Cool, and thanks.

I would suggest also posting this on the Hosta forum.

Might try this next year. It sure is slug heaven here!

Sluggo or Escar-go work really well.

Yes the Sluggo works, but only on adult ones. The amonia soaks in to get the eggs and so the next generation is cut off.

I have been using this treatment as well as other modes and the amonia is the best. And the cheapest.

Very interesting indeed. I'm noticing in one bed particularly this year the slugs are running wild! I am hearing of this treatment for the first time now so may I ask a question? Is it too late to try this now? You mentioned it is designed to damage the eggs so perhaps at this point we are too late in the season.

Also the ammonia didn't damage the plants at all? I mean presumably if it would you wouldn't consider this to be a good plan of attack but I just had to ask.

Thanks for your post.

Thank you.

Kate

Kate, you asked exactly the same two questions I was going to ask! I'm having more trouble than usual with slugs this year, I guess because all of the rain we've had.

:)
Dee

Kate, ammonia and water in a spray bottle is one of my standby slug defenses, and we battle slugs 11 months out of 12 here. Rather than just treat emerging crowns in Spring, I use 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water (doesn't need to be precise so splash away) - stronger than mentioned above...out after dark with a flashight and a spray bottle (you may want to warn your immediate neighbors that the prowler is only you). A spritz or two on the slug and it's dead in a heartbeat, does not harm foliage. Ammonia/water mixed 1 to 4, or as strong as 1 to 3 could cause some yellowing of leaves if you were to spray while direct sun is on the plant...but you wouldn't, because slugs aren't out and feeding in daytime hours.

Yay!! Validation!! That's good to know that it can be 4 to 1 in the spray but (King) Ken, of MichiGEN, did repeat over and over in his post that the drench could be no stronger than 10 to 1. You decide. I used 10 to 1 and I told you my experience.The drench idea Ken says to use whenever you see evidence of their activity. (I'm guessing they sleep in the crowns). So pour away.and if you like nightprowling,follow mor's lead as well.
best,
mindy

Yuck, I don't actually want to go out at night and SEE them, lol! Maybe I'll just try the drench during the day and see how that works. Thanks for this thread, Mindy. I learned something new!

:)
Dee

Dee, you really should try night inspections some time. You'd be surprised what you find in your garden after dark, can be downright enlightening :). I've got more night crawlers (worms) than I ever imagined.
Weevils where I had thought I had slug damage, caterpillars at eye level....
Then one night a crabby raccoon, another - a deer crossed the street and started up my sloping front lawn towards me. Maybe flashlight was something new to it?
But most of all, it's kind of satisfying to spritz a slug you've found in the act of eating away at your favorite plant, or even better when you find a herd of them headed for that plant and stop them in their tracks.

The stronger mix may have to do with spraying the actual slug and not using it more as a soil drench - one direct squirt whether on the plant or on the ground takes care of it.

Oregon State Ext.edu calls for even stronger but I haven't sprayed stronger directly on plants: "Ammonia-water spray. When sprayed directly with a solution of equal parts household ammonia and water, slugs dehydrate. Test a plant's sensitivity to ammonia by spraying a small section and watching for a reaction in the next day or two."

well.. all hail you too ... lol ...

actually .. i have never used the dump method .... i use it in a hand tank ... so you must have picked that up somewhere else.. though i am happy to take the glory for it.. lol ...

with 1500+ hosta.. i couldnt do the dump method ....

i also never tried anything other than the 10 to 1.. because i am cheap .... 4 to 1 would be exactly 2.5 times more expensive ....

and i usually use vinegar .... from the pickling area at the grocer .... or ammonia from the hardware store in gal containers ...

if you are happy.. i am happy.. lol

ken

"...You'd be surprised what you find in your garden after dark..."

Oh, goodness, that's what I'm afraid of! No, sorry, I love my garden in the daytime, and can admire what I can see while sitting on the patio in the late evening, but I won't venture forth at night, much less with a flashlight!

I've had to do that a few times to do things such as cover tomatoes with cloches, or pick a few herbs for dinner (we eat late!) but I make sure to train the flashlight only on what my task is, and I won't purposely go looking for creatures that lurk in the dark. Call me wimpy, but that's that, lol!

