From

Location

Message

Date Posted

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

In the past two weeks I have found 2 slugs on or near our pumpkin vine. Are they detrimental to the plant? Are two worth worrying about? How do I keep them out?

7/17/2004 7:58:24 PM

Slugs eat circular chunks out of leaves (check out your hostas if you have any, they like those!). They come out at night. Some people have luck catching them in dishes of beer buried to ground level. It attracts them and then they drown in it. You can also buy special granular instecticides that have an ingredient that attracts slugs to it. I use the beer trick, or Ortho Bug-Geta Plus around my hostas. I believe it's the same ingredient as Sevin, but it has the slug attractant in it.

7/17/2004 8:27:01 PM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Brigitte, thanks for all that info. I never used beer for anything than what it was originally intended. LOL Thanks for the info. I will give it a try.

7/17/2004 10:13:09 PM

just don't waste the good stuff on the slugs. buy some cheap stuff! :-)

7/18/2004 12:49:52 AM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

On any given night, there are at least 20 slugs in or around my patch. It's just something we can't get away from in the Pacific Northwest. Personally, I have never had any PUMPKIN PLANT damage from a slug. They seem to go after everything else in the garden, but leave the pumpkins alone. However..........I have seen them munching on my pumpkins, but never on a live growing one, only on the ones I cull and leave to rot. This is simply my own personal experience, but I would say you should be safe with only a few slugs.

David

7/18/2004 1:42:39 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

That is alcohol abuse in my book....

So far this year I've seen slugs eating on the spent & rotting portions of the blossoms - none on the the leaves.

A good slug bait placed under an inverted 4" pot works wonders in the infested area. Slugs like dark damp areas to hide. They slip under the pot and find their last meal. The pot keeps the bait dry - especially if you water overhead. Remember these are mobile creatures so place your traps accordingly. It's also good to move them around every once in a while.

7/18/2004 1:46:41 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Beer? At the present time I do not have any beer because we are reaping our rewards for the last time we made wine. Quite good and I will not share that with a slug LOL The first slug I found was quite close to the plant and the second one was actually inside the female flower. Neither one munched on another leaf. Where do slugs come from? I have never seen one in the garden before.

7/18/2004 9:31:56 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Ceis your info also sounds great but how does the slug get under the inverted pot? Thanks.

7/18/2004 9:33:31 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

dsclatt, Sorry I did not see your message Dave before I made my comments. My apologies. Like I previously said I have never seen a slug in the garden and I have been doing this for a few years. I usually keep the blossoms well covered in cheeseclotha nd I never saw anything in the blossom. The last two blossoms that I had, there were no male flowers to pollinate them so I did not cover them and well, I found a slug in one of them. Where do they come from? Jerry

7/18/2004 9:38:28 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

you can prop it up slightly on one side if your ground is flat. a 1/4" will do.

Slugs need very little room to get into any small space.

7/19/2004 1:59:49 AM

Western Pa.

Slugs come from dark damp places! Look under any boards in or around the patch and you'll probably find them. (Also any old or decaying plant material) I've never had them bother my pumpkins with regular insecticide program and a bed of sand for the pumpkin.

7/19/2004 2:23:01 AM

Colo.Spgs.CO. Pikes Peak Chapter @ [email protected]

If your salts in your soil are high, then beware SLUGS....LOL ....As you can also torture them with morton table salt and watch them disintegrate before your eyes, or better yet just add tons of miracle grow ,and other chemical fertilizers and watch them just go away to your neighbors yard.....What is left of their population when you are done adding your chemical salts....lol

7/19/2004 6:17:28 AM

New Brunswick

I use slug bait...but it is poisonous to dogs, and they are attracted to it...so be careful. I picked and stomped on a lot of slugs in my garden. They were eating my raddish. They also love pumpkin blossems....and squash and pumpkin leaves. They are out early in the mornings and esp. during and after a rain.

7/19/2004 8:19:23 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Thanks a lot everyone. This is a lot of information. More than I could get on Discovery Channel. My patch is quite damp. It rains almost every day. Suppose to rain every day except Wednesday. Thanks for warning about the slug bait. I don't want to see a dog (or any other animal) get sick. Will figure something out. Good luck to everyone.

7/19/2004 8:34:38 AM