Was listening to Arzeena on CBC last week (thanks for the great show
Arzeena). Someone mentioned sprinkling cornmeal as slug bait. Totally
non toxic and the slugs burst (?) with it. Anyone ever tried this?
Ginny in Victoria BC - slug heaven
Ginny,
I don't think it would burst them. Escargot-destined snails and slugs are
given cornmeal to clear their systems.... People who keep snails as pets
feed them cornmeal, too.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/3702/snails.html
(check out the 'Feeding' section near the bottom of this webpage.)
Dry oat bran is supposed to deter them...but the kind of conditions slugs
prefer tends to dampen and soften bran...and they'll eat that, too.
Barb in Southern Indiana Zone 5/6 dorsett@blueriver.net
A root is a flower that disdains fame.
I haven't tried cornmeal, but intend to use crushed eggshells around
mine this spring. Can't imagine that the eggshells would feel all that
great to a slug...sort of like crushed rocks under our feet or
worse...broken glass. Hoping this works. I'm not sure what the egg
shells add to the soil...most likely calcium which I can't see being
detrimental to my plants...since I already put them in my compost. I
have been collecting the shells since late last fall and have a fair
sized bag...look out slugs this is war!
Lydia
> Was listening to Arzeena on CBC last week (thanks for the great show
> Arzeena). Someone mentioned sprinkling cornmeal as slug bait.
Totally
What do you think they feel when they crawl over a razor blade's business
end? I think they just exude enough slime to float over the unpleasant
stuff. Margaret L
Not corn meal, but I have used raw sawdust to protect suseptible plants.
Not toxic to Argus, but it needs replacing on a regular basis. I use it
like a fine moat around the plants. Anyone know of a grub/slug/? that
likes coleos? Mine have been decimated over the last few nights. I have
gone out with a flashlight to see what is there, but I think they wait
untill I fo to bed!!
Bob (who has a pleasant day planned looking for new plants to give Autumn/
winter colour at Carnavale)
virginia prins wrote:
An old recipe my mother used for cockroaches used boric acid - what
would happen to slugs if you combined boric acid with cornmeal - in my
garden they sure don't go for beer!!
> What do you think they feel when they crawl over a razor blade's business
> end? I think they just exude enough slime to float over the unpleasant
> stuff. Margaret L
I've often wondered what they did to that slug to get it to crawl over a
razor blade's business end. I'd think they'd crawl some other way if they
have a choice.
You see, they don't like crawling over copper, which is something I
discovered by plunking a captured slug down in the middle of a copper ring.
That guy tried to discover alternate paths, and only decided to crawl over
the copper when it started getting hot. Maybe drying out slowed the
reaction between its slime and the copper...maybe it simply got desperate
enough...or whatever was on the other side of the barrier was attractive
enough for it to ignore some pain.
Anyway, once they broach a barrier, they also need a good reason to leave
again...and if your tasty plants are there as shelter and food and water,
they won't have much reason to leave...and a corral to keep them in place.
Barb in Southern Indiana Zone 5/6 dorsett@blueriver.net
A root is a flower that disdains fame.
