My six year old daughter has a garden box all her own. It is a brick
box along one side of our porch, up above the ground by about 2.5 feet,
with strands of twine reaching up to the roof... she has morning
glories, moon flowers, and oriental sugar peas (with a few marigolds
thrown in). The leaves, espicially the sugar peas, are being eaten by
something I can't find.

I need a way to treat this problem that is kid friendly, since it is
cared for by a 6 year old (and my 1 year old son "helps"). Since they
are in daily contact with the plants, etc... I am worried about using
a poison powder....

Anyone have any ideas to try?

BearDrummer

"Bear Drummer" wrote in
ups.com:

My six year old daughter has a garden box all her own. It is
a brick box along one side of our porch, up above the ground
by about 2.5 feet, with strands of twine reaching up to the
roof... she has morning glories, moon flowers, and oriental
sugar peas (with a few marigolds thrown in). The leaves,
espicially the sugar peas, are being eaten by something I
can't find.

you don't see any insects? i'd suspect slugs before bugs,
considering the plants. see any slime trails?

Anyone have any ideas to try?

a shallow dish of beer in the box. it helps if you can place the
rim of the dish level with the soil, but it's not really
necessary. put it in the box in the evening, empty the dead drunk
slugs in the morning. easy & non-toxic, although somewhat
disgusting
lee

Hi Bear Drummer,

I suspect since there are holes in the leaves and you don't see the culprit that it's slugs.
http://www.lathyrus.com/pests.htm

Lots of folks like diatomaceous earth, the edible type, but be sure you or the kids don't breathe it in if you use it as the dust can harm the lungs. I like beer, any type will do including what's left in a glass. Stale beer is fine. Put about an inch or two in a shallow container and they crawl in and die over night. Empty before the little one thinks it's something to drink. Grapefruit or orange rinds placed upside down will collect them overnight and throw in the trash. Crushed eggshells on top of the soil also are helpful to kill them. Here's some other non toxic ideas.

http://www.ghorganics.com/page13.html

Newt

I don't see any slime trails, and the slugs would have had to climb up
2 feet of brick to get to them... but I will try the beer... guess if
I find slugs in the beer, then it was trailless slugs.... thanks for
the idea...

I am confused... do the slugs just hide under the rinds, or does it
poison them in some way... this might be better than beer, since I
don't keep any around the house...

There is an organic product called Pyola that I've seen in my Gardens Alive
catalog...it's Canola oil and some other natural stuff mixed together in a
spray. It coats the plants and smothers any insects and their eggs...you
might check it out..I think they have a website www.gardensalive.com. I
would think it's kid friendly since it's all natural.

Angie in the Boonies of East Texas


"Bear Drummer" wrote in message
ups.com...
My six year old daughter has a garden box all her own. It is a brick
box along one side of our porch, up above the ground by about 2.5 feet,
with strands of twine reaching up to the roof... she has morning
glories, moon flowers, and oriental sugar peas (with a few marigolds
thrown in). The leaves, espicially the sugar peas, are being eaten by
something I can't find.

I need a way to treat this problem that is kid friendly, since it is
cared for by a 6 year old (and my 1 year old son "helps"). Since they
are in daily contact with the plants, etc... I am worried about using
a poison powder....

Anyone have any ideas to try?

BearDrummer

Sorry I didn't explain that better, but I thought the site I gave you did. They hide under rocks, wood, the rinds, etc during the heat of the day. It's up to you to dispose of them in the trash. They're slimy, so shake them into a bag or something to dispose of. Yuk! The beer they drink and drown in. Double yuk!! I don't have beer in my house either but purchase the cheapest bottled stuff for this. :-)

Newt

Another possibility -- I've actually seen sparrows eating the succulent
young leaves of my pea plants, while I stood only a couple of feet away.

And, it's really a good idea to wait till you know who the varmits are
before you treat, even with an organic product.

A word about using cooking type vegetable oils, such as canola .... they are
more viscous (thicker or glopier, for lack of a better word) than the
horticulture oils and "burn" some plants, so be sure to check the label to
make sure your particular plant is not susceptible to the phyto (sunlight
based) burn than can result.

Please let us know who the culprit is when you find out. I'm very curious


Suzy O

"junkyardcat" wrote in message
...
There is an organic product called Pyola that I've seen in my Gardens
Alive
catalog...it's Canola oil and some other natural stuff mixed together in a
spray. It coats the plants and smothers any insects and their eggs...you
might check it out..I think they have a website www.gardensalive.com. I
would think it's kid friendly since it's all natural.

Angie in the Boonies of East Texas


"Bear Drummer" wrote in message
ups.com...
My six year old daughter has a garden box all her own. It is a brick
box along one side of our porch, up above the ground by about 2.5 feet,
with strands of twine reaching up to the roof... she has morning
glories, moon flowers, and oriental sugar peas (with a few marigolds
thrown in). The leaves, espicially the sugar peas, are being eaten by
something I can't find.

I need a way to treat this problem that is kid friendly, since it is
cared for by a 6 year old (and my 1 year old son "helps"). Since they
are in daily contact with the plants, etc... I am worried about using
a poison powder....

Anyone have any ideas to try?

BearDrummer

Well, the beer didn't turn up any slugs, but the problem seems to have
died down... My daughter has been finding LOTS of slugs in the back
yard, though... she thinks they are cool....

She knows that Daddy is mean to slugs if he finds them near the various
garden areas, though...

On a side note, she got to see her first flower in her garden today -
one of the oriental peas flowered - and is already producing a pod...
she is so excited I had to show her a "full grown pea pod" to keep her
from picking and eating it right then... but I am going to post this
in another post.....

Bear Drummer,

Thanks for letting us know. If the beer didn't turn up any slugs, then it probably isn't a slug problem. Glad to read that your daughter is learning to enjoy the garden. It's such a wondrous world to them.

Newt