Slug hotel

[rcb]

Well it seems this year the slugs are worse than ever in the plants I've moved outside already. Even though I have slug bait scattered all around, and have given them enough beer to keep anyone happy, they are overrunning my plants this year. Today I went to repot two plants that had been blown over in the storms we had last week, and one had 11 slugs in a 5 in pot, and the other had 5 slugs in a 4 in pot. YUCK YUCK

So I was wondering does anyone know of any other remedies to get rid of slugs, other than slug bait and beer? BTW the bait I use is Orthos slug and snail bait that I get at Lowes.

[digitalgate]

check yout plance at night when sun goes down and one more time before the sun come up. You can also soak the whole plant in water and force the slug to come out.

[brookn]

Last year when I put my plants outside, I took fine scoopable kitty litter and spread it on the ground around the plant table, and on the table. I refreshed it periodically, but it did the trick. Worked like salt, but didn't hurt the plants the way salt would. The slugs hated it.

[articuno75]

Brookn's recipe melts them just fine.

[Orchidementia]

I am slugophobic; probably worse than orchids are and my apartment complex is crawling with snails. BARF. I keep my plants off the floor with racks, and when I see one, I spray it with my mix of 1+ part rubbing alcohol 3 parts water 1 or 2 tbsp dishwashing soap and about 1/2 bottle of cinnamon extract (per quart). Kills the little ba***rds, and will dissolve most small snails, all slugs, and kills HUGE nasty snails - and does not harm the plant (orchid, fuchsia, gardenia, shamrock, etc) at all!

[davetheorchidaddict]

One thing that I have used for years and seems to work real well for me. Give them a coffee break, it wrecks their nervous systems and you have no more problems. Use your used coffee grounds and spread them around the area and it will do the rest.

[Plucky Purcell]

Reading this makes me glad we don't have bad slugs down here. I've seen 8" banana slugs up north and it always makes me glad all we have are snails in SoCal. At least they have a hard shell to touch, not just gooeyness... Ehhh!

[evagentry]

We have very large slugs here, I make a habit of looking in every possible hiding place when I am in the garden and smashing every one I see. It is a little gross but it really has made a dent in our slugs here at home.When we lived in Calif. I sent my kids out to the backyard with coffee cans and paid them a penny apiece for snails! We wiped them out in no time!

[articuno75]

I get creeped out at night cause I like to set outside with a nice cup of hot cocoa and when you see these nasty, slimy, turd-looking things slowing inching up to you on the sidewalk and patio, well you just want to scream. Try stepping on one barefoot and sliding a few feet.

It's a real precious moment.

[solay]

Slugs are nasty. Snails I can pick up and toss but slugs are something else all together. My chicken takes care of the snails but even she won't eat the slugs! I use bait and that controls them in the G/H just fine. Outdoors may be more difficult. I've use Deadline liquid slug and snail killer which is a black liquid that they can't cross without getting killed. I draw lines with it around my Cym. pots and that keeps them out. The liquid dries but still works. Will wash off though if you use a strong hose or if it rains a lot. Still it works very well.

[Orchidementia]

Originally Posted by articuno75

I get creeped out at night cause I like to set outside with a nice cup of hot cocoa and when you see these nasty, slimy, turd-looking things slowing inching up to you on the sidewalk and patio, well you just want to scream. Try stepping on one barefoot and sliding a few feet.

It's a real precious moment.

Want to see me break the sound barrier on foot? Just keep behind me with a slug!

One of my friends used to be a Park Ranger and would KISS banana slugs as part of her lecture. Baaaaaaarf.

[tizzycat]

Originally Posted by brookn

Last year when I put my plants outside, I took fine scoopable kitty litter and spread it on the ground around the plant table, and on the table. I refreshed it periodically, but it did the trick. Worked like salt, but didn't hurt the plants the way salt would. The slugs hated it.

Yep I was going to say almost the same thing but with fine gravel around your pots - they don't like to travel over gritty ground.

Good luck - I hate slugs and snails.

[rcb]

Thank you all so much - this is exactly what I was looking for. We have a cat, so I've got plenty of kitty litter and coffee grounds are no problem at all either - I've got plently of them. I put them on my tomatoes and roses.

Jenny - that is a nightmare I hope to never never have.
Digitalgate - that should take care of the ones already in the pots, and then with the rest of the advice, I can hopefully keep most of them from coming back.

Have you ever seen a slug as it dies? It melts, it's so gross. So while the cinnamon solution works, the slugs die in the pots and get them all gross inside also.

[willowbanks]

RCB, sounds like your slugs have taken over THE HOTEL.

It might be time to nuke them with a Moluscacide like Bayer Mesurol.

This product will not hurt your plants and does work. Safe to use as per the directions.

Bill

[rcb]

Bill thanks for that suggestion as well. I'll look the next time I'm at the store for it. And yes, the slugs have definitely taken ownership. LOL

[articuno75]

Originally Posted by Orchidementia

Want to see me break the sound barrier on foot? Just keep behind me with a slug!

One of my friends used to be a Park Ranger and would KISS banana slugs as part of her lecture. Baaaaaaarf.

Okay I'm grossed out now. YUMMMY! NOT!!!!

[articuno75]

Originally Posted by rcb

Thank you all so much - this is exactly what I was looking for. We have a cat, so I've got plenty of kitty litter and coffee grounds are no problem at all either - I've got plently of them. I put them on my tomatoes and roses.

