Anyone slug hunting?

2 years ago

When the leaves start dying off, then I am ready to be finished with gardening! But when you grow in pots, the season seems to be extended to like---forever! There's a mixture of some pots gone dormant while others haven't begun. And the squirrels keep digging everywhere! I find myself reluctant to go out and do garden clean up, but when I finally do, I wish I had gone out earlier!

Lots of slug holes on the garden plants made me venture out to see what I could find in the garden at night. Whoa---lots of slugs---on the hosta, perennials and in the grass! I used my ammonia spray to get rid of them.

Am I the only crazy one out in the garden at night?

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newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
Original Author

2 years ago

Nicholsworth, seems like you and I would make a good pair---you with your lantern planting at night and me with my headlamp slug hunting!

bkay, I agree that hosta people are crazy! That's why this forum is great. It makes you feel like you're normal! lol

bkay, I do use pot feet. It may even be that I got the idea from Babka. My husband made my pot feet from wood in the shape of an X or a square. I think they help with drainage too.

Ken, I do understand that slug control is a never ending battle!l I had kind of given up this fall, but then got a surge of energy to go outside and hunt slugs!

Ken, we do have vinegar and ammonia. I do use the ammonia spray. I just don't think it's enough to truly battle the slugs. I would really like to have some decent slug pellets, but what we have here is not equivalent to the products you can buy in the US. (Thanks to Amazon.com I get to see everything that I cannot have here in Canada!)

I will be cleaning up this fall and I will do the ammonia drench too!

Thanks for the reminder about slugs inside the pots Ken. I do remember once that I pulled a hosta out of its pot to find a slug or two on the inside and bottom of the pot. Sneaky slugs!

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Comments (10)

bkay2000
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
When I had lots of hosta, I went out at night with a flashlight to look for caterpillars. I never had many problems with slugs. Of course, I only grew/grow in pots.

bk
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada thanked bkay2000
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
Original Author
2 years ago
Generally, I don't have slugs in my pots either---except for now and then.

I think the obsession---oops I meant passion---I have about my hosta makes me into a crazy person! So I have been going out at night to check out what is happening to my hosta. I noticed that my front garden---where there were few slugs---began getting quite a number of holey leaves. I blamed it on the snails that I had seen on the ground and around, but when I went out after a rain and in the dark, there were slugs! I just figure that if I don't get control of them now, there will be even more come spring.

