Tootsie Tip #8 Slugs Be Gone!

It is getting to the time of year here in Canada where it is warming up enough for the slugs to start to do their damage to my garden. Slugs are awful creatures that eat the leaves of almost every plant and the grass in my garden. I wage war on a regular basis with this pest.

In the past, I would put on my rubber boots (pants tucked in), a warm jacket (it gets cool outside in the dark) and a set of gloves (just in case one touched me) and head outside.

I would have gathered the following items in advance:

ice cream pail 1/3 filled with water that has about 1 cup of salt in it, an old pair of kitchen tongs, and a flash light. I would head out to my garden at dusk and start the hunt. yes my neighbors think I am a nut case.

I would wander around the garden and shine my light on the leaves of my plants. The slugs in this yard are unreal! Each time I found one, I would pick it off and put it in the pail of salt water and move on to the next. I would some evenings find a full pail of slugs! It is disgusting! If I had not gone slug hunting, I surely would not have had anything to post for you guys...as they would have eaten all of my plants!!!

Because the slugs were taking over in such large numbers, and ruining my pretty gardens, I decided it was time to do some research. I read a few books, looked at some articles online, and discovered some recipes that I found interesting. They are supposed to help get rid of the slug population, in a safe and ‘green’ way.

In the past I have been reluctant to try the slug baits and poisons that are offered on the garden center shelves. With three kids and one very spoiled dog that are far more important to me than my beloved flowers, I did not want to risk their health in any way. The overturned bowls and citrus rinds that I had tried in the past, gross me out. So they are not an option.

I have also tried the pie plate filled with Beer. I watched the slugs slither into the beer, and stay a while and then slither back out! All I had accomplished with this was a bunch of drunk slugs! They went to the bar and out for a bite to eat! What am I doing wrong?????

So today I am sharing the new ideas that I found. I hope these work for us! If you try it, please let me know how it works!

Slug-Out-Slugs Spray

(good for lawns too!)

you will need:

ingredient list.you will need:

1 1/2 cups of ammonia (household will do)

1 tbsp of Murphy's Oil Soap

1 1/2 cups of water.

Mix all ingredients in a hand-held sprayer, and shake well. Over spray any areas where you see the tell tale signs that slugs have been hard at work. Using this spray is supposed to close the "buffet" for the slugs.

Here is another one:

Quassia Slug Spray

ingredients:

4oz of quassia chips (bark of the Quassia tree....available at health food stores)

1 gallon of water

Crush , grind, or chop the chips, and add them to the water in a bucket. Steep this brew for 24 hours. Strain through a cheesecloth and spray liquid on plants. Apparently this spray is also good to control aphids. It will not hurt the good bugs such as lady bugs and honeybees.

How about this one!

Slug Cookies!

ingredients

1 part dried quack grass blades, finely chopped

1 part wheat bran

1 can of beer

Mix quack grass and bran in a bowl and slowly add the beer, stirring until the mixture has a cookie dough consistency. chop the dough into small bits (about 1/8 or 1/4 inch thick.) Let the cookies dry overnight and sprinkle them on the ground amongst your plants.

Slugs will think this is a treat, but after a couple of bites they are sure to have a killer hangover!

And last but not least.....

Slugweiser

Ingredients

1lb brown sugar

1/2 package (1 1/2 tsp) of active dry yeast

warm water.

mix sugar and yeast in a 1 gallon jug. fill it with warm water, and allow to sit for two days, uncovered. Pour it into your slug traps and watch the slugs head to the bar!

Maybe this is why my beer in the pie plate didn't' work!

Beer is the classic bait for slug and snail traps. What is it that attracts the pests? It is not the alcohol in the beer, but the yeast. Now you will not waste a perfectly good beer on garden pests!

Personally....I think I am going to try the first one. It sounds a lot less involved and is not as gross as the others! Which ever one you choose....please let me know how it works!

~~~~SLUG EGGS… SOMETIMES MISTAKEN FOR SLOW RELEASE FERTILIZER~~~~

On that disgusting note…I will sign off!

Until next time…Happy Gardening!

*)*)*) to my special three…People say you never know what you have got till it is gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you would lose it.

See you all On Thursday evening when the Friday Flaunt gets started!!!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

www.tootsietime.com

revised post
original posting 6/27/08