Ugh, SLUGS!!!

I have battled slugs since I started my personal garden in 2005.  When I first noticed them I thought, "No big deal, I can share."  By the end of that first season I had discovered that slugs DO NOT SHARE!!!  They virtually stripped my beans, kohlrabi, strawberries, ate holes in most of the tomatoes and even nibbled on the jalapeno peppers!

There began my battle with slugs and again this fall I am noticing the presence of slugs in my garden.  I have tried many of the suggested treatments for slugs and have come down to a couple of control methods that work well for me.

1. Do Not Provide Cover/Habitat - remove plant debris and keep mulch about 4 inches away from the stems of your plants

2. Remove and Squish - look in moist cool locations to find the slugs hiding during the day or hunt them out in early morning/late evening.

3. Slug Bait (family & pet safe) - It is not always easy to find child/pet safe slug bait.  I usually order from mail order catalogs.

4. Spray With Ammonia - ammonia (NH3) will kill the slugs & leave behind nitrogen in your garden. A win win in my book!

What is your favorite slug control method?

Happy Gardening (& pest control)!!! :)

Friend or Foe?

Honey Bee on Oregano

When it comes to gardening, whether fruits & veggies or flowers, there is always a fine line to walk when it comes to insects.  Insects are an invaluable part of flower pollination and fruit/seed production, but often times the larval stage(s) and sometimes adults can be devastating to a garden or a specific plant.

Cabbage Butterfly laying eggs on kohlrabi.

I have been reminded of this fact by the cabbage butterflies that are all over my yard and garden right now.  This white butterfly lays its eggs on the kohl family of plants (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi) and the little green larvae (caterpillar/worm - whatever you want to call it!) that hatch will happily eat their way through your plants.  On the other hand, those same butterflies spend a lot of time flitting around my herb garden, especially the oregano, for their own meal.  If I wanted to harvest oregano seed those butterflies would be as much a friend as I feel like they are a foe in my kohls.

White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth

 Another example of this dilemma was brought to my attention this weekend by an unexpected visitor.  A huge (about 2 inches in length) hummingbird looking moth landed on my eldest's shoe Saturday evening.  We quickly grabbed a camera and snapped a couple of pictures before it took off and disappeared around the corner of the house.  I then hit the internet and a few minutes of research resulted with the identification of the White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth (Hyles lineata). 

I have never seen this insect before, but apparently it is found across the continental US and into Canada & Mexico.  It can have a wing span of up to about 4 inches across and is seen mostly in the dawn and dusk hours of the day around white and light colored funnel shaped flowers (like petunias).  The larvae for this large moth is equally large and can be found munching on a number of different varieties of flowers or even some garden plants like tomatoes.  Now tell me, if you found a large horned caterpillar eating up your tomato plants or prized flowers would you call this creature a friend or foe?

Hornet eating a cabbage 'worm'!

Then again on Monday another dimention of this dilemma was demonstrated to me as I watched a hornet stalking my kohls.  Over the weekend, my Dad had told me how he had watched a hornet devour a cabbage 'worm' in their garden so I kept a close eye on this carnivorous predictor.  Sure enough with in a few minutes he had collected a 1/4 - 1/2 inch worm and sat down to enjoy a wiggly meal.  Typically I am no fan of these insects, but I will happily share my garden with a cabbage worm predictor!  Eat heartily my friend for there are LOTS to be found in my kohlrabi & cabbage right now!

Fortunately, I haven't found any extremely large horned caterpillars in my tomatoes and I have no problem squishing the cabbage 'worms' I find on my kohls, or even better, letting the hornets have them, but I have gotten to spend some time thinking about the relationship between pollinators and 'pests'.

Next time you visit your garden and watch the insects that inhabit it, ask them 'Are you a friend or foe?' and see if you get the same mixed answer I am getting. :}

Happy Gardening! :)

Buttercup Squash Under Attach: A Second Chance

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you that the squash vine borers were attaching my buttercup squash again this year.  I have lost battles to squash vine borers for the last three years and this year they have taken out my zucchini plants and most of my buttercup squash.  After my previous post, I was reminded about an NDSU extension article I had linked to on The Full Circle Gardener Facebook page by a Facebook reader.  The article pointed out that squash plants root at multiple points along the stem and that one might be able to save a plant by providing multiple locations of ground contact and thus rooting points.

I took this knowledge and covered a length of stem with soil and mulch near the one squash that was on my plant.  So far all of the plant but that small area has died.  It is obviously struggling, but I am hoping that I am able to give the fruit enough time to mature.  Whatever happens with my one remaining segment of vine & one squash, I have learned a valuable lesson about squash borers and using the squash vine's natural desire to root to my advantage. :}

Do you have a garden pest you have been able to conquer this year?  I'd love to hear how you obtained your victory.


Happy Gardening!  :)