Sluggo Plus . I don't know if it really works, but I seem to have less damage when I use it.

Hi Jamie...I use it too and it works but if it rains, you have to reapply because it dissolves. I usually hide it under creeping Jenny or wherever it's moist already...that's where the slugs hide during the day....I place some under empty pots and odd pieces of wood and such.

Good luck with the battle, Jamie! :-)
Jo

Good idea Jo. I will hide some under some pots or the rocks where they hide. Maybe it won't get so fuzzy!

I do not use Sluggo because it is too expensive. I use Ortho Bug-Geta Plus pellets, buy it at Home Depot at $9.50 for a 3 lb bottle. I have good success with them. Per an article at the Hosta Library or the AHS Bug-Geta and Sluggo are both equal in any level of poison. In my garden no animal seems to be affected except slugs and snails. Bernd

Years ago, when I lived in a ravine area ( hosta heaven) I baited slugs with beer baths. It was the best, and cheapest knowing the slugs met their end sated on beer. They love the yeast. I used the dregs left over in bottles by my late husband...he didn't mind leaving the last swallow for the slugs! Lol and I didn't mind the occasional trip to the beer store when " the slugs ran out of beer" .

I used any shallow lidded plastic container with holes in the top, set it about half an inch above ground and emptied it every few days or so..easy breezy.:-).

Someone on the forum makes a yeast solution which is probably cheaper still...anyone who bakes, even occasionally, has yeast on hand.

I try not to add expense to maintenance of the garden, as Bernd's comment reminded me..I'd rather spend money on more hosta and growing medium....my use of chemicals is limited to the rare occasional bout of ant infestation outdoors or the use of 1 container for the season of Sluggo ( like this year) plus the ammonia solution...other than that, it's a hand-pick kind of control. If you find their moist hiding places, you can dispose of them anytime during the day....lately I've found one here and there in the hosta gardens, hiding underneath the potted hosta, some cleverly hidden in the drainage holes.

I use Sluggo twice a year and it's been amazingly effective for the last 2 years.

I throw down an application as the pips are emerging. Then another about a month later. Then no more.

I have very little slug activity that way cuz the Sluggo gets to them while they are tiny little things and it disrupts the whole regeneration cycle.

It all depends where you plant. I have areas where I never saw a slug. Others like next to the back fence to a federal wet land must be getting invasions of slugs from there. and there they are tough to stop.

I say 'seems" because I have no proof it was the Sluggo Plus. Maybe the toads and frogs just discovered the slugs. It's not like an on/off cure, just less damage.

Well, I re-amoniaed (is that even close to being a word) today. I will keep up with the Sluggo and see how it goes. They seem to only like certain plants, which is a blessing.

Over time you will notice a population decline with slug patrols, traps, iron phosphate ingredient baits, and ammonia spray. If you let up they repopulate quickly.

Here in PNWet we have huge slugs. I don't claim to eliminate, just control them. In my moist shade areas they remain happy & I just try to keep the peace between us. I wish they didn't exist, but I accept that they live here quite well. I'm thankful that our garden has matured and created a habitat for birds, frogs, newts, and garter snakes who are on my side against the slugs. If only the chickens and bantam ducks would go after the slugs with delight, but our kids' show birds have not been great foragers of slugs. If they were I might let them out in the yard more often during the growing season like before when the backyard was just for the kids & their critters.

Starting over in another location & hoping that with more sunlight we'll have less of a slug habitat. Yes, we have permission to get our hostas and companions this fall. It will give us perfect opportunity to search & destroy any slug eggs.

I have Buggetta Plus too. I scatter handfuls of it around in the damp beneath the shrubbery and between the pots, and it keeps them down a lot. The ones I see are tiny ones.

Corrine, how about throwing in TWO little egg laying hens not show birds? They would become really fat with those slugs. Look for a black star or red star breed which can lay up to an egg a day. Each.

Dave (bragu) uses Sluggo, but I think he smokes it.

Don B.

no, i use bug getta, sluggo was my high school buddy ... until he died ... and i used pieces of him in my garden for fertilizer ... and noted it happened to double as a slug killer ...

hey wait ... what ... don ... you were there too?

darn, another thing i gotta take care of

ÃÂ.ÃÂ --~

dave

Ah, Buzz Getta...That rolls better, anyway...good call...

Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 0:56

I just bought another Bug-Geta Plus at HD which raised the price to 10.80 or so. Perhaps Lowes is Lower now. Bernd

I use Sluggo and I have no holes in any leaves, and no dead bodies (snail shells) left around to collect water to grow mosquitoes. I have to toss it around my whole yard about every few weeks. But it works for me. The metaldehyde (sp?)products leave dead bodies and slime here.

-Babka

I use Sluggo and I have no holes in any leaves, and no dead bodies (snail shells) left around to collect water to grow mosquitoes. I have to toss it around my whole yard about every few weeks. But it works for me. The metaldehyde (sp?)products leave dead bodies and slime here.

-Babka

Sluggo has not worked for me, sadly. Ortho bug Getta is a metaldehyde bait so I don't want to use that as I have dogs. I did a test last year with sluggo and a captured slug. I put two sluggo pellets and a few hosta leaves in a covered container. Despite eating one pellet, he lived and kept eating the hosta leaves. The other pellet turned fuzzy and went un-eaten. Pretty sure he died of old age in the end.

Ran out of Sluggo...daily patrol...today around 6 pm I lifted the usual pots of hosta to check underneath...look what I found under one I hadn't checked on previously...they were having a rest, I guess before the midnight snack!

jo... hope you made a very satisfying squishing sound w/ your shoe

puts a new twist on pest..icide

of course, if you have an aquarium, they ARE good fish food

ÃÂ . ÃÂ

dave

My pots are raised on sticks about 1/2". That way you can put a few pieces of Sluggo under each pot (which is where any slugs for me begin their climbs up the pot. Also under the pot protects the Sluggo from getting rained on.

