Pat Meadows wrote:

If large holes, possibly slugs. Slug bait (also available
at http://www.gardensalive.com ) would be the answer to
this. The only slug bait I could find locally, btw, is
poisonous to wildlife and pets, so I won't use it. The
'EscarGo!' slug bait from Gardens Alive is not poisonous to
wildlife and pets.

(I have no association with this outfit other than that of a
happy customer.)

Pat

Pat, I have had great success with fresh coffee grounds sprinkled liberally
on the soil surface. Slugs can't handle caffeine. Apparently I got either a
total kill-off or nearly so ... I have NO slug damage this year after
having been over-run by the sneaky little buggers last year.

Water first to wet the soil. Apply after the foliage has dried and brush
excessive amounts off leaves. Let it sit on top of the ground for a couple
of days and then water again.

I have an absolutely lush garden ... and NO sign of slugs (although I
spotted two of them under the strawberry canopy before I applied the coffee
this year.) This is beginning to look like a once a year application. Slugs
don't have much in the way of predators, so you are not making life hard on
anything else while making it totally impossible for the slugs. Nothing
else (most especially not the earthworms or pollinators) seems to mind the
coffee.

I keep beating this drum ... coffee grounds work (so do the ferrous
phosphate poisons ... which have the advantage of contributing iron and
phosporous to the soil as they degrade) and have a better "knock-down" than
anything else I have ever used. Literally, one night my garden was crawling
with slugs ... the next night there were none to be found.

Bill
--
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