dave.b

hi guys and thank you for interesting

I'm looking beyond slugs and snails because the garden is really infested.......picture1 - slug over snail: no fake!!! this clarify that the garden is quite overpopulated -
Since the very early of this growing, I'm experiencing problems with the "bitches with no legs" as I used to called them

I had major problems at first - as you can see in picture 3, the bitches eat almost whole leaves, but then I have controlled the problems placing some coffee wastes at the base of the plant

I have checked many times in the dark, - best of all it's very early in the morning - , I have killed hundreds and hundreds of them please look at picture 4

Usually, slugs and snails attack the lower part of the plant, starting from inside, near the trunk. But this time the holes covered the leaves on the whole branch, it seems different from other times....... maybe spidermites, flies or so........?


Neem Oil, how expensive is that stuff? Because I need more than 1 liter of water for every application, plant is quite big

I'm using a bio-insecticide made of Sodium Silicate and Amargo or Quassia........ What do you think if I add some garlic and tobacco to the mixture and spray it on the leaves?

Attached Thumbnails

     

 

buzzmobile

Git you some.


I'm adding a couple of shots of some strawberry leaves that the snails have been munching on here in the garden. The similarity of the chew patterns is what led me to suggest that little snails have been busy. Good luck with whatever critter it may be.

Attached Thumbnails

   

nigel

Bill Mollinson was told by a women, that she had a snail problem.

He said 'Madam you do not have a snail problem; you have a duck shortage.' lol

When using snail bait, do not put it around base of plant; because that attracts snails to your plants.

Instead place the pellets in tin cans on ground around plant, facing out from plants.

This protects them from rain, kids and fido. Draws snails away from plant.

Just a can acts as a snail trap, as it is a natural place for snails to hide during the day. If you want to be organic.

Bait stops them waking up.

Sand with wood ash in it is unpleasant for snails to cross. Still thinking on the karmic repercussions of sticking silica crystals in things;

Most snails cannot swim, so some flexible pipe cut in half and put around the plant like a moat?

Go out at night with a torch, my mother used to pay us a 'snail bounty' when we were kids. few ideas anyway. lol nigel

__________________
"There are no problems; there are only solutions." Bill Mollinson

dave.b

Please Nigel, ask Bill if he can send me a hundred of duck

I've tried some organical bait but does not work..... pics 1and2 shows good results with the old beer can trap!
In pic 3 I've tried a chemical bait... it works really well, but leaves a disgusting viewing and wastes on the ground... I don't like it too much......

The problems with baits in general is that there are too many bitches to catch.... you should do it on a daily basis, and I can't

This is the reason which I'd prefer using a repellent insted of placing traps.... pics 4 and 5 shows my personal "coffee waste method" - US patent n°2783983030***bipbip

it really works against snails and slugs! sometimes I find them on the edge of the plate, but never on the trunk: for some reason they don't pass through coffee waste



yes......... it could be another tiny kind of snail or slug..... the strange thing is that this f***ng critter is eaying a branch from the top and middle leaving other lower branches...... so I'm thinking that it can jump directly on that branch, not from the main trunk...

Attached Thumbnails

     

   

WackScientist

k..follow buzzs lead..slug n snail pellets are good, but please, and i mean please dont use any bug sprays..your killing the spiders too and using chemicals with most sprays, and its MUCH better to get a good habitat of spiders(those who dont make webs) living on your ladies. the work they do is amazing, and you can sit there and watch them pick your plants clean..just make sure you red flag your plants if they get too thick to help prevent catapillar problems...look around the ground for lil spiders and put them on your plants

this way your not spraying and clogging up the leaves.. spiders are your best friend along with lady bugs... clear the area around the bottom of your plants, about 1.5' away from the stem dig a slight trench around your plants base to allow water runoff and put mulch down around the base.

another good slug deterant is copper..make a copper ring that sets around your stems base laying on the ground..slugs dont usually wanna climb over it from what ive heard.

what i think works well is always getting big pots and cutting half the bottom off so the top is slightly burried under ground and rest sticks up, and you can wrap copper around the pot to keep slugs from climbing up the pots, and the elevated pots keep alot of other bugs away too

__________________

A Good LST Thread,Plant abuse chart with photos

http://www.gardenscure.com/420/hydro...mpy-style.html

dave.b

maybe you aremeaning something like this pic..... from my own experience: this is quite useless

the bitches can easily pass throgh barrel........ but they can do nothing against the coffeee waste method

So... everybody is thinking this is just a slug & snails problem?

Attached Thumbnails

 

breezybong12

OK what about ants i didn't think they would be such a problem but their crawling all over my 2 smaller plants looks like their multiplying every time i check my plants

dave.b

hhhhh.... welll....... I know for sure that there are ANTS on my plant, I can clearly see them mainly going up and down the main stem...... do u think ants could eat leaves?

do u have similiar holes in your leaves?
any pics?

WackScientist

dave you have too much plant growth by your plant..weed it out alil

having alot of growth near your plants makes it easy for insects n all to transfer from other plants to yours

and you dont have mulch down..lay a good layer of mulch to keep the soil from dryin towards the top and to allow roots to grow healthy right up to the top layer

plus why do you have branches growing so close to your base tied up..cut those lower suckers off to allow the energy to reach the tops more and you'll increase your yeild

lower branches are good for only two things, makin crappy popcorn buds, and being closer targets for insects...cuttin them off allows for a better airflow from bottom up through the plant..

__________________

A Good LST Thread,Plant abuse chart with photos

http://www.gardenscure.com/420/hydro...mpy-style.html

dave.b

I know you're right WackScientist..... the matter is that MJ it's still not legal here..... I regularly cut down as much as possible other plants and herbs, but I cannot cut them all, the viewing must remain quite wild, as the rest of the garden

about cutting lower branches.... yes I have already done a little, and maybe I'll do alittle more, but I'm already experiencing some problems with overall height....
I'd like to develop a plant as compact as possible, it should be covered with buds, from the very bottom to the top

you may say I'm a dreamer................. but I'm not the only one