First Slug of the Year

Garf · December 9, 2012

I found the first slug of the year crawling up the wall of my house. I made short work of him. After killing off around 25 snails, I seem to have run out of them.

Hotwired · December 9, 2012

Slugs are the worst. They go around taking bites out of everything. It would be different if they ate an entire strawberry and took a nap, but they have to taste 50 strawberries. For a while I was burying bowls flush with the soil and filling them half full of stale beer. Every morning I'd empty the bowls of dead slugs, again and again. I think the beer companies were busing them in at night to keep me buying more beer. I think they were washing down the strawberries with the beer.

I finally solved my snail and slug problem. I have all raised beds now, and I attached drip-edge along the top edge of the wood http://imageshack.us/a/img291/3784/isoassem.jpg . When a slug crawls up the side of the bed they can't maintain contact when they try to get over the metal lip and fall back on the ground http://imageshack.us/a/img684/5739/slugbarrier.jpg .

http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/T...aised_Beds.pdf

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ec...1#.UMVP2nez3E0

It sells for $2.96 for a 10-ft length at Home Depot. Just remember that it can't help you if the slugs are already in your raised beds - lol

Garf · December 10, 2012

Found another snail, a large one. It splattered nicely.

BigBrownDogHouse · December 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotwired

Slugs are the worst. They go around taking bites out of everything. It would be different if they ate an entire strawberry and took a nap, but they have to taste 50 strawberries.

That's what I have always said about squirrels and chipmunks. If they could just take one tomato and eat the whole thing, I wouldn't be that upset. However, it's always like a tomato tasting out there. Take one bite here, one bite there and go all the way down the line tasting them all.

<knock on wood> I have not had too many rodent problems the past season or two. Hope it stays that way.

troad · December 14, 2012

HW
Wouldn't your barrier also work if nailed upside down? You could align the side without the lip even with the top of the bed then put a cap board on the top of the bed so there would not be an exposed sharp metal to catch a leg as you walked by.

b54red · December 14, 2012

I have a huge problem with slugs every year. They ruin a lot of my cabbages by crawling up deep inside them. It's pretty yucky when you cut a cabbage in half only to find about a dozen or so slugs nesting inside.

December 9, 2012	#1
Garf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Miami, FL. Posts: 442	First Slug of the Year I found the first slug of the year crawling up the wall of my house. I made short work of him. After killing off around 25 snails, I seem to have run out of them.

December 9, 2012	#2
Hotwired Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Ithaca, NY - USDA 5b Posts: 241	Total Slug Control for Raised Beds Slugs are the worst. They go around taking bites out of everything. It would be different if they ate an entire strawberry and took a nap, but they have to taste 50 strawberries. For a while I was burying bowls flush with the soil and filling them half full of stale beer. Every morning I'd empty the bowls of dead slugs, again and again. I think the beer companies were busing them in at night to keep me buying more beer. I think they were washing down the strawberries with the beer. I finally solved my snail and slug problem. I have all raised beds now, and I attached drip-edge along the top edge of the wood http://imageshack.us/a/img291/3784/isoassem.jpg . When a slug crawls up the side of the bed they can't maintain contact when they try to get over the metal lip and fall back on the ground http://imageshack.us/a/img684/5739/slugbarrier.jpg . http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/T...aised_Beds.pdf http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ec...1#.UMVP2nez3E0 It sells for $2.96 for a 10-ft length at Home Depot. Just remember that it can't help you if the slugs are already in your raised beds - lol Last edited by Hotwired; December 10, 2012 at 02:00 PM.

December 14, 2012	#5
troad Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Des Moines, WA. Posts: 358	HW Wouldn't your barrier also work if nailed upside down? You could align the side without the lip even with the top of the bed then put a cap board on the top of the bed so there would not be an exposed sharp metal to catch a leg as you walked by. __________________ There's a fine line between gardening and madness.

December 10, 2012	#3
Garf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Miami, FL. Posts: 442	Found another snail, a large one. It splattered nicely.

December 14, 2012	#6
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have a huge problem with slugs every year. They ruin a lot of my cabbages by crawling up deep inside them. It's pretty yucky when you cut a cabbage in half only to find about a dozen or so slugs nesting inside.