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  • From: Melanie <melaniev@optonline.net>
  • To: gardenwriters-on-gardening <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [gwl-g] natural slug controls
  • Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 09:42:54 -0400

Fox Hollow Farm is a 10 acre family flower farm just four acres away from my
home here on Long Island. Their two major crops are daylilies and hosta.
Right now they are fazing out the daylilies and increasing the hosta as they
are seeing quite a profit in the cut hosta leaves for the NY flower market.

They cannot afford any slug damage to the leaves and their foliage is very
clean. They use an organic product called "Sluggo". They also use coffee
grounds! The other day I saw the family matriarch Dinah and she told me that
she puts cold,used coffee grounds on the hosta to kill the baby slugs. She
does this right now, as the eyes are emerging from the soil. She was very
specific that she doesn't make a ring around the hosta but puts the grounds
right on top of the emerging eyes.

Now I don't suggest you drink enough coffee for grounds for 20 acres :-), is
there a Starbucks in your town? Maybe they'd let you take their used
grounds. It's worth a trial in an out of the way area on some older hosta.
I'm going to try it here too.

By the way Suzanne I'd love to see your garden, where is it located?

I've had great luck with a 1 to 5 ratio of household ammonia mixed with
water. You could put this in a back-pack sprayer and spray your plants. As I
understand it, the ammonia will kill the slugs and fertilize your hosta at
the same time. It works in my daylily beds here with no damage to the
foliage. I do the applications in early morning or late evening when the
slugs are active and the sun won't shine on the newly sprayed foliage.

Melanie Vassallo, Long Island NY zone 6b





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