First time in NY planting potatoes & am trying to grow them in straw (planted seed potatoes on ground & mulch them as they grow with straw, so the taters don't have to be dug out of the dirt), but I dug down 2 days ago & the baby potatoes were being eaten by slugs!
I put more straw down tonight, to support the plants, but is there any organic way to get rid of the slugs out there?
There are zillions & they are gonna get all the potatoes if I can't stop them!
Beer traps have not worked for me, picking them is out of the question, salting them could harm my garden...any other ideas?
Several brand names out there such as Sluggo, just look on the label to make sure it's just iron phosphate. A few add other chemicals to take care of other things.
It's a naturally occurring, soft, chalk-like sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. Approved for organic growing.
It acts as a mecanical insecticide, cutting and removing the wax layer from crawling insects. They dry up and eventually die. It works great for slug control but does not act like a trap and needs to be applied directly on affected areas.
_________________________ Andre
If man cheats the earth, the earth will cheat man.
Posts: 69 | Location: New-Brunswick, Canada, Zone 3b | Registered: April 29, 2008
Sluggo has worked very well for me. You do need to re-apply (particularly after rain), but it seems to work pretty quickly and does solve the problems.
Posts: 169 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: June 06, 2007
Did someone mention "crushed eggshell" ? ......... I use freshly cut lawn clippings around the vegetable beds. Please water the lawn clippings before nightfall. ... I am trying those fine copper wires from my "beat up" house fans. Copper wires supposed to deter snails/slugs. .... Try not to use too much tbble salt ......... Good Luck, bill in socal
Bill, please let us know how that wire works out. I've thought of trying the same thing. Picturing little circles around the base of each eggplant. (Apparently if a slug is hungry enough, he will climb alllll the way up an eggplant and take a little nip out of the fruit. )
On the "fine copper wires" from the motor on the defunt fan. ......... I've been letting the cucumber vines crawl along the ground. .......... Something has been nibbling on the 1/2 inch nearest the stem of the newly pollinated baby cucumber. .......... So I've made a sort of a hook of the fine "copper wire" (about 2 inches long) from the defunct fan motor. And I hung that "hooked copper wire" on that "baby cucumber". ........... So far it's been working for two nights.
I looked at the "baby cucumbers" tonight: It's been the "baby pillbugs (sowbugs)" that's been nibbling on the baby cucumbrs. Tonight, I'll be hanging couple of hose fine "copper wires over the newer baby cucumbers and I will see what happened tomorrow morning. ........... I will let you know tomorrow. .............. I read somewheres, that snails and slugs won't cross that copper wire "line". ......... I'll try it on my eggplants, zuchinnis, etc. if it warrants the effort, two months from now. My experiments are very late this summer. About 2 to 4 months late. ... chao, bill in socal
It seems to work pretty good. ........ Those baby pillbugs, try to scurry away from those fine copper wires. ....... My problem is to get enough of them on those baby cucumbers.
I use freshly cut lawn clippings around the vegetable beds. Please water the lawn clippings before nightfall. ... I usually do the above to distract those snails, slugs and pillbugs.
I just saw the biggest slug I think I ever saw! He was spread-out at 5-6 inches, right at the bottom of my porch that we use to come in & out of!
It looked like he was pursuing another slug, but it was only an inch or so long, and he appeared to slither right past him/her...then I picked them both up & threw them into the bushes 10 or so feet away!
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