HOw do I get rid of slugs?

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Well I have seen grasshoppers ladybugs and slugs today in my garden so I think it's almost pointless...so many bugs so little plants!

Well lady bugs are a good sign. And with all honesty you should remember that the whole point in organic gardening is to maintain the natural balance which already exists naturally. If bugs aren't causing too much damage then there is really no problem. You eventually learn to live with most bugs. They really only become a problem with there's an infestation. As long as you keep a good level of beneficial insects; lady bug, praying mantis, lacewing, etc and keep debris away so bad bugs can't overwinter then you should be fine.

There's nothing like lifting a piece of wood and finding salamanders, toads, snakes, pill bugs, and all those other creepy things.

Good luck!

 

[Tutter]

I wholeheartedly agree, and wanted to add that a good thing to do is search for photos of the various stages of the beneficial bugs, as you wouldn't want to mistake, say, a young ladybug, for a pest.

Good luck.

 

[patandchickens]

Look at it this way... go outside and look all around you at all the plants alongside a roadway, in a meadow, in a forest, covering a long-vacant lot, whatever. Nobody picks slugs off 'em or dusts pesticides all over or anything like that. And yet, most of the time most of those plants produce lots of vegetation and plenty of fruits/seeds.

Bugs and bug damage are not necessarily a problem per se. Healthy plants can absorb a considerable amount of damage without it really affecting your crop in any way. It is only worth Doing Something when and if a particular bug is so numerous, or so particularly harmful, that your garden is going to be significantly harmed.

If your plants are not healthy with modest levels of insect damage, I would suggest that the smart money is on working to make them healthier and more vigorous overall -- more organic material in the soil, 'fluffier' soil, more and more-available and more-balanced nutrient levels, more-consistant moisture for the roots, etc.

Sometimes you will indeed get an infestation of something that needs to be dealt with, but don't be worrying that everything that crawls, flies, or chews holes in things is necessarily a deadly foe

Realio trulio,

Pat

 

[SoccerMomof7]

I have just let it be. Its growing, I am just scared because something kept getting my fruit before it was ripe, so we didn't get much of anything last year.

 

[Mossy Rock]

I never see slugs or snails we have chickens so they must do a job on them? I have a similiar problem and when I examined them I saw a praying mantis I don't know if they eat leaves or vegetation but I imagine someone can tell us, I left it alone since I know they eat the bad guys.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

I have just let it be. Its growing, I am just scared because something kept getting my fruit before it was ripe, so we didn't get much of anything last year.

What fruits were being affected? It may be birds? You might want to consider netting maybe?

Increasing your beneficial insect task force could be the best way. Planting things around and in your garden to attract them could help out a lot. And using companion planting to discourage some bad bugs could also help.

I have a similiar problem and when I examined them I saw a praying mantis I don't know if they eat leaves or vegetation but I imagine someone can tell us, I left it alone since I know they eat the bad guys.

Praying mantis (mantids, or however it is used today) do not eat vegetation but do eat tons of bugs, good and bad, even each other if given the chance.

 

[Stephie]

We used the stomped egg shells to get rid of them and it worked pretty well.