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Organic Gardening

slug questions

17 years ago

this year i'm trying for the first time not tilling in my vegetable garden. i laid compost and a thick layer of aged manure on top of the vegetable beds in the spring, and planted peas and fava beans right into it. (the manure had a lot of straw in it still, but i believe the manure itself was old, judging from its location in the pile i dug it from, and the lack of any manure odor.) now the fava bean plants have a lot of slugs, and the peas a few. i just did a search on slug control and see that mulch and compost should be kept away from the plants.

question one: how do you deal with slugs in this type of pile-the-mulch-right-on-the-beds and plant into it type of gardening? is that the problem, or might it have something to do with the manure not being completely broken down?

more questions: when and where do the slugs reproduce? do they lay eggs on leaves? do they continually reproduce, or have a brief window of opportunity during the spring? if left unchecked, do they vacation all year in the garden, overwinter, and live to lay eggs again next year? then die after laying eggs? maybe this is better asked in the insects forum... does anyone here know?

thanks,

debbie

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Comments (5)

Heathen1
17 years ago
Mulch and compost kept away from the plants? not likely in my garden! They also like to live in dirt... here where it's dry, they'll hide in the moist watered dirt. Put out a dish of beer for them... they'll herd to that and die.
buttercupia
17 years ago
The most immediate and sure way I know of to end slug problems is to use Sluggo or some form of pelletized iron sulfate under other names which, I think is an acceptable, organic solution which is not only safe for pets an people, but puts iron into the soil. It isn't cheap,(about 6 to 8 dollars a pound but it works well and lasts quite a while. However, someone in this forum may very likely object to it for some reason I don't know,.. maybe because there is some plastic on the container it comes in..or some other reason, if we wait, we'll see.

Some success has been claimed by using broken egg shells, coffee grounds or ashes( I've tried ashes, and they don't seem to work, especially after they get wet. I think coffee grounds might have a chance to work, especially if they've not been brewed..but then that's an expensive experiment..
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pd, whatever you use to fight the slugs snails and critters, it will pay off if you do it consistently. Diatomaceaous earth, crushed baked eggshells, slug baits, whatever: just use them. I never had much luck with the beer traps though. I think they got too diluted by our frecuent spring rainfalls. They'd only catch one or two overnight. Years ago to entertain a young nephew, I promised him a new video game if he and his sibs could pick 100, 200 or 300 slugs (I forgot the number now, but it was a lot.) They were done with the task and home with a slithering, disgusting 5 gallon bucket crawling with slugs in about 45 minutes! So much for entertaining youth in Western WA. But the population has dwindled to completely manageable since those days with seasonal baiting, and occasional slug-icide. It's really quite rare to find anything but new slug hatchlings and the big banana slugs in the woods these days. Three cheers. Raul, ah yes,I remember hurricane season now. I think I'd prefer hot and cloudy to cold and rainy, except for the fire ants! Every climate has its own pests and set of challenges, doesn't it?
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Too soon, too late! I have never found the perfect time to clear my beds of blown in clutter. I sometimes end up damaging some of the eyes of early hosta while others nothing happens to them when I rake the beds. My neighbor and I share a huge hosta bed on the lot line and last year we left all the clutter on the bed and we found no difference in slug damage. The bed is made up of mostly older types of hostas so that might make some difference. I just looked out the window at the bed and probably all we will do is pull the scapes that are still standing this spring. This will be the second year of doing this so there might be a great difference and we will again have to completely clear the bed. Only time will tell but if we see a huge difference in the slug population we'll spray the ammonia/water solution on the bed. We hope things stay the same as last year as it sure saves us time and energy. Connie
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The reason I crush the eggs is because they take up so much space. At first I thought this was good so there would be good airflow. But then unlike everything else they never broke up very well and I had large pieces of shell that were never going to be small pieces. The pieces were so large that seedlings would not like it. On the other hand there is something about the smooth inside of half egg shells the worms seek out. Does the calcium slowly leak out at just the right rate? Is it cozy? Does it retain the right moisture? Egg shells need to be collected seperately than other kitchen waste. Or like me one is trying to seperate the two later, no fun. I like rolling over them between two papers. But it seems to take more time than it is worth considering lime cost almost nothing. I feel like a martyr spending time this way. Maybe the food processer would provide more satisfaction. But I hate the thought of using electricity. So I am back to egg shell crushing martyr. There is satisfaction when a gallon of egg shells crushes down to nothing.
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Kimmsr
17 years ago
Cold, caffienated coffee, waht is left in the pot after you drink your morning cup or so, is a good slug deterent when sprayed on the affected plants leaves. One, small, problem with organic gardening is we do provide a really good habitat for slugs to live in, however once the soil is in optimal condition slugs apparently will find sufficient food to eat in the organic matter in the soil and leave your plants alone, at least the seem to around here because all the flower beds are well mulch (most of the time when the wild turkeys allow that) with many slugs but very little damage from them to the plants.
tiffy_z5_6_can
17 years ago
I have the same problem. A friend told me yesterday to take an ice cream 2 litre container, cut the bottom out, and cover the sides with vegetable oil, then place around the plant, inserting the sides into the soil a bit for stabilization. The slugs will try to climb the sides of the containers but will slide off and never get in.

Another method I've started using this year is to get the kids to deadhead the dandelions and place the flowers in a little pile here and there in the gardens. The slugs LOVE to congregate on these, and it makes it easy for me to pick them and dispose.

Slugs disappear for the winter under the soil. There they lay eggs which will hatch in early/late spring and surface. For this reason, I'm assuming they must overwinter underground, but I'm not sure on that one.

In the hosta garden, early in the season, I will water with a solution of 9 parts water to 1 part ammonia. The ammonia is nitrogen. I may repeat this a couple more times during the season if the slug population is severe. This kills the slugs and if it reaches the eggs will destroy them too.

Picking them in the evening is the best control I've found. And early in the morning. Attract them with plucked dandelion flowers, grapefruit peels, banana peels, etc. If you have a dog and racoons hanging about, be creative...
habitat_gardener
17 years ago
I occasionally find caches of slug eggs when planting new transplants. They look like osmocote -- little round whitish spheres, maybe 20-30 to a cache. Earthworm eggs are translucent yellowish with a subtle little tail on them.

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