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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:14 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:10 am
Posts: 2
Location: West, Texas
Help, I've looked all the posts in this area and find every critter except snails. I've been going out at night and picking the slimy crawlers out of the garden and throwing them in the street where the birds have a feast the next day. Is there another way to discourage them?

thanks, Kathy


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:12 am 
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Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
Can you have ducks? That's the best deal for snails.

I use a NON ORGANIC solution, so anyone who's a stickler for purity of organicity, please hold your fingers back. I know this is not approved. I justify this to myself by saying that I don't really have a snail problem and I hardly use any of the stuff. The non organic solution is ammonium sulfate. AS is a 21-0-0 fertilizer that you can get a lifetime supply of for about $5. It is also a salt that works on snails/slugs exactly like table salt does. I have two snail nests on my property - places where the snails seem to congregate. One is near the hostas and another is in concrete pipe that my wife props up some spider plants with. When I see a bunch of snails I will put about a tablespoon of AS into the nest. That seems to take care of them for about a year. If you are selling organic produce, you may not use AS.

Before I was organic, I bought my AS specifically to kill snails. I had a huge problem back then. One application of AS at the fertilizer rate killed them out for 5 years. Probably killed a lot of other stuff out as well.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:47 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:10 am
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Location: West, Texas
Thanks David,

I think I'll try the AS, the town of West may not be a metropolis, but we do have city ordinances against poultry in town. (except for one elusive rooster that wakes us all up)

I have millions of the little suckers in the front yard because of the monkey grass so I put the garden in the back yard way out in the open away from any bushes, etc and tilled a 3 foot area all around it hoping I could put something in this area to control them. I'll let you know how it works and thanks,

Kathy


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 Post subject: Slugs/snails
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 5:40 pm 
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Location: Weatherford,TX
Try the posts below from the Dirt Doctors web site. Do not use Dchall's solution. It is a cop-out to the organic program (my opinion).

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/radio.php?id=309

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=309

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=47

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:38 am 
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Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
Yup, mine is a cop out. If any of the organic methods work for you, go for it. They didn't work for me. One thing that does seem to work is trapping them with a beer trap. Sink any container in the ground and put a little beer in to attract them. If you don't have any cats or dogs coming around to drink the beer, that will work well. My dog and neighboring cats like the beer so that doesn't work for me.

Sluggo is a different salt (iron phosphate). If it is considered organic and you can afford it, try that. I think it is extraordinarily overpriced but you may not. There is competition for iron phosphate in both the medical industry and in the rust-resistant paint industry, so getting it cheaper doesn't seem to be practical. I believe Sluggo works by releasing phosphoric acid when the snail's slime hits it (guessing).

The other materials suggested by Howard depend on you spraying or applying directly on the snail. Frankly I never see them to spray them. I only see where they've been with snail trails and chewed up plants.

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