Snails and Sluggo Plus

I have been overrun by slugs in yrs past, plus numerous other bugs. Especially my strawberry plants. Strawberries started ripening and the slugs attacked. I bought some Sluggo plus and have picked approx. 3 gal. of perfect berries. I went out this am and found this snail. It was up on the netting(I use this to keep out the birds) I picked it off before taking the pic. It was reaching down with his long feelers trying to get the berries from above! Maybe the Sluggo smells to pests? I put it in a bucket with some sluggo, it's been 1 hr, and it keeps trying to climb out, maybe the shell is protecting him? I sprinkled some water on the sluggo, we'll see.

is that one of those "good snails" that eats the bad ones?

The instructions on the Sluggo Plus says it works best in damp conditions (not standing water). Also, if the snail is not in it's natural environment (damp, dark, cool) it may just be finding a way back home. The Sluggo is supposed to attract them to the bait and seems to be more attractive to them over the plants, in my experience. And remember, it's not an instant killer. They should ingest some of it, stop feeding, and then head into the ground to die. I've read that this can take a couple days to a week for them to actually die after ingesting it.

I have not found snails in my garden, just tons of slugs and other bugs...so this is all I have experience with. And southern gardener brings up a good point about seeing if it's a good snail or not. Of course, I'm with you....anything eating MY strawberries is a BAD bug! :tsk: You can always hand pick them, put them in a visible place for the birds.

Heavens, I did not know about 'good' snails. Will look for a pic and see if it is one, but it is still dying today!

I also agree, anything eating my berries but me, must be a bad bug!

Jo

here is a link about some "good snails".............. http://www.tiptopbio.com/product_snails.html

We did get some once, and they did eat the bad ones. i don't know if they eat the veggies or not though? Did you see this one eating your strawberries or was he just hanging around them?

Had no idea there were land predatory snails!

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/gastro/snail_eating_snails.htm

But it looks like some are omnivorous, eating both meat and veggies! What do they eat after they have cleaned out the bad ones???

He was on the netting, with his feelers sticking out, and he was almost reaching a green leaf. I snatched him from there, then went to get the camera.
It's raining now, so tomm. I will look to see if I can find anymore. He sure looked like he was reaching! This is the first snail with a shell, I usually only have slugs.
Jo

I really don't know where they went. They were sorta like my lady bug purchases. They lasted a few days and moved on. I won't be doing either again! It's like throwing money in the wind! haha

It took me a MONTH to finally locate and purchase some Sluggo Plus. The pill bugs seem to do the most damage when the seeds sprouted and low to the ground. Also found some on my grid so may have to rethink that next year.

Anyone have any Cuban oregano???????? I saw some at a nursery but cannot find the seeds in my catalogs

Where are yall getting the sluggo?? I have checked lowe's with no luck...

floyd1440 wrote:It took me a MONTH to finally locate and purchase some Sluggo Plus. The pill bugs seem to do the most damage when the seeds sprouted and low to the ground. Also found some on my grid so may have to rethink that next year.

Anyone have any Cuban oregano???????? I saw some at a nursery but cannot find the seeds in my catalogs

Yes, those miserable pill bugs chop off newly sprouted seedlings! They're terrible...earwigs too. I don't use grids any longer because of that. They were nice little condos for the earwigs, slugs, snails and pill bugs

I could not find Sluggo Plus locally. They have it online at Home Depot but I got it just a little cheaper at Amazon and since I ordered 2 2.5 containers and the price was quite a bit, I got free shipping at Amazon.

ArkansasSFGardener wrote:Where are yall getting the sluggo?? I have checked lowe's with no luck...

HD has it online but not in their stores (atleast not around here):

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Monterey-2-5-lb-Sluggo-Plus-LG6570/202043635#.Ua6erdJO-8A

Considering all the regulations in California, we're lucky that Sluggo and Sluggo Plus are still available. I put S+ in tiny trays in the MM boxes, and lightly around the bases of the boxes, and along the neighbors' fence lines. I would say a 90-95% reduction of snails, slugs, sow bugs, earwigs and some type of beetle/weevil in 48 hours.