:)
Dee

I ventured out the other night with a spray bottle of Ammonia/Water solution and flashlight hunting for slugs.

To my surprise I found more earwigs than slugs but I sprayed both.

I also noticed with alarm the earthworms scurrying out of the soil when I sprayed the Ammonia solution. It was probably between four/six to one ratio...I was ticked off at foliage damage including a totally destroyed Salvia May Night.

Was the scurrying of earthworms just a natural earthworm response to disturbance or does ammonia solution aggravate or harm them?

If in the experience of dedicated ammonia solution sprayers/drenchers it doesn't harm earthworms you've all just opened up a whole new world to me...LOL.

I'll go down to 10/1 ratio.

So glad you started this topic. I recall reading about it in the hosta forum a long time ago and when I went to look for it again, I couldn't find it.

Ken, when you say hand tank, you mean you just spray around the crown? That seems vastly different in quantity applied from pour or dump.

ALso, is there an issue of altering soil acidity with ammonia? Am thinking of the hostas near my hydrangeas. Probably far enough away, but just curious.

Also, even with tons of rain this season, my hosta are looking pretty great between Sluggo and Sluggo Plus (earwigs, et als). But s__gs are sure around. Here's one trying to get in the house the other night!!!

{{gwi:248378}}

I have a zoomed in closeup but it is pretty gross!

I was wondering the same thing as Newbie, does anyone know if the ammonia spray harms any beneficials, such as earthworms, toads, beetles, butterfly larvaae, etc?

Aw, come on Wendy. Gross us out! Some of saw Animal House in our youth and I- up close and personal- saw a floating vole recently.
Marie/idabean

Ken, when you say hand tank, you mean you just spray around the crown? That seems vastly different in quantity applied from pour or dump. INSERT WAND.. SPRAY UNDERSIDE OF THE CANOPY .... AND ALL AROUND THE PETIOLES.. AND DOWN INTO THE CROWN .... YOU WIN.. WHEN THE NEXT FLUSH COMES OUT HOLE FREE ...

ALso, is there an issue of altering soil acidity with ammonia? Am thinking of the hostas near my hydrangeas. Probably far enough away, but just curious. CHANGING pH IS AN EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION ... FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM ... WE WOULD PROBABLY BE TALKING IN THE MILLIONS OF GALLONS TO HAVE ANY REAL IMPACT ... AT 10:1

KEN

King Ken,
Thou hast me confused. For your thousand+ hostas, it's easier to spray per your described technique than to pour?
As my OP explained, pouring worked for me. It's fast and a no-brainer and it requires no special equipment.
Your humble follower(and rebel?),
Mindy

anyone who wants a good ugly closeup of this thing, eyes (?) and all, click on this pic and then use the zoom-in tool to get really up close and personal!

{{gwi:248381}}

Ken back to ammonia technique, is it critical to apply at a precise stage of emergence? maybe more emerged is better than less emerged? I notice quite a variance in emergence around the different microclimates. Not to overthink this, but just some experience from the hosta-king!

About that slug- not seeing the slimy side or touching it reduces the uck factor for me. I've had a lot of sensory experiences with slugs this season, every pot I lift up has one, they are even between the soil and pot interior in some things i'm growing on. If I"m not looking out for them, my hand is all over them. That's a high uck factor. But if that thing were on my door, I would think "disgusting" shut the door and hope by the time the sun is up the next morning it would be gone or fried. Then I'd be looking for the slime trail on the glass. I have no idea if I would clean it off or not.

Marie

LOL I've been meaning to clean the window since he left his trail... Being the procastinator type lately, its still on my list!!

Pfft! That's what rain is for!

:)
Dee

Kate and all,

Just popped back in and saw your Qs. Basically, ammonia is nitrogen, so consider it a really good feed on N in the NPK equation. Your plant crowns are best soaked with this solution after a rainfall. The reason is that the solution will seep into the soil better if it's already moist. This is also the time that the slugs come out to play - during and right after a rain.

Terrene,
I only apply very early in the season when the butterflies haven't come yet. As per the worms, I'm not sure... But I do have plenty.

