By the looks of this Shanghai bok choy, the slugs are starting to come out of hibernation. Like the mosquitoes that hovered about as I did some gardening this past weekend, I'm sure the warmer temperatures of late has something to do with it.
Back in December, I purchased a canister of "Sluggo" to deal with the slugs in my garden this Spring. Most of my Asian greens were ravaged by this pest last fall. It's amazing the level of damage they can do in such a relatively short period. I guess it's time to put this product to the test.
Just a light sprinkle of Sluggo all around my bed of bok choy. I took another look this evening and although there was slightly more damage, I don't think it was nearly as bad as it would have been if I hadn't used it. Hopefully, this product will live up to it's reputation.
On a side note, this is my first time growing mizuna. The leaves to me are particularly striking. I can't wait to taste them.
The sight of garlic shoots is a sure sign of spring. It looks like 90% of my heirloom hardnecks and supermarket softnecks made it through the winter just fine.
Speaking of winter, our temperatures are supposed to reach down into the mid-20's Friday night. I hung some plastic over several beds to protect them from freezing temperatures and excessive rain. I may also place some fabric row cover over my garlic Friday night. A new layer of straw also helps to keep my garden paths from becoming too muddy.
The second crop of pac choi that I planted out in the garden beds (under a grow tunnel) are similarly getting munched on by slugs. I found a couple of them when I was inspecting the damage - the tiny baby ones that are really easy to miss visually but eat like they are the full size variety! I did some hand picking and hopefully the damage will slow down.
ReplyDeleteYour beds look all buttoned down for the impending cold snap. The weather sure can bounce from extreme to extreme in the early spring. We set a record high today in our region but it is supposed to be much cooler/rainy tomorrow. Luckily, I got into the garden today while the sun was shining.
ONE NIGHT and something ate the heck out of my parsley! I knew I should have spread some diatomaceous earth. And now tonight I'm not home until after dark again...I'm afraid what the plant will look like in the morning!
ReplyDeleteYes, Thomas, our garlic will not be happy the next couple of evenings. I am thinking a quilt will be going out over my hoops for added protection, I am not sure what to do with the garlic.
ReplyDeleteHey guys, don't bother with protecting the garlic, it will be just fine in a cold snap. Mine get no protection of any kind and they are usually already a foot high going into winter. I just hope our 20's and 30's this weekend doesn't bring TOO MUCH rain, I think we are getting a little tired of lakes in our backyards! I want to harden off my hardy seedlings to night temps but will have to wait until next week it looks like. Hope you get those slugs, they are a pain! I planted sacrificial Hosta in my yard to lure them away from my garden. Not sure if it has been working, or if they are just so slow that they haven't found my beds yet, lol!
ReplyDeleteI've got that same bottle that I'm going to try on my slugs. I probably ought to put it around my spinach now, but I'll wait until a week or two, probably the next warm spell. My soil is still colder than your since I didn't have the plastic on all winter. I haven't seen signs of damage yet, but I'm sure it isn't too far off. I've seen lots of bugs come out. I found what I think is an assassin bug in the house (we put him outside) and a lady bug in the garden already. I have no clue what the ladybugs will feed on about now. I haven't seen any of the bad bugs out yet.
ReplyDeleteIn a gardening magazine I was reading here in France, they recommended putting a boarder of a couple of inches of gravel or saw dust around the edge of the most likely slug casualties. . . the theory is that the slugs won't cross it. Is this true? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteSIF - hahaha. I've heard that as well. It's like some mystical slug ring. I show no mercy to those little buggers. My favorite thing to do in order to de-stress in the garden is to pound them to pieces with large rocks. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen growing nothing but leafy vegetables, I always use very aggressive pesticides. Those pests will certainly do alot of damage in a short time.
ReplyDeleteOh, not more rain for you... Hope things don't get too soggy this round for you.
ReplyDeleteSlugs run rampant here. More than the aphids and fungus gnats. I think the raised patio/deck thing we have is a haven for them...
Sluggo is my favorite weapon. If you want to test the effectiveness of it, put a shallow bowl of beer out a few evenings after sprinkling the Sluggo to see if any slugs fall into the "trap." That's always fun LOL.
I swear by Sluggo - without it I'm swearing at the slugs!
ReplyDeleteThomas, I have just added sluggo to mine also. I have also been noticing that my heirloom slicing tomatoes have some purplish color to stems and leaves so adding phosphorus. Weird thing is all the cherry tomatoes are absolutely gorgeous! Used the same soil block mix for both tomato types. Strange!
ReplyDeleteI hope the Sluggo works for you. I don't have snails and slugs YET, we put gravels around the raised beds, maybe our dry weather plus the gravels make it too uncomfortable for them.
ReplyDeleteI have also heard that slugs don’t like gravel and wood ashes but they love smell of bier - so you can make bier traps.
ReplyDeleteSo far I never had slug problems, that might be because we have a lot of hedgehogs around and they love to eat slugs.
Good luck with Sluggo!
Pretty early for slugs, good thing you have the sluggo already. I have yet to see any slugs and I have no sluggo yet either... I think I need to get some asap! Your mizuna looks great. I am going to pick what I have growing by harvest monday. Do you have any ideas for it other then as a salad green?
ReplyDeleteI have no experience with bok choy or mizuna or with vegetables for that matter. I'm just learning about veggies. I saw in your earlier posts that you grow German Chamomile from seeds. Can you share with me some tips to grow them? I have the seeds but have failed twice now. Also how long does it take for Garlic to germinate?
ReplyDeleteI'm running through blogs looking for posts related to slugs. I saw your post and thought you might be interested in my blog series regarding slugs. Slugs are the bane of my garden and I am totally fed up with them. I'm conducting experiments to find the absolute best remedies in controlling them. Thought you might be interested in reading them.
ReplyDeletehttp://amysoddities.blogspot.com/2010/09/slugs.html