I have been using beer traps for the slugs that were munching my cucumber plants and so far so good. They managed to kill one but the other 7 are recovering

Around the flowers and under the herb trays I'll use the Buggetta, which is a poison, but kills the slugs better, but is also harmful to pets so be careful with it. I also made some slug traps by cutting the top off of a 16 plastic bottle, inverting it and taping it down. Put the buggetta in it and place horizontally on the ground near where you see the slugs.

In the vegetables or near the pets I will use Sluggo, which is not harmful to pets or humans.

Ashley, the aphids are horrible this year; I didn't know that they could be so destructive until they ravaged my tomato plants. Do a search on Neem, an organic oil that kills them pronto, and is sprayed onto the folage. I'm watching them closely now since the aphids reproduce in hours and spread a plant virus. Good luck...
Bill

Hi Ashly..I am so sorry to hear this..

After learning from my mentor here, I would say use organic pesticide such as an enema oil will work great..That is what I use each year, and it works..They also have safe soaps that work well too on aphids..SPRAYING THEM OFF DOES NOT WORK. It only pushing them off to return for more.. Just do not use anything that will kill your beneficial insect, or the battle will be lost..

As for the slugs, I also use beer..It works well and I have manage to stave them off for the time being..

Mike

OH MY GOODNESS! I have my computer on automatic correct spelling and I noticed it said enema!

I meant to say neem oil....

Ashley, it's good to hear from you!

I'm sorry about the pest problems, too.
My plants were being devoured by slugs (with all the rain we've been having).
So I spread some Sluggo - which is safe - around my plants...it's raining
again, however, so I'll have to re-apply soon.

I use beer-traps, as well. Cheap beer in a shallow pie-tin. Coors.

Josh

lol had me going enema oil

Ashly, no need to use the toxic slug bait. 'Slug-go', the one recommended for food crops or for those who don't wish to use toxic chemicals, works great. Bug-geta (mentioned above by mgk65, is highly toxic to non-target animals, such as birds, earthworms, and a variety of others. No need to use it.

I'm going to disagree with Mike about the aphids. A strong stream of water will dislodge aphids....and they can't come back. It won't get ALL of them, and that why you do it fairly often. 'Misting' the tops and bottoms of the leaves is not the description I would use for this task. You don't want to give them a bath; you want to knock them the heck off the plant. ;-)

That being said, your Brugsmansia are real aphid magnets. You may need to come in with some enema oil....err Neem oil, as well.

Hehe yeah enema oil made me giggle :)

enema oil, sounds like it works... where do I get it?

Hi Ashley!
I'm so sorry your having these frustrations! I know you've been busy! (your missed ;)

One thing I do with aphids, is take a wet papertowel, and wipe them off with water and a tiny drop of soap.. It would buy you some time till you can get the oil.
(I'm not gonna try and spell it after what mikes computer did to the word...LOL!!)
Hi Mike!, Josh!

Also for the slugs, I've heard to place a board near your plants. They will hide under it during the day. Then just remove them.

Also grape Juice is said to work similar to the beer..

I don't know about what Josh said, cheap beer? Na.. Go for the good stuff and have a few yourself! After dealing with these monsters, you'll need it! ROFL!!

I'm Sending you a ((((HUGE HUG!))))
Hope you get these under control. I know alot are having problems with them.

JoJo

Hey, JoJo!

Slugs prefer cheap beer... ;)
Yeasty is what you're after. Save the Guinness for the humans.

Josh

ROFL!!!

Hi Josh,
Thanks for clearing that up for us... ROFL!!

Have a great Day! ;)

Me you and Ashley need to get together for coffee soon!;)
Mike needs to join us too! ;)

JoJo

I would love that! Hi Jojo..:-)

Josh is right about the yeast..After a couple of days of seeing nothing in the cups, the bear started to get older, and boy did the slugs come crawling for a drink later..

Rhizzo, what do you use for a good stream of water? My garden hose just does not do the job of ridding the aphids completely..The next day, they are back on my rose buds..

