Slugs

[JAS21]

Guys

So recently we seem to be overrun with snails, some quite big. They seem to love my wifes orchids... I have been treating then with a medium sized hammer but they are still gainig in numbers.

Can anyone advise what 'chemicles' etc we can use on the gardnen to get rid of them. We only have grass, plants, bushes and trees in the garden.

We live on the edge of BK....thanks

[loong]

Chemicals??!! Oh you blasphemer you

I've not really had too many problems with slugs in Thailand. I don't know if there are many different types here or not. The only ones I've seen are sort of flatter than the one common in the UK. Also the slugs here will eat insects as well as foliage.

I don't know if the dish of beer works on Thai slugs. (they're attracted to the beer and drown.)

Best method I know is either upturned coconut half shell, plastic bowl or plant pot tilted with a stone so allowing access. The slugs will normally congregate under these after feeding at night,and you can dispose of them in the morning. Look at the bottom of any static plant pots as they may be there.

You could also try spreading ash or other gritty material on the soil

Edited April 7, 2009 by loong

[LeungKen]

Chemicals??!! Oh you blasphemer you

I've not really had too many problems with slugs in Thailand. I don't know if there are many different types here or not. The only ones I've seen are sort of flatter than the one common in the UK. Also the slugs here will eat insects as well as foliage.

I don't know if the dish of beer works on Thai slugs. (they're attracted to the beer and drown.)

Best method I know is either upturned coconut half shell, plastic bowl or plant pot tilted with a stone so allowing access. The slugs will normally congregate under these after feeding at night,and you can dispose of them in the morning. Look at the bottom of any static plant pots as they may be there.

Beer

"This can be done with "beer" traps, which are tin cans or even old plastic yoghurt pots with holes cut just below the lid, half filled with milk, dilute beer or lemonade, and sunk into the ground, so the slugs, attracted by the smell, fall in and drown. The top must be covered to keep out the rain, but with one or more openings to admit the slugs.It is also done by simply leaving pieces of orange peel on the ground and collecting the slugs from it after dark when they are feeding. The beer trap method suffers from the serious problem that it also catches and drowns ground beetles, which are wonderful predators, eating large quantities of pests including slugs, so beer traps can do more harm than good as slug controls in the long term unless certain precautions are taken. The best way to use them is to ensure that the opening is at least an inch above the surface of the soil and has a vertical smooth side which ground beetles cannot climb. This will be no obstacle to slugs, so they will still be caught but the beetles will not."

from :-

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~jimella/pests.htm

Edited April 7, 2009 by LeungKen

[0Mix1up]

beer filled slugs will sell well

[johnh101]

bury a beer can in the soil up to about a 10mil from the top rim, and make sure there is some beer in it !

Edited April 7, 2009 by johnh101

[teletiger]

Sharp sand (gritty) They don't like it "up em".

Regards.

[jandtaa]

Hi guys

Yeah all of the above will work. I've also used copper bands, crushed egg shells and nematodes on my UK lettuce crop. Also organic slug pellets are available . Out here in Thailand I was given some "organic" snail bait a couple of years ago, apparently it is herbal and used for the apple snails in the paddy fields. I spread some on some ripe papaya and it worked a treat ( will ask the wife if she knows what herbs and if it is definitely chemical free when I phone her at the end of the week ). Try not to leave piles of logs rocks etc close to your planting areas as this provides ideal habitat. Never seen a slug out here although I get something similar in my compost (much flatter, not slimy, greyish brown on top and pale and sponge-like underneath) but the snails are huge and can destroy seedlings overnight !!

cheers J     

[BigSnake]

Have a party dude, bake and eat have many friends over, lot and lot of Beer. Beer Lao for starter after a few of these, follow by some Leo those old SNAILS will disappear for sure.

[jaideeguy]

Seems that I heard wood ash works too and makes me wonder if 'klab-dam' [burnt rice hulls] wouldn't be a good solution?? would get the added benefit of potassium from it as well.

I have a slug/snail problem, as I discovered what was chewing off my new asparagus shoots at night.

Assume that the above beer solutions would work on snails as well as slugs??//Will try tonight and report.

[jandtaa]

found this link about organic slug pellets

organic slug control

If you have a serious problem or find the beer traps etc aren't sufficient you could try mixing 1% of ferric phosphate with rice bran to make your own slug/snail bait.

cheers for now 

J

[bernie66]

S A L T !

you city boys crack me up.

A snail or slug's body is covered by a membrain that absorbs moisture like desecant. Salt burns through them like sulfuric acid. put lines across their paths and sprinkle it on surfaces around your plants. If you dont believe me go outside and put a couple of grains on one's back.

Edited June 24, 2009 by bernie66

[jandtaa]

Hi Bernie66

Yeah salt will do the trick !! It kills the slugs via the process of osmosis unfortunately it also reduces plant growth via the same mechanism (reduced osmotic uptake and toxicity) and although obviously only relatively small amounts are required to kill slugs the addition of sodium and chloride salts to acid-sodic tropical clay soils is definitely a bad idea as they will bind with the clay displacing calcium, the sodium weakens bonds between soil particles when wet leading to clay particles blocking soil "pores" reducing the amount of oxygen available to plants as well as causing soil surface crusting and increased waterlogging.

cheers for now J