Besides beer in the garden how do you keep ravenous slugs from eating my sunflowers?

Answer 1

Diatomaceous Earth is what i've been told to get. Its like sand but its made of tiny diatoms that have superhard sharp bodies that tear bugs up if they try to go across it. I checked at a nursery, though, and they said it was available at the pool supply because it is something that is used in pool filters. I haven't looked into it beyond that.

Answer 2

Here are two effective methods for keeping slugs from eating your plants:

- Go after the slugs with salt. Sprinkle it directly on the slugs, but not on your plants. Salt can be harmful to plants. You can also fill a bucket with salt water, pick up slugs with gloves or tongs, and put the slugs in the salt water. The salt method is pretty disgusting, but it is an effective way to kill slugs.

- Protect individual plants by sprinkling something coarse around the base of the plants. You can use ashes from your barbeque or fire, coarse gravel, coarse bark mulch, or crushed shells. Slugs have trouble with rough surfaces, so these materials deter them.

Answer 3

I've never heard of slugs eating sunflowers, but hey, I wouldn't put it past them. Have you caught them in the act to know that's what is eating them?
I buy my slug bait at Walmart. My slugs don't seem to care for beer. ..lol. It's lots cheaper than beer, lasts longer and is lots more effective. It's called 'Eliminator Bug and Snail Bait', cylinder red and yellow can. Kills other insect pests too. Less than $5.00 a can.
I usually don't put it out until I've seen the first sign of damage (hole in a hosta leaf) but then I'm out in my garden every day loking for signs of those little buggers. One treatment usually gets rid of them for months and one can lasts me all season.
Good luck and don't waste the beer...

Answer 4

-Sprinkle a line of lime around your plants. A pile of unaged animal manure has an high acidity and provides a slug breeding haven leading to the assumption that slugs and snails are more of a problem in acid soils. By applying lime we sweeten the soil making it more alkaline and deterring the slugs. Obviously this won't work around plants requiring a more acidic soil.

-You could always plant some tansy around your sunflowers.

hope this helps.

Answer 5

Slugs can be quickly dissolved by sprinkling a little ferilizer on them. Since they don't have shells like snails, they are very easily killed by salts. But table salt is toxic to the garden soil. Dry fertilizer, like cheap lawn food, is a salt and unless over applied in one spot, won't hurt the soil.

Also, the beer thing.......any fermenting product will do even just water/yeast/sugar. I guess you could but over ripe fruit in water and bury the container so the snails could fall in......

Answer 6

If you don't pick up the snails and slugs by hand with throw away rubber gloves and a flashlight. I sprinkle some common salt on them and they shrivel up either way is good. Don't wast good beer. Gerry D.

Answer 7

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/OlhCJ

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 8

Oops, I saw that you didn't want to use beer.
Build a little a toad house near your garden. They eat slugs.

Answer 9

try letting a goose loose in patch . they will gobble up all the slugs , bugs , and grubs . no pesticides . then eat the goose too . or use diatomaceous earth . its like crawling on razor blades to a slug .

Answer 10

Sprinkle broken eggshells (small sharp pieces) around the base. I have a friend who *swears* by this method, and from what I've seen in his gardens, it works.

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