So, a few weeks ago I was overrun with slugs and aphids. I did a few things--started collecting slugs by hand, and washing aphids off the scarlet runner beans by hand (didn't want to be too rough and knock over the young corn they are climbing on), but mostly I just waited for my allies the beneficials to get here.
Well, they have, and there is no sign whatsoever of aphids on those scarlet runner beans. Kind of a bummer, actually, because they were easy food for the frogs someone gave my son recently :^O .
Well, there *are* still the sugar ants in the kitchen for the frogs, so I can live without the aphids!
The slugs are still a bit of a problem, but they seem to be subsiding too. I'm gonna wait and see if they start to disappear like the aphids did.
Very cool. When the good environments are created, the beneficials do show up eventually. And more will come over the years. It just takes a little patience waiting for them at the beginning. Sounds good.
I wondered the same thing, as I've been told that they do like slugs. However, this is a very tiny frog (less than 1/2 inch long), so I had to find a very tiny slug to try out on him. Well, I did that about three days ago, and the slug is still hanging around in his tank. I'll have to remove the slug and throw it away soon. So much for that! LOL
My experience with tiny frog-feeding is that they like their food to move. My brother once had a small frog in a terrarium that very closely approximated its natural habitat -- science fair project. The frog would eat anything if it moved. We couldn't catch enough live bugs for it at one point, so we dangled a bit of ground beef on the end of a string, and the frog took it!
Slugs probably don't move fast enough for your son's frog.
*GARDEN JUNKIE* I have three seasons: GROW, *SEW*, and SEED CATALOG! "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." W. Edwards Deming "Stupid priorities." - Alaskan
Posts: 2817 | Location: Southern Ontario, Zone 5 | Registered: October 15, 2002
That makes sense. He definitely likes the food to move--ants, tiny crickets, tiny beetles, anything that moves, he follows around and gobbles very quickly.