Jenny - that is a nightmare I hope to never never have.
Digitalgate - that should take care of the ones already in the pots, and then with the rest of the advice, I can hopefully keep most of them from coming back.

Have you ever seen a slug as it dies? It melts, it's so gross. So while the cinnamon solution works, the slugs die in the pots and get them all gross inside also.

Even though they melt, which is in every which way nasty in itself, they do wash away when you rinse the pots.

I picked one out of a pot after dipping in Brookn's and it melted in half. So gross.

[trinigirl]

I have been having a snail and slug problem this year also like you would not believe. We use bait, but they keep coming back.

I have picked up the snails, but will not get near the slugs. They are in the pots also eating yummy new roots and lovely spikes. We keep putting bait out and hoping for dry weather. They just love rain.

Lots of ants this year too, that's another hassle to deal with.

[bemarine]

SMALL BOWL OF BEER. They are attracted to the smell or something;or salt the rims and bottoms of your pots, it kills them too.

[rcb]

trini, that may be the problem - the last few years we had a pretty bad drought, and there wasn't much rain, this year, we have tons of rain. Yep eating my new roots, old roots, spikes, new leads, pretty much everything.

bemarine, I do have bowls of beer out, and while that kills some, it's not enough to keep them under control. I thought about the salt, I sometimes send my boys out early in the morning each with a small bowl of salt - they like the explosion - but I was afraid the salt would get in the pots and kill the plants.

I almost think I would rather have mites than slugs - yep I said it. but at least mites aren't slimy.

[articuno75]

Lots of ants this year too, that's another hassle to deal with.

Same here. We had a few days of "out of normal" warm weather. Flys and ants galore.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by rcb

BTW the bait I use is Orthos slug and snail bait that I get at Lowes.

The Ortho snail bait that google pulls up is Ortho Bug-Geta. Is this what you're using? If so it appears to be metaldehyde based. Metaldehyde acts to dehydrate snails and loses its effectiveness in wet weather, which is generally when snails are at their most active. Try to find an iron based bait. They are usually more effective and less toxic to people/pets/etc.

[tansyflower]

You can also use crushed egg shells, sort of similar to the kitty litter I suppose. I haven't tried it as we don't really have a snail/slug problem (knocking on wood furiously), but have heard of it. Also good source of calcium (so if it doesn't kill the slugs they will have nice strong bones and teeth)..

[rcb]

Andrew, yes that is what I am using. I will look for an iron based next time I'm at the store.

Tansy - again thanks, we go through a lot of eggs, I can bake/crush the shells and sprinkle them too.

I was out yesterday and in broad daylight -although it was overcast and rainy-they were moving around. Nerve of them LOL. I must have sprayed at least 20 of them. I usually use a cinnamon/IPA/water/dishsoap solution. But I bought the cinnamon extract at the grocery store this morning to try Brookn's recipe. I'm also going to try a chili paste solution on the legs of the stands to see if that helps, figure it can't hurt. If anything it will help prevent ants going up.

[davetheorchidaddict]

On each leg of my benches I have used copper tape to place a barrier because snails and slugs cannot cross the copper because it affects their system in some way.

Living in Florida where it is warm I go around without shoes or sandles frequently and have almost stepped on slugs when on the lani or pool deck at night, the minuet I feel them touch come in contact with them I react immediately pulling my foot up.

[rcb]

update -

well, so far I have spread kitty litter around all my benches outside, sprinkled coffee grinds all along the benches, have the iron based and malathion based bait sprinkled on the benches. As well as the containers of beer. It was raining for quite a few days here, so I'm going to give them another day to dry out before hitting the outside ones with Brookn's recipe. The ground around the benches looks like a war zone though with all the dead slugs - so we are getting somewhere.

Inside the greenhouse, I have the bait and coffee grinds spread, and I spent 5 hours today soaking each plant with Brookn's recipe. Went through 4 gallons of the formula. Got about halfway done through the greenhouse. Nice though I did this, cause I found new spikes on 4 of my Aerangis, my Den crumenatum (sp?) had opened, found another spike on my Gongora quinqueveris, Psychopsis papilo alba and Phal sumatrana. Tomorrow I'm hoping to finish inside the greenhouse and get started on the plants outside.

Total tally -

slugs won the early skirmishes -1 Cattleya hybrid flower, 3 catasetum spikes, too many to count root tips, about 10 new leads on Catts and Dens, 1 Gongora spike, and most probably a seedling of Rhyncostylis gigantea - alba. (When I got this one it didn't have any good roots, it tried twice to start new ones, and the slugs ate them). Also they may have won my sanity - my middle son told me today to NOT mention slugs when his friends are around.

Renee - at least 50+ dead slug carcasses.

[trinigirl]

HI Renee,

Just wondering if you have managed to win the war on the slugs?

[rcb]

Sarah - no not completely LOL but I'm still fighting.

Some good things, there are many less slugs - they are serious alcoholics. Other things I've noticed is that while Brookn's recipe works on little slugs, the big slugs laugh at it. (Saw one the other day 6 inches long) Also I can't find the merusol for sale here in the US, went on the Bayer website and it seems only sold for commercial use in the US. Kitty litter didn't seem to help too much (maybe it was the type I used) but the copper wire seems to have helped. I can attest slugs like coffee grinds as well, I see the trails through them.

But the Catasetum plants have respiked and are budding now. the white gigantea did die, and slugs got all the flowers of my first blooming of Den laevifolium, as well as a first blooming of another Gongora plant.

But overall, there is much less damage every morning than a couple months ago.