Wendy,
In regards to the ammonia affecting the PH of your Hydrangeas, if there is a distance between them and your hostas I would not worry about it. Ammonia is acidic so the worse which could happen is that your pinks would turn to purples and/or blues. Your Nikko Blues will certainly stay the same colour and maybe even produce a slightly darker hue. Yet the Hydrangeas would have to be quite close.

Please excuse the butting in of someone who is not a regular here, but I'd like to make the very small point that ammonia is in fact basic, not acidic. I've read that when farmers inject pure (anhydrous) ammonia into their soil, the soil pH is raised to around 9, although only for a few inches on either side of the injection slit. This high pH slowly tapers off over a period of weeks.

From this I gather that since Wendy is talking about only diluted ammonia water and probably distances of more than a few inches, it sure seems likely to me that her hydrangeas should be unmolested by the ammonia.

Make sense?

ThinMan

thinman, while we're on the subject, seems like you may know the answer to this. I keep getting these mixed up. Which is best for my hydrangeas and which for my blueberries?

ammonium sulfate
aluminum sulfate
garden sulfur

come on, you guys! didn't you read what ken said about this? and thinman has just backed him up w/ a related post.
You should pay heed to King Ken. I don't call him that for nothin'.

best,
mindy

Wendy, Never use aluminum sulfate to increase soil acidity (or lower the ph) as it can be toxic to many plants including your blueberry. Aluminum sulfate is soluble in water thus the aluminum component is immediately available in amounts that can kill them. Ammonium sulfate or garden sulfur would be better choices for lowering soil ph (make it more acidic) but you need to know your approximate natural ph before attempting to change it...have a goal in mind. Does the blueberry look chlorotic where it may be in soil too alkaline? As for the hydrangea, using garden sulfur would increase your chances of blue over the pink it would be in more alkaline soil.

i think i need to follow up on WHEN TO DO THIS ...

first.. prevention is much easier than cure ...

so the program should start in late fall ... remove the gelatinous goo previously known as your hosta ... and kill all the mommas [actually one slug is both sexes .. go figure on that] .... and kill the ones that lay eggs ....

next.. find out where they live.. and attack that area... i found.. back in suburbia.. that they were coming through the chain link from the neighbors.. and from my lawn ... so i actually baited away from the plants ... go figure on that.. why throw ATTRACTANT on your plants ... another go figure.. lol ... take a few scrap of cardboard or wood.. and lay them around the garden.. and a week or two later.. find out which has the most slugs under it ... just drop them into your drench bucket .... i also found.. that they live in some ground covers.. that they do NOT eat .... its just go figure after go figure. .. lol ... bait them there ...

the following spring... attack again ... i have no proof that the solution affects eggs... but why not ...

then let your hosta come up.. and keep vigil.. and apply as necessary ....

i liked ammonia... but i always had to sniff it.. and frankly.. that hurts.. but i figured that if it hurt my sinuses.. it would REALLY hurt the slugs ... but it is no better than vinegar ... think escargot vinaigrette ... lol .. the real key.. is which ever is cheaper in gallon size ....

anyway.. this time of year.. YOU ALREADY LOST THE BATTLE.... so plan the siege for prevention ...

another thing... mulch should be pulled back.. about half way from the crown to the edge of the canopy .... so that there is a demilitarized zone.. where you can attack.. or bait .... there is no need to mulch right to the plant ... and provide a home and hiding place right next to the plant you are trying to protect ...

good luck great slug hunters ....

ken

ps: the glory of hosta is spring through about the third week of july .... i am not looking for pristine plants this time of year... and i will tell you.. out here in the country ... the birds.. toads and frogs.. sure seem to work a lot harder in scavenging the slugs.. than they did in suburbia .... either that logic.. or my collection is so big.. i just cant worry about some of them getting eaten ...

Wendy asked Which is best for my hydrangeas and which for my blueberries?

ammonium sulfate
aluminum sulfate
garden sulfur

Wendy, I know some chemistry, but I'm not a soil chemist, so believe me when I say I'm no expert. I know that sulfur works, but is slow-acting. Aluminum sulfate works and is very fast acting. It's true that dissolved aluminum is toxic to plants in high enough doses, but it's also true that the dissolved aluminum reacts with soil water to form aluminum hydroxide, which dissolves very poorly, tying up most of the aluminum.

