marc@emory.UUCP (06/09/83)
The snail is a quite delectable morsol that the french spend good money cultivating. I suggest sprinkling your garden with a garlic-butter sauce of the freshest quality. Toss garden with fresh chives and have plenty of french bread ready. Accompany with a light white wine such as a Riesling or Traminer... -Marcus (emory!marc) (Just kidding, I do sympathize with your problem)
barbaral@tekid.UUCP (06/09/83)
I'm writing from Beaverton, OR...we have slugs, but not a huge problem. I read in my Organic Gardening magazine to spray them with a 50% water, 50% vinegar mixture. I haven't tried it myself. I find it better to start my plants inside, and them get bigger. The slugs don't seem to bother the bigger plants.
kevenb@tekid.UUCP (06/10/83)
Get DEADLINE if you can find it. It is a liquid slug/snail poison. You put drops of the liquid spaced three inches apart around the area you want to protect. This forms a barrier which they cannot cross, as it will kill them on contact. Unfortunately it will kill any birds which eat the slugs, but I have not found any dead birds in my backyard yet. Also the dog will leave it alone. Keven Boyett tektronix!tekid!kevenb
berry@zinfandel.UUCP (06/10/83)
#R:rocksvax:-45500:zinfandel:18500004:000:936 zinfandel!berry Jun 9 10:02:00 1983 It sounds like you have an infestation of cutworms. They eat through the stem of young succulent tender plants, and then snails and slugs get the rest of the plant. cutworms tend to eat one stem, then burrow down and sleep during the day. Scratch around in the dirt near the newly toppled plant, find the little begger and snuff him. Keep it up a few days and they'll go away. An alternative, drastic method to eradicate cutworms is to spray a broad spectrum herbicide (like Roundup - monacetyl glyphosate. It degrades safely in a week or two.) and till the soil when everything dies. A period of a couple of weeks with no plants will starve all the cutworms. We did this to our back yard (for other reasons; the previous tenant let it turn into a jungle.) and so far have had exactly 2 cutworms. When they were killed our problem disappeared. Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900
rew@nscs.UUCP (06/10/83)
Columbus, OH has also had its share of slugs this year. I wish I could recommend a more effective treatment but I have found that there is no fail safe method for getting rid of slugs. Here's what I do: I leave boards in the garden overnight -- slugs crawl under them during the night. Next morning, I turn over all the boards, collect the slugs and dispose of them. I've been at it about a month now and still find good sized slugs. Where they arrive from, I can't say. The beer in a bowl trick works to some extent, but I find it hard to leave enough beer to use for the slugs. I've heard that a yeast/water mix works about as well, so if you have some stale yeast around you might try that. Bob Warren cbosgd!nscs!rew
mark@hp-kirk.UUCP (06/15/83)
#R:rocksvax:-45500:hp-kirk:8100004:000:1410
hp-kirk!mark Jun 13 08:14:00 1983
As a resident of western Oregon, I am in a constant battle with slugs and
to be honest have not had much success with beer in plates, slug traps, ground
egg shells, or hand removal. Various other strategies that I am aware of from
my neighbors have met with mixed success at best and I too have been reduced
to the use of poisoned slug bait (some 5 pounds a week during cool wet
weather which we have been known to have in Oregon on occassion).
My current plans are to surround my garden with 2x4s on edge half buried
so that slugs will have to crawl over the 2x4 to get at the garden. I then
plan to set push pins in the wood at about 12" intervals and string wire from
pin to pin and electrify it. If I get around to following through with this
plan I'll post the results. Meanwhile, if anyone beats me to the punch or has
some reason why they think this is a dumb idea, or has a better way to get rid
of slugs I'd like to hear from you. Also if anyone has any experience with
the use of ducks, geese, or peafowl to control slugs I'd also like to hear
(this is a technique that does seem to get good reports for controling slugs
but often introduce other problems). Nuke the slugs.
"Death" Rowe
hp-pcd!hp-cvd!mark
Corvallis, Oregonamyh@fluke.UUCP (06/17/83)
The slug fence seems to work pretty well to cut down on the numbers of
slugs to be poisoned, salted, or otherwise disposed of. It is a metal
fence shaped like this (about 6" high):
____
| | this side toward garden
|
__|____ <-- ground level
|
It works on the principle that the slugs can't climb it and get around the
down-wards-facing lip.
Amy Heidner John Fluke Mfg {microsoft|lbl-csam|uw-beaver}!fluke!amyhmark@hp-kirk.UUCP (06/23/83)
#R:rocksvax:-45500:hp-kirk:8100005:000:759
hp-kirk!mark Jun 21 07:03:00 1983
With regard to the slug fence. The problem is the damn thing is too small
(though you could probably make one of adequate size). With the slugs
around here the situation is more like:
\/
@@"
@@@@___
slug @@@| | slug
@@ | fence
@@@ | ___
@@@@ | / \ house
_______@@@@@________|_________|_o_|_
Death Rowe
hp-pcd!ph-cvd!mark
Corvallis, Oregon
P.S. Seriously though they will keep out the small ones.polyvax@nmtvax.UUCP (06/23/83)
TO EVERYONE WITH SLUG TROUBLE:
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, AT LEAST YOU DON'T HAVE RATTLESNAKES OR
SCORPIONS. sample@ubc-visi.UUCP (06/28/83)
Try using a tin can 1/2 full of beer instead of a plate. Bury the can (upright) so that its top is level with the ground. This works very well for slugs around here, if you empty the can and refill it often. Rick Sample