Welcome to Slugfest 2014

Due to a warm wet late spring the slugs in my garden @ South Wales UK EUROPE have been on honeymoon  !

The last fortnight has seen it rain overnight most nights and during the day time on several occasions , the humidity is fairly high making for a  Slughoneymoonarama  garden motel in my yards. I've been picking them off from around the pond and dumping them in a big tub of cooking salt       .


 Just before 19 .00 tonight I took a quick womble around all my high raised beds on a de-weeding mission and thought what on earth are all these shiny black dots . I nipped back inside sharpish , got a magnifying glass and a super bright LED torch . On having a proper look at the things  under the magnifying glass everyone of them turns out to be a tiny pin head sized black slug .
 
 I religiously applied my first pack for this year of Nemaslug nematode control three weeks ago , it's supposed to be good for up to six weeks viability .... they don't say whether the six weeks runs from the date of manufacture or from the date of application or the use by date once applied .

 Looks like the term " UP TO " must be under ideal laboratory conditions . It still has three  week to run since the application was done .

I'm going to have a slug pellet session in a few minutes time  when it stops hissing down with rain. Thankfuly I signed up & paid for a two pack programme delivered six week apart ..can't wait for the second installment to arrive in two  weeks time   .

I would never have suspected those little dots to be slugs.

Good luck on your control program. Slugs are such an awful enemy! Not only can they strip plants overnight, but the chemical control measures, like Sluggo Plus, are extremely expensive ... and ... wash away in the rain. They're a nightmare.

I've seen shows documenting killer snails and slugs. I wonder why you never see them for sale as biological controls. I'd love to set some loose.

I'm hoping to be able to apply my first treatment for the season of the beneficial nematodes this weekend.  I'm crossing my fingers that I'm still on time because up my way it's recommended to apply them in May, then again in June, and one last one in August.  I'm almost out of time for May.  I've seen two small snails but no slugs, yet. 

I won't use slug pellets, though, so it will be hand-picking for me of any survivors.  I read somewhere that birds and other creatures can get sick from eating the dead or dying slugs, so I don't want to risk it.

I also bought some copper tape to apply around planters last year, but I never got around to installing them.  Has anyone tried copper tape as a barrier?

Only 1 out of 4 squash plants is alive.  The third one bit the slug dust last night.  I wasn't sure if it was slugs at first but this morning I saw the trail on the sidewalk right outside that square.  I never realized that they can take out a fairly large plant.  Ate right through the lower part of stem.  Other than beer in a dish, what else works.  I have one plant left and hope it will survive but this particular slug started out on the south side and took out 1 at a time over the last 2 weeks.  Very methodical.  The last one is the one next to the sidewalk (north side).  Any ideas?

We use Sluggo Plus with great success. I don't find it expensive for how well and how long it works. We paid about $15 for a container last year, and still have at least 1/2 left? Normally just one application does the trick. It also works on sow bugs and earwigs which are a problem in So. Calif.  Good luck!!

southern gardener wrote:We use Sluggo Plus with great success. I don't find it expensive for how well and how long it works. We paid about $15 for a container last year, and still have at least 1/2 left? Normally just one application does the trick. It also works on sow bugs and earwigs which are a problem in So. Calif.  Good luck!!

+1 And in Central Calif.

Am going to go shopping today and hopefully I can find the Sluggo +.  We have had so much rain.  I think this is the reason the slugs are out in droves. 

Thanks for the advice.

To protect Sluggo + from rain [or watering with a hose wand in my case], I put it in baby food jars on their sides, with the neck pointing slightly downward. It's nice to have grand babies!

The only place I didn't put nematode slug control was in the office basedLEDlit under bed heated propagating box.

I went into the office to check progress of my tomatoes as I'm running a race to get them out into the final phase landscaping high raised beds for ANSFG which was finished this afternoon .  I've been making MM like crazy to fill about 80 sq ft to a depth of 9 inches ..still got some to do tomorrow before I transplant all this years remaining small plants in the office & glasshouse ..

On lifting the net curtain covering the front I  found a tray of 33  one inch tall cherry tomtato seedlings demolished , nothing there , not even a stump . I rolled back the covering bit of spare pond liner that was covering  the silver sand in the bed over the heat cable and found it was heaving with light brown slugs ... BTD's

 I sprinkled 4 oz. of cooking salt around the edges of the lining .. any slug that wants to feed for free can have the salt to go with it    

 I'm getting an aversion to slugs .. the word should be spelt slug-ugh !