I did see an ant, yes an ant carrying one back up my plum tree the day after I rinsed many off..I am just sharing my experience...It doesn't work for me is what i should of said, sorry..:-)

Mike

Rhizzo,

Ah ha, reading over your post again, now that I had a moment to do so, rinsing fairly often might be the key..I myself will try that and let you know if that works instead of using neem...

Thanks..

Thanks everyone for such great tips!

Hi JoJo, Josh and Mike! Hugs to all of you!!!! :)

Coffee sounds great right now! Haha! Hopefully I'll get more time and can post more often.

As for the brugmansia...ahem I uh....already trimmed off all horrible looking leaves and gave them an early prune. I did this to two of them last week and already have new growth. So last night I trimmed all of mine back. They look like sticks in the pots haha!

I did a good search through the pots and found two HUGE snails and 4 small slugs. I got them!!!!!!! Hhehe Now to keep a watchful eye. I want to go the natural route, so beer is a good possibility. I don't like cheap beer, kind of a beer snob, so I have some Coors that have been sitting in my fridge my friends brought over a while back. I'll try those! If that fails...sluggo!

Haha Mike! Enema oil! I laughed at that and then though...well...maybe?! I've also heard of neem oil...maybe all oil works! Haha Then I saw your correction post! Too funny Mike! I needed the laugh, thanks! :)

I'll keep everyone posted on the pests!

Thanks so much! I miss you guys!

Ashley

I was able to stop my aphid infection with rubbing alcohol and dish soap.. 1/2cup 90% rubbing alcohol with 2tsp of dawn dish soap and 1 gallon of water. I put the mix into a 1 gallon garden sprayer and go to town on them AHahaha.

When my plants were being attacked I sprayed sundays and wednesday. Now I just spray once a week, and don't see them any more.

Problem I have now are the green Caterpillars. I pluck them off when I can find them, but they are ravaging my tomatoes. :( They are soo hard to spot.. Soo frustrating.

Hey, Mike....knocking the aphids off with water is something that needs to be done with some frequency. They multiply extremely rapidly...more so than any insect I know of. Get this: aphids bear live young, as many as 10 per day for about a week. Each of those new-borns can begin bearing their own 70 to 80 aphids in about a week. And on and on and on. Who knows how many generations per season!

I've never had luck with hosing aphids off my plants.
I've used a variety of hoses/nozzles/sprayers - including my shower-head - and they've all been
far too powerful for my plants. And if I reduce the pressure, then it doesn't seem to work.

So I've used the water, soap, and alcohol method primarily. As Rhizo mentions, one must
be vigilant and constant in their control of the aphids. You need to catch each wave of aphids.

One word of caution: after spraying plants, don't put them back into the sun. Depending upon the
plant and the strength of the concoction, you might need to rinse a few minutes after spraying -
or even wait a day or two before putting plants outside/back into the sun.

Josh

Rhizzo,

All I can say is WOW..Unbelievable..Thank you for that bit of info once again. Always learning something from you for which I am greatful. Think I will spend more time looking up info about the very pests we deal with. It might be good for all of us to do so.....:-)

Josh, Arn't they a pain in the "butt"?..lol

Ash, hugs to you too! We missed you around here..!

Hi Jojo...:-)

Here's a cheaper solution than beer. Find a plastic tub at least 7 inches deep. Fill it up 3/4 of the way with warm water. Add a little yeast and sugar. Mix well. The slugs love this drink but end up drowing in the tub.

I also like going out at night with a flashlight and scooping up slugs with a plastic utensil. That's when they are most active and feeding. Kind of like hunting! :)

For container plants - take them into the shower and rinse them top and bottom. works for aphids - and helps the plants that like humidity to grow better.

Slughunter, great idea!

I haven't seen anymore slugs or snails since I've been on the look out for them but have seen the slimy trail they leave so I know they're still in my garden.

I had friends over this weekend and we had a little rain so I'll try the yeast, water and sugar idea this week.

Aphids seem low so hopefully the misting is working. :)

Thanks for the tips!

Ashley