my buddy (!) gave me some orchids and one had a snail in it and now i see
snail trails in my tomatoe plants. my dad used to put moth balls around the
pool to keep the slugs out of the pool, so i put some moth balls in my
tomatoe (container outdoors in an urban fire escape garden) plants. i
don't exactly see them clawing their way at a breakneck pace out of the
pots, but i guess they move kinda slow.

any wards, er words, of wisdom regarding this practice? bettter ways to off
the slugs? are they a true threat, or not so malignant a threat?

Daniel Glazer wrote:

my buddy (!) gave me some orchids and one had a snail in it and now i see
snail trails in my tomatoe plants. my dad used to put moth balls around the
pool to keep the slugs out of the pool, so i put some moth balls in my
tomatoe (container outdoors in an urban fire escape garden) plants. i
don't exactly see them clawing their way at a breakneck pace out of the
pots, but i guess they move kinda slow.

any wards, er words, of wisdom regarding this practice? bettter ways to off
the slugs? are they a true threat, or not so malignant a threat?




Yes, snails are a potential problem. Not sure about the effectiveness of
moth balls.

If you think there are only a few, you can go out just after dark and
you'll find them in an around the plant. Just pick them off and throw
them far far away (into the yard of the neighbour you can't stand
perhaps...works for me

You can deter them all season with a bit of mulch at the bottom of the
plant, placed at least a foot in diameter from the base of the plants
(or a foot out from any leaves that touch the ground). The mulch also
prevents soil getting splashed onto the leaves, which often transfers
soil borne diseases. You need to check the plant (as above) after you
put in the mulch to ensure you didn't trap any snails inside the
quarantine zone.

Make sure you use mulch and not chips or nuggets. The mulch tears up the
soft underbellies of slugs and snails and they won't cross it. There are
other solutions like traps, copper and DE, but mulch is the cheapest and
least labour intensive of all of them.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.

In article ,
"Daniel Glazer" wrote:

my buddy (!) gave me some orchids and one had a snail in it and now i see
snail trails in my tomatoe plants. my dad used to put moth balls around the
pool to keep the slugs out of the pool, so i put some moth balls in my
tomatoe (container outdoors in an urban fire escape garden) plants. i
don't exactly see them clawing their way at a breakneck pace out of the
pots, but i guess they move kinda slow.

any wards, er words, of wisdom regarding this practice? bettter ways to off
the slugs? are they a true threat, or not so malignant a threat?

Beer.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

On Thu, 06 Jul 2006 04:34:44 GMT, "Daniel Glazer"
wrote:

my buddy (!) gave me some orchids and one had a snail in it and now i see
snail trails in my tomatoe plants. my dad used to put moth balls around the
pool to keep the slugs out of the pool, so i put some moth balls in my
tomatoe (container outdoors in an urban fire escape garden) plants. i
don't exactly see them clawing their way at a breakneck pace out of the
pots, but i guess they move kinda slow.

any wards, er words, of wisdom regarding this practice? bettter ways to off
the slugs? are they a true threat, or not so malignant a threat?

Slugs and snails aren't the same thing, but both will eat a hole in
your tomatoes. There are safe, effective snail baits on the market,
both organic and non-organic. Or, since it sounds like your tomatoes
are in pots, you can put a board or an upside down egg carton beside
and in the pots. The slugs and snails will crawl under the cartons and
boards during the day, and can be removed from the plants and
destroyed.


Penelope

--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

On Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:08:59 -0230, cloud dreamer
wrote:


Make sure you use mulch and not chips or nuggets. The mulch tears up the
soft underbellies of slugs and snails and they won't cross it. There are
other solutions like traps, copper and DE, but mulch is the cheapest and
least labour intensive of all of them.

...if you have wimpy-ass Canadian slugs.


My red-necked Southern slugs pick their teeth...or what passes for
teeth---with mulch.

Penelope
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

"Penelope Periwinkle" wrote in message
...
| On Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:08:59 -0230, cloud dreamer
| wrote:
|
|
| Make sure you use mulch and not chips or nuggets. The mulch tears up the
| soft underbellies of slugs and snails and they won't cross it. There are
| other solutions like traps, copper and DE, but mulch is the cheapest and
| least labour intensive of all of them.
|
| ..if you have wimpy-ass Canadian slugs.
|
|
| My red-necked Southern slugs pick their teeth...or what passes for
| teeth---with mulch.
|
| Penelope
| --
| "Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
| "ElissaAnn"

LOL So true! Mine cross everything to get what they want.

Kimberly
knows about the dirty south

excellent, you guys and gals are great! thanks for the info. boards sound
good. would Neem work? i'll try the boards first, a safe, organic way to
go. thanks again.

In article ,
"Kimberly" wrote:

"Penelope Periwinkle" wrote in message
...
| On Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:08:59 -0230, cloud dreamer
| wrote:
|
|
| Make sure you use mulch and not chips or nuggets. The mulch tears up the
| soft underbellies of slugs and snails and they won't cross it. There are
| other solutions like traps, copper and DE, but mulch is the cheapest and
| least labour intensive of all of them.
|
| ..if you have wimpy-ass Canadian slugs.
|
|
| My red-necked Southern slugs pick their teeth...or what passes for
| teeth---with mulch.
|
| Penelope
| --
| "Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
| "ElissaAnn"

LOL So true! Mine cross everything to get what they want.

Kimberly
knows about the dirty south

My experience is that fine mulch reduces the number of snails and slugs
but nothing replaces going out at night (and at different times) with a
flashlight and taking matters into your own hands.

moved the (potted) plants around, away from the orchids (that housed the
slugs, it seems) and picked out a couple laggards, and (it seems) problem
solved! yeah! i get to drink the beer myself!

thanks for all your support, trestles!