Slugs
 

In a greenhouse with soil floor, it is impossible to keep slugs out, so it is an ongoing battle to get rid of them.

We have a lot of Cattleyas hanging (on metal conduits, which are suspended from the greenhouse hoops by metal wire). Yet, we see occasional slug damage on new buds and flowers, even up there.

A couple of days ago, I was potting up some seedlings, with the door open for ventilation. Suddenly I noticed a slug hanging in the middle of doorway. Upon closer inspection, I found that it was suspended by a thin, almost invisible, thread of 'silk'.

Photos show the slug, and the faint mark where the 'silk' was attached to the door frame.

This explains how the slugs are getting into the hanging plants!

Copper foil/tape is your friend! Wrap a strip completely around bench legs or anything they might climb.

Another alternative is Tree Tanglefoot. It is a gooey paste that is intended for roof edges to repel birds, but it's a great snail and slug barrier, as well.

Trapeze slugs!

Wow, those slugs really will do anything to get your flowers!

If you don't mind pesticides and nothing else works, trying using Sevin on the pathways the slugs use to get to your plants. Sevin tends to kill most everything but for mites. We always used it on the fruit trees for just about any pest when everything else failed (it seemed to cause fruit drop so we preferred it as a last resort).

What a jerk!


I bought a yard of crushed limestone pea rock.

I also got the copper (on Kim’s recommendation) but I think the gravel helps too

Very interesting!!!!!! Click Here.

If you want a more "organic" way of killing and controlling slugs around your greenhouses, you can buy nematode parasites that attack them.

Phasmarhabditis-System | Biobest

VERY! And kinda yucky.

---------- Post added at 03:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

Interesting... we use parasitic wasps for fly control with the horses and alpacas. Didn’t know there was something for slugs. Now if there was something for those Japanese beetles!

Now I know how slugs "fly" ... finding them in places where they'd have to fly to get there. Most interesting!

Gross! is that "silk" or mucous?

Slimy mucus Carol. We ain’t talking silk worms here!

Kim, the Chief says to put ant moats on your wires filled with
Diatomaceous earth. lol Maybe wrap copper tape around your perlins? I feel your pain.

True! The closest delicious (or not so delicious) analogy is 'birds nest soup' heheheheh

Ha! The Chief and I agree about the benefits of DE. I use it around my hostas, and around the shelving when my houseplants and orchids are outside. We use a LOT of DE during the year for various pests in various places. Even in the main areas of dirt where the alpacas, chickens and horses like to roll. It's a very useful tool to have around.

DE is great stuff...i surround my house with it several times a year to keep crawlies out and avoid more harsh alternatives