Slugs and Salal Bugs, Diseases

Slug control

One of the newest non-toxic treatments is a slug bait made by Safer's; it's well worth checking out. Other methods include using copper wire to surround plants and/or pots. Copper acts as a barrier which slugs will not cross. Of course, you have to be sure there are no slugs napping in your potted plants already. It works well for newly potted plants for that reason. Copper slug barriers can be bought at most garden centers. Sometimes young seedlings can best be protected by placing a barrier of crushed eggshells around them. Slugs travel on a soft foot coated with mucus and the sharp edges of eggshells can deter their passage. Various traps and bait can be used too.

Slug traps

According to Field Guide to the Slug some of the best slug traps use beer. The traps are made from plastic margarine tubs or sour cream containers, "the depth of which makes it harder for satiated slugs to escape."

Cut a few one-inch square or triangular doors into the container sides and use the lid to deflect rain and prevent dilution of the beer. Position the holes just below the container rim and dig the container into the soil, leaving the cut holes at or just slightly above soil level.

It's the scent of malt and yeast that attracts the voracious creatures. Adding a dash of baker's yeast makes a beer trap more effective. For a less expensive effective substitute for the beer, a mixture of yeast, flour and water can be used. Field Guide to the Slug gives this recipe: "In lieu of beer, an equally potent attractant can be concocted from two tablespoons of flour, one-half teaspoon of brewer's yeast, and one teaspoon of sugar mixed in two cups of warm water."

Some people have good success placing the empty rinds of grapefruit halves upside down on the ground near where slug damage is occurring. In the morning they collect and dispose of the slugs found.

Slug poison

The book offers some important observations on the use of commercial slug and snail poison baits. Unless they are carefully covered, as in a closed sour cream container with side entry holes for example, the poison -- which often contains some sweet-smelling attractant -- is accessible by other creatures including birds and small mammals.

Another problem arises in the use of chemical poisons -- "how to safely dispose of slug corpses. While bodies collected from other means can be composted or flushed down the toilet, chemical-laden slugs should be buried away from your garden and any natural sources of water. This will allow most poisons to break down into harmless constituents while preventing other land animals from feeding on tainted flesh."

Field Guide to the Slug includes a section on safe, nontoxic methods of slug control in the garden.

ABOUT US

VISITOR's GUIDE

AD RATES