Aphids or Slugs

ttx599 5/28/2013, 4:56 pm

This is my 4th year SFGing. I love it! I have not really had any pest problems in the past but this year my spinach and the leaves of my radishes are being chowed on by something. They are smallish holes in some areas and then some larger holes in other areas. The lettuce directly next to my spinach hasn't been touched.
Are these aphids or slugs?
I haven't seen any slug "trails" - I even went out at night to look around but no luck.
Any suggestions on what it is and how to stop it?

CapeCoddess 5/28/2013, 5:00 pm

I found the occasional slug on my spinach. But the radishes - I never had a problem with them last spring (my first SFG season), but ever after they get eaten and I've never seen what's doing it. So I gave up trying to find the buggers and just plant more of them so I can have some, too. It's probably slugs also. *shrug*

CC

ttx599 5/28/2013, 5:34 pm

Does anyone know if marigolds planted around will help with aphids?

**camprn** 5/28/2013, 6:17 pm

My first guess is flea beetles. Aphids are sap suckers and slugs you can trap by laying a small board in the garden, which they will hide under during the day. Try a tulle or other covering as a barrier. Can you post a photo?

ttx599 5/28/2013, 6:26 pm

camprn wrote:. Try a tulle or other covering as a barrier. Can you post a photo?

I will take a photo and post it... as for the tulle barrier - do you mean to just lay some tulle over the leaves being eaten?

drixnot 5/28/2013, 6:34 pm

here's a nice website dedicated to damaging insects.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/spinach.html

ttx599 5/29/2013, 2:36 pm

This is a picture of the holes in the spinach.... any recommendations?

mschaef 5/29/2013, 3:18 pm

That looks like cucumber beetle holes to me. Cucumber beetles look like lady bugs except they are green. I had them bad two years ago I used dish soap, baking soda, and water in a spray bottle but I think that the cold did them in. Our temps drop for a couple of day and they were gone. Good luck to you

WriterCPA 5/30/2013, 8:19 pm

Fortunately my slugs are not bright pink or eight inches long, but I found a couple of babies handing out under a clump of weeds and a BIG grandpa in my compost pile! YUUCK! (They may account for some of my missing seedlings -- not whole groups like the carrots, but finding myself short a radish here, a couple of beets in another spot, etc.)

Sluggo works, but it's expensive, so I'm looking for cheap organic ways to deal with these slithery miscreants.

I decided to try out red pepper flakes to chase away the slugs. The jar from the Dollar Store gave pretty nice coverage of the entire plot.

Does anyone know how often you need to reapply the flakes to keep the slugs away?

Goosegirl 5/31/2013, 3:15 am

WriterCPA - Love your tag line!

GG

**bakermtb** 6/28/2013, 6:40 am

I have diatomaceous earth food grade to dust my crops. It works well but works best when it is dry. I reapply after rains. It seams to control the slugs. Make sue you get the food grade, that way it does provide some health benefits for you.

mollyhespra 6/28/2013, 10:06 pm

Do red pepper flakes work against slugs? Because a few years back the slugs got into my jalapenos & had a field-day. They got into the fruit so bad that I barely harvested a handful; so it makes me dubious that the pepper flakes work because they're "hot"--maybe because they're abrasive when dry--but wouldn't that be moot once the flakes become moist?

I know DE does work, and I've heard that crushed eggshells around the plants are also a good repellent.

Oh, and another thing about the red pepper flakes: I read in another post on this forum about caution against using hot pepper flakes if there is any risk of pets coming in contact with it & getting it into their eyes. Do you have pets?

Come to think of it, be careful of your own contact when you cultivate or weed, etc. Hot pepper is not fun in the eyeballs.

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