  Nonna

OH Nonna   I have to say TRIPLE ICK        HEY I found the snowing emoticon

nonna wrote:GWN, you reminded me of another slug happening: several years ago, we had an inside-outdoor cat with semi-long (and slightly curly) hair.  One day he came in, plopped down as per usual and began grooming himself.  When I noticed he seemed to be having some trouble dislodging a large knot, I checked and found a 2-1/2" slug wrapped in his hair!  Ick, double ick!  Took scissors to remove the wad of hair-slug.  Nonna

After moving to Oregon from Texas, I found centipedes much smaller, and slugs much larger.  Additionally, in this part of Oregon, no poisonous snakes!  Slugs I can deal with!  Nonna

Not sure how I would like LARGER centipedes.... to me they are just big enough, thank you very much..
There are occasional reports of rattlers in the drier parts of BC, I try to not think about that.  I am SOOO excited for next years Strawberries with this new technique I am trying...

Like these?  Some are so huge. The banana slug is also in No Cal.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=oregon+slug&qpvt=oregon+slug&FORM=IGRE

Oh Sanderson YUCK.
I lived in Oregon for 15 years, just moved back here a few years ago.  SO I am pretty used to slugs.  The ones here are only about half an inch...(or 1cm) long.   Nonna, how long are centipedes in Texas?

I do NOT miss the banana slugs of Nor Cal. I am also happy that my area of SD (east river) has no poisonous snakes (yay!!! no rattlers!!!)

GG

This year for Christmas my husband gave me a little book called "50 Ways to Kill a Slug" by hamlyn.  

Here's the Amazon link:  http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Kill-Slug-Sarah-Ford/dp/0600625133/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388290913&sr=1-1&keywords=50+ways+to+kill+a+slug 

It really cute but has lots of good information about slugs and how to get rid of them.

Cute gift for a gardener.

50 Ways to Kill a Slug" by hamlyn.   

wow that is a lot of ways....

Speaking from the experience of living in Banana Slug region (S. Oregon Coast 25 years) the only way to control them is hand pick ( or cut with scissors). This time of year they are on the move (up to 30' in an hour) and looking for all our seedlings. We do a morning check and evening check and kill, on average 3-5 LARGE ones. For each slug killed we're saving ourselves 30=60 babies in the future. Since it just rained yesterday the darn things are really moving around on the moist ground. Another reason to water in the morning and keep the topsoil dry in the evenings.

Has anyone tried coffee grounds?  I've mentioned this a couple of times but have heard no one say how it does.  I've read that you can sprinkle coffee grounds around the beds and it will prevent slugs.  They apparently don't like the caffeine or something...  But they won't cross the line of coffee.

Feedback?

 

Coffee grounds don't slow down PNW slugs. Nor does crushed rock, broken glass, or copper anything.

TTs are my best defense against slugs.

I'm not sure if this is a banana slug but I found two of these 3" long slugs yesterday in rotted redwood.  The redwood boards were old, formerly termite ridden, and dry rotted in places.  All kinds of white creepy crawlers, like a dark primordial redwood forest.  They were set in concrete years ago as design patterns.  We're planning to sell this rental so they are coming out.  My thought is that the boards were from coastal redwoods and the slug eggs hitched a ride?

Lesson to be learned:  ALL wood will eventually breakdown and be wood destroying organism food.  Even treated wood, even creosote redwood ties.

Well that's just horrid!    My slugs at least have the decency to be smooth and not speckled.

EEEWwwwww!  At least mine are small and solid-colored!  (At least the ones I've seen so far this year...)

Banana slugs are much larger and kind of cool. I wouldn't want them in my garden. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_slug

banana slugs are long and thick and yellow and really look just like a banana.  No dots.  Saw them a lot in the Santa Cruz mountains way back when.

Still curious, I found this link (with PDF) to keying slugs:  Fascinating.

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/Items/8336.aspx

Just read this on another site and thought I'd pass it on.  Maybe on the sides of the beds.

Use WD-40 to keep slugs and snails from eating your pot plants. Spray the outside of the pot with WD-40 and it will keep the crawlers away. WD-40 is waterproof, so you can do this and it’ll keep working even after it rains.

Kay

I am glad I do not have banana slugs.  Gross!

I have problems with slugs on the patio, in potted plants and of course in the garden. 

On the patio I set out shallow pans of beer.  The slugs love it and die happy.  Active yeast dissolved in warm water will also work and is less expensive than even the cheapest beer.  When I notice the slime trails I put out the beer/yeast water pans. I will have a  lot of slugs the first morning and diminishing numbers on following days.  After 3 or 4 days the slugs are no longer appearing.  I also put pans around the patio pots and crushed egg shells on the surface of the soil.  I will try the WD-40 on the pots.  Another great use for a very versatile product.

In the garden I use a combination of crushed egg shells and pans of beer or yeast water.

Around larger plants I put a ring of egg shells about 4" wide around each plant.  With closely planted veggies, mostly greens I put the shells around the outside of the box.  Pans of beer scattered throughout the garden.  I wonder if spraying WD-40 on the outside boards would work.  That may be worth a try.

Elizabeth, do you think old expired yeast would work? Or a dish of yeasty water kefir?

Walshevak, you gotta stop growing them thar pot plants.  

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