I know that most of the posters here live in the US., and I know there is talk about slug bait, traps and ammonia spray. But I think it is more difficult to get rid of slugs here in Canada because of the ban on the use of most pesticides for the home gardener. We do have slug bait, but it's pretty weak stuff.
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Wow flora that's just an INSANE amount of the little beasties. I actually once again thought my problem was getting better but then I watered last night & this morning I was being overrun yet again. However I'm actually posting this for a NEW reason. I've been kind of pleasantly surprised lately that the slugs haven't been mowing down very many of my plants especially when I go out and find over 100 of them in such a small area but then this morning I noticed that most of the ones I was finding were on the rotten banana and orange peels that I've thrown in the area (they like banana the best). I have a compost but many morning I just throw our banana peels right on top of the soil & this area has a lot of them and the slugs seem to really LOVE the ones that are really rotten. So now I'm wondering if this is keeping them off of some of my plants??? I mean I found next to none on my plants but on most of the peels I was finding several and there was a LOT of big ones. I'm going to do a little more experimenting in another area where my plants are getting eaten but I can't seem to catch what's doing it and I'm wondering if the slugs are doing it all at night so I'm going to throw a few peels around to see if they take the bait. And I guess if it works we're going to be eating even more bananas than we already do. LOL Oh and I'll keep everyone posted.
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I don't even get a chance. Literally every night at 8:30 pm like clockwork the toad patrol comes out, always within 30 minutes of that time, and they hope into my pots, up on my patio, and they get fat and happy. I've watched them hop up my steps to get onto the deck, 3 deck dwellers, made me laugh really hard when I first saw them use the stairs, but I guess I never thought about how they got up there before. I do snail hunt because I like stepping on them. I thought that was evil till I heard you guys salting the slugs. I think slugs are way more gross than snailsl
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I go out early in the morning about an hour after sunrise when hunting slugs is the best here in SW WA state. I carry a spary bottle of water mixed with ammonia, 10 to 1 ratio. Spray slugs, which dissolves them. It also creates a protective coating on hostas that seems to deter future slug visits as long as it does not rain. I also spray along the petioles of hostas as I have been seeing slugs eating through the stalks rather than on the leaves of some hostas this year. TIP: I spray clear water through sprayer after use. If I leave ammonia/water mix in spray mechanism, the metal spring corrodes and quits working over time. Regarding Sluggo: It works for me, most especially when applied early in the year (Feb, Mar, early April) when there is little else to eat. This way, I kill slugs before they have a chance to lay eggs. This year, I used oranges and grapefruit rinds to trap slugs early in the year. I just cut fruit in half, ate the fruit, and then placed the empty rind, round side up, on the ground. Every morning, when I turned them up, I found slugs eating the pith. Ridns last a long time with cool evenings, but doesn't work in summer as the rinds rot too quickly. When I use Cory's, I put it under a heavy board or large piece of flat stone just barely propped up from the ground, which keeps birds and animals from ingesting it. Happy hunting!!
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Thanks for all the comments and helpful hints. I put the cheap Walmart dry dog food out in the evening and kill the diners at about 9PM and maybe again at 10PM. By morning it is typically gone, even though it was often sprayed with the ammonia. As it will stay light later I will have to adjust the schedule. Recently my nightly kill dropped to 20 one night, so I skipped about a week. I will put out the dog food tonight. Ok this will sound gross, but they also like chewed up chocolate or chocolate cookies. The very weird thing is I had a liquidy chocolate that I deposited on the ground. I did this about 4:00PM, then went to a play. Came back and checked about 9PM. I thought that the way the chocolate dropped to the ground and worked it's way into the dirt that they would be working on the chocolate awhile. Surprise, the Chocolate was ALL GONE, not a trace in all 8 spots. Wish I saw what happened. I may try that again tonight.
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
2 years ago
newhostalady..it sounds productive but I haven't gone slug hunting at night..

I've finished planting with a camping lantern at night..that's a little crazy..😜
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada thanked nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
bkay2000
2 years ago
I think all hosta people are a bit crazy...take ken, for instance.

bk
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada thanked bkay2000
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
I just figure that if I don't get control of them now, there will be even more come spring.

==>>> yes!!!? its a year around battle.. and if you dont kill the huge egg laying mommas now.. then dont come to me complaining next summer ...

i am surprised you cant get vinegar in the pickling aisle in canada.. or ammonia in the cleaning aisle ... and mix it 10% and put it in a cheap one gallon spray tank ... i think you are making excuses here on some level ...

and keep in mind.. baits ATTRACT slugs ... so dont put them next to your plant ... i used to bait the fence line [in suburbia] ... and the lawn edge ... attract them away from my plants ... but i eventually avoided that cost and used sprays ...

though hosta leaves can create it own winter protection of dead leaves over the crown ... it will hold lots of eggs .. so full fall cleanup is a plus.. if you just have a few plants .. and of course you can do the crown drench like deb ...

when i had a lot of pots .. i found slugs in the bottom of pots.. they made little nests in the drain holes ... with smaller pots it easy to tip them out of the pots.. and just look and flick if you find any.. then just shove the plant back in the pot ...

ken
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
bkay2000
2 years ago
Use pot feet for your hosta in pots. Babka uses strips of wood under her pots. The only time I've had problems is when I don't use pot feet.

bk
oursteelers 8B PNW
2 years ago
I slug hunt early in the morning when the sun is coming up. My plan is to use the ammonia drench this week. Fingers crossed everybody has layed their eggs. I also have the spray already mixed in a bottle and will randomly go out during the day to see the obvious ones
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada thanked oursteelers 8B PNW
nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
2 years ago
newhostalady..you gave me an idea!..we have a headlamp too!..I should try it..
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada thanked nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
Original Author
2 years ago
Oursteelers, from what I have been reading and from what I have seen in my own garden, you would be best to spray the ammonia drench this week and then each week to keep slug populations down.

Nicholsworth, you just may be surprised at how many slugs you find at night! Let me know if you do venture out and what you saw. I am looking for company!

Anyone slug hunting?

newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
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bkay2000

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