insect resist ways?? Don't want to kill any insects!

16 years ago

I have some 3" tall seedlings. They were all eaten by slugs. I found the seedlings all disappeared with slugs on the soil. I really don't want to kill any insects; they are lives. I don't want to kill one life to make another life survive. Are there any ways to make them go away?? Insect resistance ways? Thanks

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Comments (11)

sinfonian
16 years ago
Companion planting... It works to deter insects natually. Not as effective as insecticides, but organic to the Nth degree.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some companion planting lists...
justaguy2
16 years ago
Not really.

I appreciate you don't want to kill one living thing in favor of the survival of another living thing.

The unfortunate truth is that there are lots of things out there that have no moral qualms about killing and even eating the living things we care most about.

Wild animals usually seeks the young, old or sick to take down and that means if we are in nature with our young kids, a predatory animal will target our kids before it will us. Seems sick and perverse, but it's the way nature works.

If you want to grow a plant and something other than you wants to eat it you need to decide between your wants and the wants of the thing that wishes to eat your plant.

Sure, you could use a copper strip which slugs won't cross to protect your plants, but copper is toxic to many life forms such as fungi and bacteria. Are those life forms also equal in your eyes? If so then it can't be used.

If you absolutely cannot kill anything then your best bet is to plant as much as you can.

Just maybe after nature's ammoral critters are done eating the fruits of your labor there will be something left for you.
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zachslc
16 years ago
Slugs are not insects. They are gastropods.

Feed them table salt. It is good for them. They like it.
Belgianpup
16 years ago
Snails and slugs prefer acidic conditions. If you have access to wood ashes (not coal ashes), they are alkaline, so you might try putting some ashes around your seedlings. Not all seedlings will tolerate direct contact, but some might.

Or, you could start your seeds in containers that are out of reach of the slugs, then put some ashes around (but not touching) the young plants.

But IMO, you would probably be best served by getting to be a little more hard-hearted. Get some non-toxic (to everything but slugs and snails) Sluggo, and just kill them. It isn't like you're chopping them up with scissors.
It isn't realistic to equate a slug with, say, a kitten. OTOH, the more you garden, the more realistic you are likely to become. :-)

Sue
naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
16 years ago
You can lay boards or heavy cardboard down in the garden. In the early morning pick it up and many of the slugs should be there. Relocate them where you don't mind them feeding. But please do this on your property, do not release your problem slugs where they will become someone else's problem.

Realize also that your existance means many other life forms can not live. Simply taking over their habitats and consuming some of the earth's resources reduces the number of other living things that can survive on a finite planet. People always affect animal populations. We should try to keep our impact reasonable, but our existance WILL affect them.
chueh
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you all. I guess I would relocate them, since I am in a cou-de-sack. Sometimes, I feel bad that because my existence and what I want to accomplish, a lot of other life forms cannot survive. Thus, i am trying to make minimum to harm them. Thank you all for your input. I did find myself becoming more realistic along with gardening. I learn so much from gardening.
hamiltongardener
16 years ago
I used crushed up eggshells and sprinkled them in a thick circle around the stems of my tomato plants last year. It worked well. They apparently won't cross over the jagged eggshells.

I think I got that advice from someone here.
chudak
16 years ago
I hear that if you put out beer, the slugs will drink it and get so drunk they forget how to get back to your garden.
chueh
Original Author
16 years ago
LOL hm... beer for slugs...those slugs who drank beer must have been the most luxurious ones.... sounds good. Thank you all, now I have gotten so many good ideas.
dangsr_grow
16 years ago
I know just how you feel about killing. What do you eat to keep on living. I know you dont eat any meat as it was killed, and I know you wouldnt kill all those little vegetable plants to eat them. Come on now tell us what you use for food.
stacey_l
16 years ago
Actually the real trick with the beer is that they crawl into it and drowned. That's all I use here in wet sluggy Oregon and its worked fine. I do have to pick the occasional slug off my lettuce, but they still leave me plenty to eat and nothing is more organic than beer (although since I usually use the cheapest beer I can find - like Hams, that may be questionable)
Stacey