Thursday, September 8, 2011

To Poison or not To Poison...

Ideally this is a no brainer and of course I am not going to use poisons, of any kind...

So I spend my days mowing, weeding, trying to keep the grass under control and most of the gardens free of it.   I spend hours trapping bugs, squishing bugs, complaining about bugs.

Hubby says I should spray the grass and if I don't he will.  He says I need to put poison down for the slaters and if I don't he will.  So far I haven't and he has had other stuff to do.

So I am putting seeds in, watching them grow, putting them out into the gardens...and going out in the mornings to see a few more gone, eaten by the slaters.  This morning I go out and see that I have 1 broccoli left out there.  A few peas are gone, strawberries are being munched on, tomatoes have holes.

I have been setting up areas away from the plants with leaves and *food* for the slaters and a lot are going there and I can pick them up and give them to the chooks or pour boiling water on them and killing them that way.  I have removed mulch from the worst beds and no longer have it around the plants as the slaters were using it as a haven.   But there are so many and it seems that they like my food better than the stuff I put out for them.   The poison option is looking better with every missing seedling, half eaten strawberry and slater that I see on my food.  With Summer coming I will need to start mulching again but know that will just hide them and make it harder to see them.  Last year we used lime in a few beds and that seemed to work for awhile but there are now more than ever out there.

I have been battling these slaters for a few years now and I think they are now worse than they have ever been.  Hubby says to put poison down and get them back to a manageable level. 

A few people have mentioned to us that they use Snail pellets and that it kills the slaters. 

Hubby has bought a box.  It is tempting.  Very tempting.

4 comments:

  1. Moisture is the problem. You can use diatomaceous earth with less damage to your food, beneficial bugs, and your animals. Look at this site.
    http://www.gardenguides.com/80144-rid-sow-bugs-flowers.html
    and this one on slaters
    http://www.flamingpetal.co.nz/qa-how-can-i-rid-my-garden-of-slaters/

    I had to look up slaters to see what they were.

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  2. I have slaters too! Hope they dont eat too many plants, I know chooks like them but to let them loose in my garden is definitely not an option lol!

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  3. I was just going to suggest that you have the best pest control ever...chicks and their hens. However, you need to put a barrier between them and the garden. It does not have to be a spiffy fence or neat. You can put the metal supports onto some chicken wire and just hammer it in the ground, all wobbly and uneven and remove it easily.Let the chickens control for you. Ducks can actually be let into your garden and they will not scratch up the plants or peck them, just the pests will be gone. Can you get a pair of ducks, even on a loan?

    Don't put ducks in with chickens because the moisture from the ducks will be too much for poultry.

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  4. Thankfully I don't have this problem(yet anyway) but I can sympathise with the frustration. Ours is fly, and though I haven't given in to sprays and don't plan too its a constant job of vigilance and ingenuity.

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