FARM Slugs?

F

feralmama

Inactive
Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's been horribly cold and rainy (I know, I know.. I would send some your way if I could, really) which isn't pleasant for us but great for slugs apparently.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get rid of them that are safe? I have small grandchildren and pets as well.

They are destroying my gardens, I swear there isnt much they won't eat.

Help! Please!
 
duchess47

duchess47

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Seems like when I was a kid, pie pans of beer under the plants. Salt maybe too but google it - we are talking a lot of years ago.
 
naturallysweet

naturallysweet

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Take a walk in the late evening or early morning. All the slugs will be out playing in your vegetables, so you can just pick them up.

Then put them all in a bucket and give them to my ducks. They love them!
 
vessie

vessie

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I highly suggest you use the product called Escar-go! by Gardensalive.com. http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2111

I live in the PNW too and will never ever use poisonous products such as deadline because they also attract dogs and cats and believe me, it is a horrible, painful and tormenting death for them when they get into that stuff as well as the other poisonous slug bates. I will never forget what I have witnessed at the vets office and to our neighbor's dog. Poor Tawny. Her death was horrible.

Anyway, I have been successfully using Escar-go! for years from Gardensalive.com and love it. In fact, it works even better than the old fashioned slug bates and is safer for all wildlife in the garden.

They also have a coupon code that I found over at Retailmenot.com which is my goto coupon code site. The code is 0152153 for 15% off sitewide here is the linkie-poo to the site. http://www.retailmenot.com/view/gardensalive.com

Trust me, once you try this product, you'll never go back to the old stuff. V
 
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dstraito

dstraito

TB Fanatic
I've successfully left out saucers of beer before. They crawl in and never crawl out. Don't blame them :)
 
Wise Owl

Wise Owl

Deceased
I use Sluggo this year as I can't get Slug Magic locally. It's iron phosphate and won't hurt pets or wildlife. We have dogs and the birds leave it alone. But it kills the slugs pretty quickly. It's the only thing I have found that works up here in Maine. This is the woods and they live here. After a rain they come out in herds. And yes, they will eat pretty much your whole garden if you let them. I sprinkle the bait in my raised beds. They eat it and go away to die. It has reduced the population by 90% and the robins are getting the rest of them, lol.....
 
N

NC Susan

Deceased
crushed egg shells. place them where ever you DONT want slugs. Slugs rip them selves apart and are unable to cross the barriers. No harm to the environment and if you go to Waffle House the cook on any shift will GIVE YOU as many as you ask for.......

We used to use empty litter soda bottles cut in half and one half reverse inverted into the other. (with soda for bait). The slugs go into the neck opening and cant escape.......but that is GROSS.... with egg shells you see no evidence ever...... as the birds and squirrels take away shells, so i use alot of egg shells......
 
P

Paradox

Contributing Member
I second the beer... Cheap, cheap nasty beer. I'm experimenting now with a simple yeast-sugar-water mix to see if i can get it to ferment enough to use, but for now, beer. That's why it was invented. ;)
 
A

Anrol5

Inactive
Can you get nematodes? As far as I am concerned, they are the *only* thing that is effective against slugs. The nematodes eat the slugs from the inside out. And then when the slug dies, they are released into the soil to eat the next lot of slugs. The more slugs the faster the nematodes breed. Pricey, but they kill slugs and snails so dead, you have no slugs on or under the soil for months.

Why didn't I use them this year? They only work in warm wet conditions, and here in the UK, we had the hottest driest spring in decades.

Anrol
 
T

TimeTraveler

Veteran Member
"Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get rid of them"

Escargot (redirect from Escargo)
Escargot is a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer. TT
 
L

Light

Senior Member
The best destroyer of all slugs within a contained area is a duck. As long as you've not used any poisons getting a pet duck rids even a large yard quickly of every last one. When my duck, Arnold, cleaned the entire yard of slugs and snails I then bought him feeder goldfish for snacking while in his pond .
 
F

feralmama

Inactive
Anrol5 said:
Can you get nematodes? As far as I am concerned, they are the *only* thing that is effective against slugs. The nematodes eat the slugs from the inside out. And then when the slug dies, they are released into the soil to eat the next lot of slugs. The more slugs the faster the nematodes breed. Pricey, but they kill slugs and snails so dead, you have no slugs on or under the soil for months.

Why didn't I use them this year? They only work in warm wet conditions, and here in the UK, we had the hottest driest spring in decades.

Anrol
Click to expand...

They would probably freeze to death here lol. I kid you not, I still have the heat going at night because its so cold, wet and damp.
 
F

feralmama

Inactive
vessie said:
I highly suggest you use the product called Escar-go! by Gardensalive.com. http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2111

I live in the PNW too and will never ever use poisonous products such as deadline because they also attract dogs and cats and believe me, it is a horrible, painful and tormenting death for them when they get into that stuff as well as the other poisonous slug bates. I will never forget what I have witnessed at the vets office and to our neighbor's dog. Poor Tawny. Her death was horrible.

Anyway, I have been successfully using Escar-go! for years from Gardensalive.com and love it. In fact, it works even better than the old fashioned slug bates and is safer for all wildlife in the garden.

They also have a coupon code that I found over at Retailmenot.com which is my goto coupon code site. The code is 0152153 for 15% off sitewide here is the linkie-poo to the site. http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2111

Trust me, once you try this product, you'll never go back to the old stuff. V
Click to expand...

Thank you Vessie, this is the product I am going to try first.. and the coupon is much appreciated!
 
vessie

vessie

Has No Life - Lives on TB
My link to the coupon code site I use didn't stick in my last post. This is my goto coupon code site since I'm such a mooch when buying things... http://www.retailmenot.com/view/gardensalive.com V

Edited to add... I don't use lawn fertilizer with week killer in it and I have the best lawn in the neighborhood. I use gardensalive's product called Wow! which is a pre-emergent weed control product and fertilizer all in one. Work's great in the flower beds too but don't use it where your planting seeds as it is a 'pre-emergent' plant killer. http://www.gardensalive.com/search.asp?ss=wow&x=11&y=11
 
T

tm1439m

Veteran Member
I hear Ducks are great at hunting out slugs while less destructive to the plants/veggies than chickens. You get the added benefit of duck eggs which I hear are delicious.


ETA: light, I just saw where you already said ducks. Sorry :).
 
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vessie

vessie

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Right you are tm1439m, my cousin used to let loose her geese into the veggie patch And the strawberry patch. She called it 'Goosing the strawberries' and it was absolutely effective in getting rid of the slugs. Chickens, I wouldn't try it with. She never sent her Araucana 'girls' into the patches for the reason you gave. V
 
T

tm1439m

Veteran Member
For young plants that are just getting started like beans you can make a ring around them with bare copper wire. Apparently it causes slugs a slight shock when they try to cross it. It does work for me for those seeding just coming up. Slugs love to eat the newly emerging seedlings and devour them all the way to the ground.Of course when the plants get any real size they will outgrow the copper ring.
 
It'sJustMe

It'sJustMe

Deceased
I was going to suggest copper, also. Copper wire attached to the perimeter of your raised bed works. So does a line of coarse salt at the base of the bed. But in this stinking cold, wet weather, the salt just gets drowned! This year even if we could get rid of the slugs, the weather is so cold, plants just sit there, and wonder when we're going to put them out of their misery? Terrible! IJM
 
L

Lindy

Veteran Member
Salt has been mentioned...I go for morning & evening walks with the salt shaker...sprinkle a bit on them & they melt into a blob.
 
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