-Babka

I like Bug-Geta Plus because it reduces other pests besides slugs. I like your idea Babka of putting a pellet under a pot. Most of my pots are raised also. I find that that helps to keep the pill bug under control, but a pellet in addition to the raising would be helpful. (I don't find too many slugs in my pots unless I have the pots on soil in my garden.)

Just yesterday I decided to repot a hosta that had some growth, but not that much (Chantilly Lace). I was surprised to find about 50 pill bugs making tunnels in the bottom of the 6" pot. I had not put any pellets in that area, but now it's war! I cleaned up that hosta and repotted it and hopefully it will do well.

For those who use methaldehyde baits like Bug Getta Plus. Here's a cautionary tale of "Plantain Lily and the Slug Bait Episode" from Bridegwood Gardens. Just make sure nothing is eating those bright blue pellets except slugs.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Plantain Lily

Bill Meyer posted a review of Sluggo and Metaldehyde in respect to toxidity and found that both are equally toxic or less toxic. He referenced studies in Belgium and Switzerland showing toxidity of Sluggo on animals.

I personally use Bug-Geta Plus, which is metaldehyde, and never have seen any sick or dead animals caused by it on my property. Various cats seem to like my yard. In respect to dogs we have a leash law. Some owners let dogs loose, I have no responsibility over them, hate when they pee on my plants. The only dead animals I have seen are mice, but they ate other pellets which I throw deep into their holes.
Bernd

Bill Meyer posted a review of Sluggo and Metaldehyde in respect to toxidity and found that both are equally toxic or less toxic. He referenced studies in Belgium and Switzerland showing toxidity of Sluggo on animals.

I personally use Bug-Geta Plus, which is metaldehyde, and never have seen any sick or dead animals caused by it on my property. Various cats seem to like my yard. In respect to dogs we have a leash law. Some owners let dogs loose, I have no responsibility over them, hate when they pee on my plants. The only dead animals I have seen are mice, but they ate other pellets which I throw deep into their holes.
Bernd

That's not quite accurate Bernd. What Bill found is that Iron Phosphate (Sluggo and others) can be toxic to pets if they eat a whole bunch of it, like half a bag. So you have to store the stuff properly. Methaldehyde on the other hand only takes a few pellets to be eaten by a small dog like Plantain Lily to kill them. I'm glad you haven't had any accidents with it. But it's wise to be careful using anything.

Steve

Steve, I could not find that article, was possibly on the Hosta Library or the American Hosta Society site. I remember that it was found that byproducts of Sluggo were toxic, and one dog got killed. I am not selling any Bug-Getta, like their price, only look for straight comparisons. Bernd

I thought if I buried the pots of hosta just a tad into the ground, it would keep the bottom of the roots from drying out...I noticed quite a few of them poking their roots out of the bottom so they have grown and need to be repotted now. I actually prefer to lure the slugs away from the hosta and place bait under empty pots, ground cover that they hide in, and a little newsprint.

That worked only until I slacked off! They found their way back to the hosta but all in all they are manageable. A good old squirt of ammonia on the chewers does the trick too and takes care of eggs at the same time. I have extra jugs of ammonia all ready for the process of fall clean-up.

Wish there was a solution for the grasshoppers! :-(

Bernd,

Bill Meyer, who wrote the original article you were looking for tends to agree with you regarding the level of toxicity of both products. While it is true that a smaller amount of metaldehyde is potentially lethal, the nature of Iron poisoning is slow and painful for mammals. In addition metaldehyde manufacturers have added a lot more bitrex, a bitter tasting material, in order to make it less palatable. Here's Bill's explanation in a private email (reprinted with permission):

"The metaldehyde bait of prefrence is the MP (mini pellet) size, and that's really what people should use. Pellets are about the size of half a grain of rice. That size is generally small enough for most birds and animals to ignore. Dogs are the main problem with it. The EPA upped the amount of bitrex required tenfold a few years ago and it seems to have reduced poisonings well. The bait component is attractive to most animals but dogs can and do sometimes ignore the bitrex taste. Always spread it very thin - about 3 mini pellets per square foot. That's what we do here and I've never found a poisoned animal or bird with three applications a year for ten years or so. about a tablespoon of this could be fatal to a small dog.
The iron phosphate/EDTA baits are quite a bit less toxic by volume so a lot more is needed to kill an animal. On the surface that sounds like "all you need to know", but it isn't by a long stretch. The absence of bitrex and appealing scent could lead to a lot more consumption than the metaldehyde baits. With bags dishonestly marked "safe for pets and wildlife", many people will ignore safety precautions and leave bags where pets might get into them. Then there's the type of poison each is.
Metaldehyde is a quick-acting nervous system poison. If you or an animal gets enough to kill it will do so pretty quickly. If it isn't enough to kill, recovery should go well with little or no residual damage. Iron poisoning is much different, and has a nastier side. If high enough to kill, it is pretty nasty in itself, but non-fatal doses can do permanent organ damage, particularly through the digestive system. Additionally, while metaldehyde clears the system quickly, iron continues to build up with each ingestion and is only very slowly cleared from the system. Dogs in particular do not clear excess iron very well at all. As these pellets all last weeks outside repeated feeding outdoors on iron phosphate/EDTA pellets can occur until symptoms appear.
Personally I consider them equally poisonous - just in different ways. As long as everybody gets that they should know to be careful about their use and storage. It is long past time for the EPA to put poison warnings on the iron phosphate packaging."

Everyone needs to be careful using these baits.

Steve

Steve, thanks for providing this clarification by Bill Meyer! Bernd