Plantoid, So, so sorry about your seedlings   

I can't wait to see a photo of your long awaited new beds.

plantoid wrote:The only place I didn't put nematode slug control was in the office basedLEDlit under bed heated propagating box.

I went into the office to check progress of my tomatoes as I'm running a race to get them out into the final phase landscaping high raised beds for ANSFG which was finished this afternoon .  I've been making MM like crazy to fill about 80 sq ft to a depth of 9 inches ..still got some to do tomorrow before I transplant all this years remaining small plants in the office & glasshouse ..

On lifting the net curtain covering the front I  found a tray of 33  one inch tall cherry tomtato seedlings demolished , nothing there , not even a stump . I rolled back the covering bit of spare pond liner that was covering  the silver sand in the bed over the heat cable and found it was heaving with light brown slugs ... BTD's

 I sprinkled 4 oz. of cooking salt around the edges of the lining .. any slug that wants to feed for free can have the salt to go with it    

 I'm getting an aversion to slugs .. the word should be spelt slug-ugh !

How sad.  Agree about the aversion. 

I feel silly complaining about 3 squash plants when you have lost so many tomato plants.  It's has been such a wet spring here - no wonder we are having such a problem. 

I've added the sluggo but it rained very hard last night - early morning.  When the thunder wakes me up I know it's a storm.  Struck right close to the house and the whole house shook.  That was way to close for comfort.  Grateful that the house itself did not get hit.  The flash plus the sound both woke me up.  I sure would hate to be caught outside when storms like this happen.

I knew I should have checked the squash more closely yesterday.  I could not find the real sluggo and had to setter for another brand.  With all of the rain it had washed out of the squares.  This morning, I discovered the last one nibbled at the base of the plant again.  Sigh. 

I doubt if I started it out now it would make it through to the first frost. 

Dry years are never an issue for me and slugs.

sanderson wrote:To protect Sluggo + from rain [or watering with a hose wand in my case], I put it in baby food jars on their sides, with the neck pointing slightly downward. It's nice to have grand babies!

This is a super great idea. I was finding regular watering dissolved the pellets within a few days or a week, but putting them someplace protected is smart. Maybe under something to keep them cool, too, would be even better ...

Put coffee grounds around all your seedlings, transplants and plants.  The caffeine affects the slugs neurotransmitters and they won't cross a line of caffeine, i. e. coffee grounds.  You can get them free at StarBucks.

Rahab222 wrote:Put coffee grounds around all your seedlings, transplants and plants.  The caffeine affects the slugs neurotransmitters and they won't cross a line of caffeine, i. e. coffee grounds.  You can get them free at StarBucks.

Thanks for that idea.  I will try it.

Do try the coffee grounds.  I saw a video on YouTube where this guy put a line of coffee grounds alongside one row of plants and none on the row of plants opposite it.  He then released the slugs and sped up the video.  It was absolutely amazing to watch.  None of the slugs would cross the line of caffeine, although they did go up to it.  They had no problem going for the seedlings without a line of grounds.  I put a thick circle of caffeine around all my plants, starting at the leaf line and moving in.  I don't let them touch the actual plant.  I have had no problems with slugs since doing this.  It works!  You will need to replenish them after a couple of rains.

Rahab222 wrote:Do try the coffee grounds.  I saw a video on YouTube where this guy put a line of coffee grounds alongside one row of plants and none on the row of plants opposite it.  He then released the slugs and sped up the video.  It was absolutely amazing to watch.  None of the slugs would cross the line of caffeine, although they did go up to it.  They had no problem going for the seedlings without a line of grounds.  I put a thick circle of caffeine around all my plants, starting at the leaf line and moving in.  I don't let them touch the actual plant.  I have had no problems with slugs since doing this.  It works!  You will need to replenish them after a couple of rains.

I am going to try this tomorrow.  I always have coffee grounds and usually put them in the compost but if it will help to keep the pests away, I will.

Another way to combat them is to take a bowl of stale beer and sink it slightly into the ground giving the slugs easy access to it. Place a piece of cardboard over the top of it. Clean out the dead and replenish the beer regularly.

+1 on the beer pan sunk low.  I used this to good effect in NC

Does anyone know if the coffee grounds solution works for snails as well as slugs?