Charly's grow blog 2020
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Alpine
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Guinea fowls are the best two-legged pesticide I had. But they are noisy and tend to fly away.
They are particularly good in picking ticks too.
pier
ps: and they taste delicious
They are particularly good in picking ticks too.
pier
ps: and they taste delicious
Thanks for the advice, but I try to use little to no chemical at all.
Metaldehyde is dangerous not only for slugs, but also for a lot of animals, so I won't use it.
The only chemical I use is "Ferric phosphate", which is relatively "safe", to try to reduce the slug pressure (because each year in early spring we have a LOT of slugs... and a few snails).
As I said, I don't want to eradicate them, I just want them to not eat everything.
Since we added a lot of mulch and wood in our garden (to feed the soil and enhance it), we have more insects than ever (centipedes, woodlouses, ground beetles, ladybugs...) but we also have more slugs of course
We also have a lot of different mushrooms.
Slugs are not an enemy, they are a part of the whole system. They are in fact a big help in the garden, they decompose organic mater, they suppress pathogenic fungus and reduce garden diseases. I don't want to eradiacte them.
Next year I will grow more plants in my tobacco and vegetable beds to feed the slugs, and I will transplant my plants only when they are a bit stronger (slugs love young and fragile plants, as much as dying plants).
It's all about experimenting, time will tell.
@Knucklehead : the pictures were taken during the night, while we were hunting for them (see picture bellow)
We have different kind of slugs, here are some small bright ones on our chards :
View attachment 31562
And now a plate filled with slugs, from one hunt (not for the faint of heart) :
View attachment 31563
I am really happy to see more insects and more life in my garden, it means that it's alive.
another thing you can do with snails and slugs is put a small container with beer, for some reason they are attracted by the smell of beer, sadly they die drowning in alcoholism
If you can purchase some iron phosphate snail bait (here the brand name is "Sluggo"), you just sprinkle the small bran pellets over the affected garden bed. It is non-toxic, unless you are a slug or snail. Usually one application clears most slugs. Sometimes I've had to apply it twice. The pellets will dissolve in the rain.
Bob
Bob
(forgot to answer... sorry)
I already tried the beer trap method, it's not working well enough (and it cost too much).
I use iron phosphate pellets (it's the only chemical I use), but our slugs don't eat them much... they prefer to chew our plants (it works, but not enough either).
Damn slugs...
I already tried the beer trap method, it's not working well enough (and it cost too much).
I use iron phosphate pellets (it's the only chemical I use), but our slugs don't eat them much... they prefer to chew our plants
(it works, but not enough either).Damn slugs...
Try spreading the iron phosphate pellets 1 week before you put out the transplants.
Bob
Bob
Alpine
Moderator
Metaldehyde works against slugs too.
pier
pier
Greasy Dirt
Member
Hello, lovely grow! Just a note about poultry, chickens especially, have extremely high nitrogen manure, so that is something to keep in mind if they are ranging directly in your garden patch. Also, if the manure doesn’t get watered into the earth somehow, rain, hose etc, the nitrogen will evaporate and, it stinks. Upside of poultry though, eggs and a nice roast once they are finished their working life for you! Best of luck!
We already use iron phosphate pellets before we put seeds or transplant in the ground, then again when the seeds or plants are in place.
But they seem to be to many, or they know that these pellets are not good for them... or they are simply more attracted by our wonderfull plants
These pellets are certainly helping, but they are not efficient enough.
Grabbing them by hand at night is more efficient... but tiresome
We put our hens project on pause, because there are some cases of Avian Influenza not far from our region... time to wait and see... hope we can go on soon.
But they seem to be to many, or they know that these pellets are not good for them... or they are simply more attracted by our wonderfull plants
These pellets are certainly helping, but they are not efficient enough.
Grabbing them by hand at night is more efficient... but tiresome
We put our hens project on pause, because there are some cases of Avian Influenza not far from our region... time to wait and see... hope we can go on soon.
The only other remedy I can think of is to surround each plant with a circle of copper--foil or coins. This seems to create a fault (short circuit) in their muscle function. Gold, silver or platinum might also work the same way, though the snails may just steal it.
Bob
Bob
Petzi
Active Member
For my part I use anti slug rings.
It works very well, but you shouldn't have a field to plant because it is not economical.
It works very well, but you shouldn't have a field to plant because it is not economical.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
Bare ground wire wouldn't be too expensive I figure.
I'm not up on my electronegativity values but would zinc also work? My thinking is, what if you sprayed zinc galvanizing spray paint on plastic rings cut from bottles?
Edit, heck, you could spray zinc onto aluminum foil which would produce a current, and wrap it around the plant.
I'm not up on my electronegativity values but would zinc also work? My thinking is, what if you sprayed zinc galvanizing spray paint on plastic rings cut from bottles?
Edit, heck, you could spray zinc onto aluminum foil which would produce a current, and wrap it around the plant.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
Well, would you look at that. Galvanized sheet metal might be available as scrap and a little would go a long way.
Slugs, snails and zinc
This has been a terrible year when it comes to snail damage. Spring brought along an invasion of snails, that damaged every hosta in the garden (about 1000 of them). Although I managed to get the epidemic under control by means of ammonium spray and slug pellets, there isn't a single undamaged...
I have used a 3-inch radius "mat" of lint from my clothes dryer filter to surround the soil at the base of a potted tobacco plant that had signs of slug foraging. That seemed to have minimal effect on the slug's activity. Of course, that lint mat was composed of mixed fibers, only some of which were from a genuine sheep.
Bob
Bob
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