Does anyone know of an effective organic snail and slug control or atleast a
solution that relies on less pesticide.

I've tried the pan of beer method, and frankly it's area of affect is not
that wide. I'd rather not have to pepper the garden with half buried cans of
beer.

Using the shotgun approach with lines of Cory's or Ortho slug/snail bait
across the yard is highly effective and not as noticable as a pan or half
buried can of beer. And it often reminds me of the French Maginot Line

Sameer

--
Sameer

change the two in my email address to a 2, when replying

In k.net Snooze wrote:
And it often reminds me of the French Maginot Line

How 'de rigeur'! You must be a very senior rosarian! :-)

Ahh, spring must truly be on the way, if we are to talk again of slugs and
snails!!

Try "Sluggo" or the similar "Escargo". It's lethal to slugs, harmless to
mammals, and breaks down harmlessly in the garden. I've found it to be very
effective. It seems slightly expensive, but it goes a long way, and is a
lot better than messing around with tuna cans of beer.

Escargo is sold by Gardens Alive, do a google search to turn up places that
sell Sluggo.

To get a large infestation under control quickly, mix one part household
ammonia with 3 or four parts water in a spray bottle, go out at dusk, and
spritz individual slugs with it. It dissolves the slime coating and does
them in.

Sue, watching the snow fall *again*

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"Snooze" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Does anyone know of an effective organic snail and slug control or atleast
a
solution that relies on less pesticide.

I've tried the pan of beer method, and frankly it's area of affect is not
that wide. I'd rather not have to pepper the garden with half buried cans
of
beer.

Using the shotgun approach with lines of Cory's or Ortho slug/snail bait
across the yard is highly effective and not as noticable as a pan or half
buried can of beer. And it often reminds me of the French Maginot Line

Sameer

--
Sameer

change the two in my email address to a 2, when replying

Snails traditionally breed in March so if you start your
seek and destroy campaign right now and persist in doing
so for a couple of years to come, it is almost a sure thing
that your escargot population will visibly decline.

I second the Sluggo suggestion; we have used it last year
with great success and our Hostas among other plants
were happier than we have ever seen them. And there is
also the flashlight and empty can brigade solution.
Get out after the sun goes down, empty can in one
hand and flashlight in the other and collect the escargot
by hand, cheaper and no damage to the environment
except perhaps to one's perception of the garden ;)

Allegra
in wet, wet Portland Oregon

Xref: news7 rec.gardens.roses:89171 rec.gardens:209380

I sprinkle my used coffee grounds among the hostas and have seen no damage
to the plants for the past two years this has been done.

What about copper tape around the affected area? I am going to try that this
year in a raised bed.

mm

"ALEX MacGILLIVRAY" wrote in message
...
I sprinkle my used coffee grounds among the hostas and have seen no damage
to the plants for the past two years this has been done.

"Daniel Hanna" wrote in message
home.com.au...
In k.net Snooze wrote:
And it often reminds me of the French Maginot Line

How 'de rigeur'! You must be a very senior rosarian! :-)

There is a distinct line of snail shells along the lines of snail bait. I'm
just glad a smart snail hasn't stood up on a rock and shouted "hey guys, we
can just go around this brown stuff"

In k.net Snooze wrote:
How 'de rigeur'! You must be a very senior rosarian! :-)

There is a distinct line of snail shells along the lines of snail bait.
I'm just glad a smart snail hasn't stood up on a rock and shouted "hey
guys, we can just go around this brown stuff"

They mustn't be a German species then. Good luck with the invaders.

Does anyone know of an effective organic snail and slug control or atleast a
solution that relies on less pesticide.

I use some stuff called Worry Free Slug & Snail. It's basically iron
phosphate which is harmless to humans, pets, and other critters, and
even adds nutrients to the soil once it breaks down. It's a win-win
situation and seems to work very well for me.

-Fleemo

Where do you buy it? Who makes it?

regards

Maryanne
"Fleemo" wrote in message
om...
Does anyone know of an effective organic snail and slug control or
atleast a
solution that relies on less pesticide.

I use some stuff called Worry Free Slug & Snail. It's basically iron
phosphate which is harmless to humans, pets, and other critters, and
even adds nutrients to the soil once it breaks down. It's a win-win
situation and seems to work very well for me.

-Fleemo

In Fleemo wrote:
I picked it up at my local nursery. The name of the company is Worry
Free. I don't have any experience with these, but as I understand it,
the active ingredient in "Sluggo," and "Escar-Go!" is iron phosphate
as well. If you can't find Worry Free Slug and Snail, go with one of
those two instead. You can find Sluggo online at
http://www.gardeners.com/sell.asp?Pr...755&CMP=IL8894

Don't any American remedies use rotenone as the active ingredient?
Snails aren't really a problem here in Australia - they don't eat roses
anyway - but if you must kill them then any Rotenone bait causes them to
mass suicide.