If you follow the application rates on the package, are you likely to kill your plants with aluminum? I dunno, but it seems unlikely, or wouldn't there be a lot of dead plants and unhappy customers out there? Lowering the pH way too much can increase the amount of dissolved aluminum in the soil to the point of killing plants, so I think Morz8 gave you good advice about knowing what pH you already have, and having a pH goal in mind so you know when to quit.

Ammonium sulfate certainly works too, and the short answer to your question is probably that there is no best choice. They all work.

ThinMan

If GW had monitors like Chowhound.com and other sites- I would not be writing this, but I think I will call attention to this problem now.

A few days ago, I began a thread on S _ _ g control, offering up some wonderful success I had had by following a certain technique. Other posters followed with their experiences and questions re: that technique. THEN the thread got waylaid by idle "hee hee" chat, with photos, about gross 's_ _ gs'. and THEN the thread was completely hijacked/ thrown off-topic(OT) and became a thread about aluminum etc. for hydrangeas.

I have copied and pasted the latter discussion into its own thread, with an appropriate title. This is what should have been done by the OT posters to begin with. By starting a NEW thread with its own appropriate title,**** those interested in that topic will be drawn to it***. (they would likely not have known about it, as it was buried in the original unrelated topic).

Being the original poster(OP), with my own preferences, I would also have preferred that the "hee hee" chatters start their own thread . Perhaps I'm one of the few? who doesn't like to mix 'hee hee' with serious learning. And as the OP, every time someone adds a comment to my original thread, I rcve an email note with that comment(that is the option box I checked, yes), but I have to READ the offending chatter in order to find out that that is what it is.
Now, I'm sure many of you think I am offensive/laughable/toooo serious/whatever in my response to this situation. Sorry if that is the case, but PLEASE, in the future, keep on topic with all threads, and respect the OP's ORIGINAL INTENT. Remember, there's a bonus when you start your own thread: the responses will be sent directly to your email, so you don't have to go looking for them. Also, fyi, there ARE chat forums on this GW.
I understand some of the best gardeners post on them.

best,
Mindy

Diggerdee and others:

I was like you and had never ventured outside at night, the thought was not appealing. However, when the plants in my flower and vegetable gardens started looking sad (holes and other stuff) I had to bite the bullet.

I headed out with gloves and a flashlight and I am sooo glad I did. I was just not expecting what I found. One of my marigold plants that I had transplanted two days earlier was absolutely covered with earwigs (major gross out factor for me!!) and the wonderful hosta that I love was covered in slugs.

I am so grateful for posts like this one that have helped me conquer not only the pests, but the fear of them!!!

Thanks, and happy gardening!!

g

aw come on Mindy, slugs and the affects of ammonia is not that far OT. we're not talking about clematis or MJ for petes sake. I've been posting on GW for many years and dealing with a bit of OT email that no longer interests me is not a big deal to me. Sorry if it is to you.

Ken, despite your post on the timing, I'm still uncertain.
You say "the following spring... attack again ." ... "then let your hosta come up..."

So you are saying the first spray there is no hosta, just soil. correct?

I think someone should do a side by side controlled experiment. Take a half-dozen or so of the same slug-prone hosta and apply the technique/ratio slightly differently to each one and record the results and report back. Volunteers?

aw come on , wendy. you are such a smart and valuable GW contributor; why can't you just recognize this complaint as valid and own up to a transgression?it's not like you go OT all the time; i can't say i've seen you do it before, for that matter. i am usually very thankful for your contributions to GW.

And why do all the respondees NOT get that the most important thing about my request for people to START A NEW THREAD when needed- is so that GW readers can most easily find the information that interests them?

best,
mindy

Mindy,
Thanks for the complement on my postings. I do try to help where I can.

As far as finding info on GW, I try to remember a search tip that another GW poster passed on awhile back. So, I just did a google search for slugs ammonia site:gardenweb.com and this thread did not come up (at least not on the first page of results). I get the humor of leaving out the letters of the four letter word, but it backfires for your purpose of easily finding information.

(yes, the techie in me comes out again...)

Wendy

should this be in the other post... so confused...I'm messing up everything...