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Re: [SG] Diatomaceous Earth

Hi Bobbi,
        At the risk of getting into something here.... I am not a believer in DE.
I remember seeing a photo of a slug crawling over the edge of a razor blade
in one of my old biology books back in high school. If they can do that I
do not think much else that is sharp is going to prevent them from going
where they please. I do know the beer traps work. If I use slug bait I
place it on a small plastic saucer and place it under a clay flower pot so
nothing else can get to it by accident. Just take a pair of pliers and nip
an opening in the rim of the pot for them to crawl through. Placed properly
it can be a part of the garden ornaments.
        I do have a large bird population here so think things are in balance. Yes
I do have slugs, but they have not destroyed anything or completely marred
any foliage to keep me from taking photos every morning of the plants and
bloom.
        Gene Bush     Southern Indiana    Zone 6a     Munchkin Nursery
          around the woods - around the world
genebush@otherside.com     http://www.munchkinnursery.com

----------
> From: Roberta Diehl <diehlr@INDIANA.EDU>

> Subject: [SG] Diatomaceous Earth
> Date: Tuesday, June 09, 1998 10:17 PM
>
> A friend of mine performed an experiment in which she treated half of a
> hosta bed with DE and left the other half alone. She alternated, putting
> DE under one hosta, ignoring the next, DE under the next, etc. Her
> conclusion was that at the end of the season the hostas with DE had
> exactly the same amount of slug damage as the hostas without--ergo, DE is
> ineffective.
>
> She felt that of everything she tried, Deadline was the best slug killer.
> I bought some, but have been afraid to use it--it's pretty potent, I
fear.
> Does anybody know how deadly Deadline is? I wouldn't want to kill any
> other wildlife, except for slugs.
>
> Another friend is having very good luck with the old beer in plastic
> containers trick. She finds lots of drowned slugs ranging from tiny to
> quite large in the a.m. in those little containers. I have also heard
that
> plain old yeast (you could use yeast that had expired for this purpose)
in
> water will do the same thing--attract slugs and they drown.
>
> As for myself, I try to attract as many birds as possible to my yard and
> hope that some of them eat my slugs. I have heard that wrens, for
example,
> will eat slugs, but have never seen one do it.
>
> Bobbi Diehl
> Bloomington, IN
> zone 5/6
>
> On Tue, 9 Jun 1998, Preston Littleton wrote:
>
> > DE is the skeletal remains of single cell water plants. It punctures,
is
> > absorbed by and/or is abrasive to many insects. DE supposedly does no
harm
> > to earthworms. It can be bought in garden supply stores, at some
nurseries
> > or by mail order from many seed companies.
> > Preston Littleton
> > Seaford DE
> > zone 7
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: venies.place <venies.place@MCI2000.COM>
> > To: shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
<shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
> > Date: Tuesday, June 09, 1998 6:19 PM
> > Subject: Re: [SG] Japanese Painted Fern
> >
> >
> > >Hey guys, what is Diatomaceous Earth?  Where do you buy it? And what
is it
> > >used for?
> > >
> > >Pottsey zone5
> >
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