Daniel Hanna wrote:

Don't any American remedies use rotenone as the active ingredient?
Snails aren't really a problem here in Australia - they don't eat roses
anyway - but if you must kill them then any Rotenone bait causes them to
mass suicide.

Rotenone is sold as an insecticide here, and metaldehyde was the product
used for mass suicide of snails and slugs until Iron Phosphate slug
baits came on. I have never heard of rotenone being used to poison
slugs, but since it is toxic to fish, may be it is toxic to molluscs as
well.

However, at the start of this thread, Sameer said something to the
effect of wanting an effective organic snail and slug control or
atleast a solution that relies on less pesticide. It also appeared that
he knew of slug baits that cause results that remind him of the French
Maginot Line, so, everyone seems to be focussed on recommending Iron
Phosphate slug baits to him.

--
Radika
California
USDA 9 / Sunset 15

In Jane wrote:
Hi Sameer, I just read on another gardening group that if you sprinkle
ground, un brewed coffee around the garden it will kill slugs.

Coffee trees produce caffeine as a self-defence insecticide. This is
why coffee from different regions has different levels of caffeine,
varying with the amount of predators.

One of these days I'll try some of my old instant coffee on my roses to
see what it does for aphids and mites.

Thanks for your clarification paghat.
Why waste good coffee on unappreciative slime anyway.


Jane
"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Jane"
wrote:

Hi Sameer, I just read on another gardening group that if you sprinkle
ground, un brewed coffee around the garden it will kill slugs.
Jane

Not exactly. If you SPRAY a 1 to 3 percent solution of caffeine ALL OVER a
plant, the solution may damage the plant, but when the slugs have finished
eating it, the BABY slugs & snails will die, so that in the long run there
will be fewer slugs to reach adulthood. It does not kill adult slugs &
snails; it does not stop any slug or snail from eating the plant; it has
zero prophelatic value. It just lowers the slug population over time.

The Hilo study has been widely misrepresented, since it did not run tests
on coffee or on coffeegrounds, but on a caffein solution sprayed all over
the subject plants. Plus the findings are clear that this method does NOT
stop slugs from eating plants, it just kills the youngest ones that do so.


The many "it works for me!" testimonials appear to be poor observation of
the many things that influence slug activity -- temperature, humidity,
rainfall, time of year & slant of sun as season progresses, age height &
accessibility of plants, & what choice things are available to eat at any
given time -- but if someone just broadcast some worthless spent
coffeegrounds & there's no slug activity the rest of the week, none of the
actual factors are even considered.

The grounds do at least provide a mild slow-release acidifying fertilizer,
so no harm done by the practice unless it is repeated so often that the
whole surface ofd the ground is covered with mold. Folklore dies a hard
death, however, so expect testimonials to continue pretty much forever "I
spread coffeegrounds under my hostas & have never had slugs again!" It's
like those alternate-medicine treatments for cancer that have plenty of
testimonials from people soon after dead -- because it is human nature
that belief trumps reality.

http://www.paghat.com/coffeeslugs.html

-paghat the ratgirl


"Snooze" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Does anyone know of an effective organic snail and slug control or
atleast
a
solution that relies on less pesticide.

I've tried the pan of beer method, and frankly it's area of affect is
not
that wide. I'd rather not have to pepper the garden with half buried
cans
of
beer.

Using the shotgun approach with lines of Cory's or Ortho slug/snail
bait
across the yard is highly effective and not as noticable as a pan or
half
buried can of beer. And it often reminds me of the French Maginot Line

Sameer

--
Sameer

change the two in my email address to a 2, when replying



--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

mmarteen wrote:
What about copper tape around the affected area? I am going to try that this
year in a raised bed.

mm

I swear by this. I had two raised beds last time, 4' x 6' and I ran
the copper tape around the top edge. I would recommend sanding the
wood a little so the tape adheres well and that you wear gloves. The
thin copper edge will slice you easily and deeply.

I had NO slugs or snails disturb my bush beans, sugar snap peas or
eggplants (ok, maybe they didn't want the eggplants). It was amazing.
Certainly the garden has thousands of the things, so I concluded that
the tape worked. I'm putting in 3 more raised beds for veggies this
year and all will get the tape. I think it should last several
seasons.

I also use Sluggo in the beds, around plants I know the slugs love to
eat down to the ground. It works pretty well.

--Carolyn


--
Carolyn Fairman
http://www.stanford.edu/~cfairman/