Caladiums, green dragon and slugs

>> Has anyone tried gluing a continuous row of copper
>> pennies around the rim of flower pots to repel slugs?
>> How about a continuous loop of solid 16 AWG bare
>> copper wire around the base of plants?

Common wisdom here (Seattle area) says that the copper strips and wire
don't work unless the slug has to slime across 3 inches of copper.  Of
course you may not have 7-inch long slugs in NC (I could send you some if
you like).

One of the best controls is an organic one -- the Ground Beetle, Carabus
nemoralis.  They eat slug eggs and small slugs.  (They also dine on
caterpillars in trees, cutworms, maggots, other beetle larvae.)  If they
are present in your area, you can find them in rotting logs in the woods
and create a habitat for them in your garden by providing a shallow water
source (such as a large stone with a dip in it that will collect water) and
rock piles in which they can hide during the day.

I have friends who have had success with Sluggo, the new commercials
"organic" slug bait.

Diane Laird
Seattle
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