I've just learned that regular Sluggo doesn't work against pill bugs and earwigs. The ingredient used in Sluggo Plus is Sevin. Sevin can kill beneficial bugs as well as the boogers I’m trying to control. It has been suggested a water feature should be introduced into the garden. This will encourage beneficial insects as well as toads. Thanks to Chiot’s Run for alerting me to items left off of labels such as the hazards caused to beneficials. For now, my regular Sluggo will be kept in the garden shed. Now I need to introduce a water feature and some toads. Perhaps I’ll hire some neighborhood kids to wrangle up some toads for me.
9 comments:
We are of like minds! I just finished writing my next post about snails and my hostas and will post it tomorrow when I get outside to take a pic of the Slug X traps that I use. I use regular Sluggo with good results but have never tried the 'Plus' type. Let us know how it works!
We use it too, and I'm not stopping!
...so there.
Maybelline if you use it let us know how it works. I have so many pill bugs and earwigs.Have a great weekend!
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do! I'm using the OSH brand of Sluggo.
Do they mention what beneficial insects this kills as well? That always annoys me when companies list all the bad insects that are killed but never all the good ones as well. Perhaps if we knew it killed lady bugs, praying mantises and other lovelies we'd be less likely to use it! Too bad they don't sell toads somewhere for slug management - I've found them to be the very best for slug and earwig management.
Spinosad is: slight toxicity to birds, moderate toxicity to fish, and slight to moderate toxicity to aquatic invertebrates. However, it is highly toxic to bees and is highly toxic to oysters and other marine mollusks.
So if you do have toads around that are eating slugs they'll most likely be poisoned by this as well making your problem worse in the future.
Oh yes, it's also harmful to beneficial wasps Trichogramma and Braconid I found.
YAY - so glad to see you're not using it. It really does annoy me that these products don't alert us to all the facts about these products. They need to have a disclaimer for all the beneficial insects that will also be harmed.
You may lose some lettuce & hostas to slugs, but eventually the toad population will be able to control them. My first 3 years at Chiot's Run we were overrun with slugs and earwigs. We added small saucers of water & rocks and boards placed on the soil in cool shady spots in the garden. After doing this the toads moved in and I rarely see a slug or earwig any more! Last year we added a small pond and within 24 hours of adding we had 2 toads in it. Hurrah for Mother Nature who always seems to know better than we do how to deal with problems - we just need the forbearance to allow her the time it takes (which is always much longer than the quick fix we want as gardeners).
Hopefully your neighborhood kids will find some big fat juicy toads for you!
John the Baptist swears by a rolled up newspaper. He claims the bad guys crawl into it as the sun gets hot and then you can just pick it up and dispose of it. No chemicals needed.
Thanks SO much for the new info....luckily I wasn't paying attention and we've been using the regular Sluggo, and we use it only sparingly (aka rarely). I tend to set out pans of beer or just hand pick the little buggers (slugs and snails) so the chickens can feast on them. If our 'girls' wouldn't eat everything in sight as well as the bugs, we could let them out more often to deal with the issue:)
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