Saturday, April 23, 2005
Get slugs early
It is really important to deal with slug problems early, before they multiply and destroy foliage. There are a number of good ways to deal with these critters. Slug pellets are probably the easiest way to attract and kill slugs. The pellets can be best spread with a hand rotary spreader, but hand spreading is easy too. Two pellet types I can recommend are Sluggo and Deadline MP ( both about $30 for a 5# bag). Deadline MP contains a toxic chemical, methaldehyde, so be sure to not use it if you have pets that wander around in your yard and use gloves to work with it. Deadline kills slugs that are attracted to it and eat it. Sluggo is environmentally safe and just as effective. It contains iron phosphate which interferes with the slug's ability to eat. It literally causes them to starve to death. Iron phosphate disappears into the soil after about two weeks. Use both sparcely and a 5# bag will last most of the season.
On warm moist evenings slugs can be seen feeding on foliage. A dilute solution of household ammonia diluted one part ammonia to four parts of water can be misted on them with a hand sprayer. The ammonia is taken into the leaves of the daylily and acts like a fertilizer, but the slug shrivels up and dies.
Any kind of stepping stone in the garden is a good place to look for slugs once the sun comes up. Take you ammonia bottle with you when you inspect your garden and bust a few slugs along the way.
Slugs are hermaphrodites, two sexes in the same animal, so it doesn't take two to tango. An infestation can develop quickly if not addressed at the first sign of a problem.
Look for tell-tale slime tracks and small bubbles around the axils of plants and spray ammonia directly on these spots. In the beginning a single plant can be the starting point for a BIG problem.
On warm moist evenings slugs can be seen feeding on foliage. A dilute solution of household ammonia diluted one part ammonia to four parts of water can be misted on them with a hand sprayer. The ammonia is taken into the leaves of the daylily and acts like a fertilizer, but the slug shrivels up and dies.
Any kind of stepping stone in the garden is a good place to look for slugs once the sun comes up. Take you ammonia bottle with you when you inspect your garden and bust a few slugs along the way.
Slugs are hermaphrodites, two sexes in the same animal, so it doesn't take two to tango. An infestation can develop quickly if not addressed at the first sign of a problem.
Look for tell-tale slime tracks and small bubbles around the axils of plants and spray ammonia directly on these spots. In the beginning a single plant can be the starting point for a BIG problem.
