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This blog chronicles my journey through the Hawaii County Master Gardener program and beyond...

Ugh! - Slugs!

>> Saturday, March 27, 2010

Hawaii sure does have it's share of slugs! I found this great post on the control of slugs, on one of my favorite blogs - Tip Nut You must check it out!

Hawaii has some special issues with slugs and human disease, particularity rat lung which is a tropical disease.


Angiostrongylus cantonensis, is a parasitic worm and is carried by rats (the parasites live in the pulmonary arteries of rats, hence the name "rat lungworm") Then the local slugs eat the excrement of the rats and then deposit the parisites on the garden vegetibles they so like to eat. As a result, we must throughly wash our produce take from our gardens! Unfortunately a few people on the island have contracted the parasite from their gardens and have suffered life threatening symptoms. WASH, WASH, WASH those veggies! If you are interested in learning more about rat lung disease, check out this article - rat lung.

The information below is from the Tip Nut post on slugs.  But check it out for more slug tips!

Sprays:
  • Coffee Spray: Save leftover coffee to spray plants that have a slug problem, make sure to spray underneath the leaves as well as the stems and surrounding soil. You can also sprinkle a layer of used coffee grounds around the plant to ward off these pests. Slugs won’t like it and will likely move on to greener pastures in a few short days.
  • Vinegar & Water: Pour 1 cup household vinegar and 1/2 cup water into a spray bottle. Spray slugs on the ground as you see them, but be careful not to spray the leaves of plants since the vinegar & water will damage them.
Barriers:
The idea for using barriers is to prevent the slugs or repel them from reaching the plants.
  • Copper Barriers: Copper rings, mesh and tapes can be placed around individual plants to deter slugs, when the slug comes in contact with it, it receives a bit of a shock. Look for these in your local garden center.
  • Egg Shell Barrier: Sprinkle a generous layer of crushed egg shells around the plant, slugs will give up trying to reach the plant since it’s so uncomfortable for them to get across the jagged shells.
  • Diatomaceous Earth Barrier: An all natural solution for insects of all kinds (ants, snails, slugs, etc.). Sprinkle diatomaceous earth on top of soil around plants with pest infestations. Reapply if it gets wet. Also mentioned in Natural Pesticides: Recipes & Tips.
Slug Traps:
Set out bait or traps to lure slugs. Some of the traps will kill them (by drowning) while others will just collect them for you to dispose of, some methods of disposal:
  • Submerse them in boiling water
  • Douse them heavily with salt or plop them in very salty water
  • Drop them in a pail of very soapy water
What not to do: toss them over the fence into the neighbor’s garden–that’s bad garden mojo!
  • Beer Traps: Bury a small dish or plastic container up to its rim so it’s level with the top of the ground. Fill with beer in the early evening and check in the morning–the dish should be full of slugs. Empty the bowl and replenish each night. Change beer every 24 hours to be effective. Some find it more successful to add a bit of molasses to the beer. Also mentioned in 10 Organic Aids & Natural Planting Tips For Gardening.
  • Yeast Traps: Bury a small dish as above then pour in one of these recipes: 1 tablespoon of baker’s yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1 cup of lukewarm water; another recipe is 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 teaspoon baker’s yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar mixed with 1 cup of warm water. In the morning you’ll find a bowl full of drowned slugs (slugs are drawn to the fermenting yeast).
  • Wet Newspaper Stacks: Slugs will be attracted to the dampness and the shelter the newspaper provides. Lay the papers down in the early evening then check under them in the morning, you should find a happy slugfest enjoying their environment. Get rid of them in the garbage or kill them buy dunking in boiling water.
  • Grapefruit, orange, melon rinds, banana or potato peels attract slugs so leave a few piles of them around the yard (you’ll have a bunch of happy slugs to deal with in the morning).
The abovve Illustrations Of Land Slugs From Wikimedia Commons

    2 comments:

    abbymae July 3, 2011 at 9:49 PM  

    Can chicken spread rat lung disease by eating chickens?

    Anonymous July 3, 2011 at 9:51 PM  

    Can chickens spread rat lung disease by eating slugs

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