Well Armed And Ready For The Slime

If you saw my previous post today you know that I was preparing to do battle with some little nibblers. The reason why I have so many so early this year is because it has been an unseasonably warm winter and transition into spring. With the warmth there has been an abundance of rain which slugs love. Add to this my planting their favorite snacks and you have a recipe for disaster. As  you will see from the pics I try to be as "green" as possible. Re-purposing old plastic Easter eggs and citrus pith/peels I started planning my gastropod assassination attempts. I started with taping over the holes in the bottom of the plastic Easter eggs, I then proceeded to grease the inside tops of the eggs with shortening to make them even more slippery. With the eggs prepped post shopping trip to the local nursery and the local liquor store it was time to set my traps. Let me pause for a moment to tell you I hate to have to kill bugs and I am trying hard to make multiple meals a day more plant based so I don't have to think about how the critter I'm dining on lived and died. Sometimes though it's either me or the mosquito and since I value smooth not lumpy itchy skin the mosquito has got to be swatted. Anyway, back to my war.... I tried to be strategic about placing the eggs in locations close to the most damaged or missing plants. I then proceeded to fill the eggs with beer and sprinkling the Sluggo pellets all over even where there is no damage that I have noticed. [I know they're hiding in those hostas] Once the beer had been poured and pellets spread, I used a bit of observation and planning to place the grapefruit peel. These I placed near the eggs mostly, and in between the most moist and dark areas in the garden.

Booby trapped as the garden now is, I hope I am able to sleep soundly. Praying that several slugs will munch on some iron phosphate filled tablets [in the Sluggo], take a sip of some inexpensive beer, and fall to their slimy deaths. *Sorry to those who frown upon my natural insecticide guerilla tactics* In case they make it past the first two traps I hope they are snuggled up tight under the citrus huts made out of grapefruit I placed among the veggies in the garden. Then it is fishing game-on! I won't make this post too long, but I wanted to share a link to more information than you could ever want to read about slugs. Now that you have had a look at my slug slugging strategy please check back as I will be updating you on my success or failure. I am retiring for the night to dream of fresh new foliage on my half eaten plants.

Happy Planting & Bug Hunting!

Notice Pole Beans on the Left no slug action. On the Right you can't tell anything is there but radish.

Grapefruit Rind/Pith (any citrus will do)