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Hello Guest!
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Grid Flipping and Slugs

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FarmerValerie
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Post  happycamper 2/17/2011, 10:28 pm

Most of my grids are one piece and are nailed to the top of the bed frames so that they are easily removed if needed. I have one 4'x8'x24" that the lathe grid is touching the soil and held down by "U" shaped wire and pinned to the soil so to speak.
My problem is that slugs are hiding under the grid and snacking on things at night.
I have to go out and pull the "U" pins, pick up the lathe and flip it over to get the slugs.
My thoughts so far are:
I have ground eggshells that I was thinking about putting under the grid but I usually save these for tomatoes later in the season.
I could make this grid one piece and put legs on it and then poke it into the ground so that it would be suspended above the soil.
Does anyone have any suggestions? They would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Post  Blackrose 2/17/2011, 10:54 pm

You could try using twine for your grid instead. You would still have your grid, but the slugs wouldn't have anything to hide underneath.

Another, more expensive option would be to attach copper tape around the perimeter of your box to stop them from getting in there in the first place. I've read somewhere that slugs won't cross copper.
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Post  Old Hippie 2/17/2011, 11:07 pm

I am switching to twine for the grid for exactly that reason. I hate slugs and they are the one pest that I have that really give me the creeps. I read somewhere that copper works for the same reason Black Rose mentioned but it suggested using copper scrub buds and just unravelling them. They are quite a bit cheaper than the copper tape. I intend to add those to my arsenal of WMSD (weapons of mass slug destruction).

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Post  camprn 2/18/2011, 5:59 am

A friend of mine tried the copper last year. It had no perceptible effect on deterring the slugs. I will also be using string to mark off my grid this year. If I was was having this problem, I would remove the wooden grid, the slugs hiding space, & perhaps use it as trellis material.
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Post  Megan 2/18/2011, 6:50 am

I used plastic-coated twine for my grid last year--the green stuff big box stores sell on a small reel for $2 or or so, to be used as plant ties. It was not as sturdy as I would have liked. This year I want to use regular old twine, with the expectation that it will have to be replaced.

Even with the twine, I still had slugs... but the little dishes of borax sugar-water I set out for the ants seemed to work quite well on the slugs, too!

And, I am completely creeped out by the idea of reaching into a box and finding a slug on the underside of a lath... gahh!! I can just see one getting inside the wrist of my gardening glove and me going dancing around the garden trying to shake it out again.... Yay for phobias! cyclops
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Post  Lavender Debs 2/18/2011, 7:14 am

Slugs really don't creep me out, but I hope to creep them out. Slugs are nocturnal. They are under your grids during the day because it is perceived to be a safe place. If you use twine, they will simply find a different place to hide during the day. Go out at night with a flashlight and you will easily see just how bad your problem is. That is when they come out to eat.

I have a lip on the inside edge of my boxes that the grid fits on. That makes it easy for me to lift without needing to disassemble anything. It is easy to catch and salt or snatch slugs with chopsticks when you lift the grid and drop them into salted water.

It is early enough in the season that your boxes shouldn't be too full to fit a tuna can into. Set the can into the mm, fill it with the cheapest, yeastiest beer you can find and slugs will crawl in to commit suicide. Empty the can daily and refresh with new beer. If you need to drink a little courage to do this, never mix up which container you sip from.
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Post  Blackrose 2/18/2011, 8:22 am

Lavender Debs wrote:If you need to drink a little courage to do this, never mix up which container you sip from.

funny post darn funny
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Post  LaFee 2/18/2011, 10:05 am

I'm thinkin' my frat-boy slugs would just play jumprope with copper wire...then they'd drink more beer just to keep things interesting.

(back story -- LaFee has HUGE red slugs that drink her beer and DON'T die...I figure they're big, ugly, destructive, and have a bad attitude...they must be frat boys!)

(more back story...yes, I've know frat boys who turned out to be fine, upstanding citizens...but you'd have had a hard time predicting that if you'd seen them back then!)
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Post  FarmerValerie 2/18/2011, 10:43 am

Beer works!!! I save a spot in my boxes that slugs frequent just for tuna cans, it's worth it to give up the space to not have the slugs.

My big problem is squash bugs, they hide under wood, my boxes are wood, yesterday while moving a few things around my daughter saw one of those darned bugs, I'm thinking vinyl boxes just as soon as we can afford it.
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Post  miinva 2/19/2011, 12:20 am

I wish I knew the solution for squash bugs, we're overrun! I saw plans for a trap made of layers of cardboard with thin strips of wood between them and I may try that. I did some research online and they don't have any predators and they're a real pest all over the US, it seems.
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Post  jumiclads 2/19/2011, 3:28 pm

I found this article on the net about squash bugs, there is a good video half way down the page. Hope it helps.

Squash Bugs
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Post  Megan 2/19/2011, 3:38 pm

All that worked for me last year was squishing them and spraying with neem oil. I didn't have the time to pick over everything as thoroughly as I should have.
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Post  miinva 2/19/2011, 3:45 pm

?! I'm going to give it a try! I used some spray last year but I wasn't very consistent. I really, really didn't like losing my plants so quickly, so I'll do better this year. I wonder if you have to worry about it burning plants?
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Post  Megan 2/19/2011, 3:49 pm

If you mean the neem oil... I don't know, but stands to reason that if you dilute it properly it should be okay. I promised myself I was going to be much more aggressive with both it and the DE this year. I am still sad my Poonas died early. I am going to try them again, plus another variety from Baker Creek.
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Post  miinva 2/19/2011, 3:55 pm

I'm going to start off with dish soap and see how it goes. I use Bronner's soap and I know that's biodegradable, so I'll try that brand first.
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Post  jumiclads 2/19/2011, 3:56 pm

I am doing some searching for you tonight.

This may help with other bugs aswell.

Natural Insect Control
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Post  camprn 2/19/2011, 4:05 pm

Thanks Mick! Bookmarked! Very Happy
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Post  Megan 2/19/2011, 4:21 pm

Great link, thanks!
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Post  Goosegirl 2/19/2011, 4:34 pm

Saved to my Favorites! Thanks!
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Post  Furbalsmom 2/20/2011, 12:37 am

jumiclads wrote:I am doing some searching for you tonight.

This may help with other bugs aswell.

Natural Insect Control

Thanks Jumiclads, I had several types of destructive insects last year so appreciate all the information in this link.
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Post  FarmerValerie 2/20/2011, 8:21 am

Thanks for the article, I'll pop over and read it in a minute. We tried neem oil last year, and it helped, I also used an organic spray that was supposed to kill them, and it cut them down, but not much. The neem oil worked great for keeping the grasshoppers away, they were bad in the spring. I'm not sure DE would work on the adult bugs, they have a hard shell, it might work on the newly hatched ones though. My husband is looking into getting honey bees, so I'm not sure exactly what I am going to do, we have to be very careful with those around, no DE, and spraying only directly onto bugs, and being extremely careful not to spray blossoms, which is where all the spotted and striped yellow bugs were last year.

I am thinking this year, soap spray, pepper spray, neem oil, and some pyola. It's as if when we went out and picked, sprayed, squashed, and so on, the next day there were 10 times as many as the day before. I wondered if the neighbor was picking and saving his and sending them to my house at night, or spraying something that sent them running.
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Post  FarmerValerie 2/20/2011, 9:36 am

THANKS for the video of hope, I put both of those videos on my blog, then as usual saw a video that lead to a video, these things do have an enemy in the garden. Check out this video. Oh, and forgive me if I sound preachy, but I began to sing the old hymn Victory In Jesus, when I saw the praying mantis eat that darn squash bug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J94e8LBvXQ&feature=player_embedded
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Post  miinva 2/20/2011, 10:19 am

Last year when I was picking cowpeas I saw a huge praying mantis with half of one of those huge bumblebees in his grip. We had dozens of them! The only problem with them is that they don't actively hunt, they pick and location and hunt what comes by, and I'm not sure squash bugs are their preferred diet because I never saw one on the squash, but it's good to know that something might eat them!
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Post  Old Hippie 2/20/2011, 4:26 pm

FarmerValerie wrote:THANKS for the video of hope, I put both of those videos on my blog, then as usual saw a video that lead to a video, these things do have an enemy in the garden. Check out this video. Oh, and forgive me if I sound preachy, but I began to sing the old hymn Victory In Jesus, when I saw the praying mantis eat that darn squash bug.

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Post  camprn 2/22/2011, 5:09 pm

A friend tried the copper tape for a slug deterrent. It didn't work. Maybe an electric fence is called for.
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