I have them all over my greenhouses. They seem to be especially prolific this year. If you ever look at the base of a spider web in a corner of your house, you'd see the dozens of bug bodies testifying to why spiders are good things in a greenhouse. Of course you already said that.

Gardening and arachnophobia are not a good combination. I really think most of them are cool. I'll tell you what creeps me out, however. I used to go make rounds in my g'houses by the light of the moon when I had poinsettia crops in. Since they are photoperiodic, one cannot make the lights on when they are in their dark phase. I would walk into slugs, suspended from the ceilings of the g'houses by their own slime trails. Now, that's creepy.

Spiders don't bother me at all. However either a spider or a slug *GAG* on my face is another matter altogether. It's happened a few times with spiders, but never in the GHs.

You can get them to step on a branch and move them outside without killing them.

Hi
I have some type of crab spider that builds it's web accross the paths,always right at head level so you can walk into it lol. Don't mind them on the body but not the face lol. Also have lizards ,tree frogs, and an occasional snake . Still have plenty of bugs though lol gary

Most of the spiders I see in the GH dont bother me. I try to stay out of their way, they do the same.

However, every now and then a black widow wanders into the GH and that is one spider that I would not tolerate in the GH. Although they are not lethal in most cases, their bite is still very painful.

At least we dont have funnel web spiders like those in Australia.

Well, I'm relieved to hear at least someone else is skittish about the spiders, lol. The only one I'd really worry about in my region is the brown recluse. The tiny, iridescent green ones I usually see in my GH are really almost pretty ... just don't want them ... or their webs ... ON me! I usually get a few of those funnel web spiders, too, though I'm not familiar with the Australian variety.

Now, slugs (do they have ANY redeeming value?) ... I can't imagine walking into one. When walking through certain woodsy parts of the yard (and arbors) early in the morning, I learned to take a stick and wave it in front of me to clear any webs. That technique would probably work for the dangling slugs as well.

Buy some spray and spray the greenhouse very well. It gets rid of the spiders and relieves your arachniphobia.

Agardenstateof mind: You shouldn't have brown recluse spiders in NJ. I believe they're found in the midwest.

I used to be afraid of spiders. I got over it by stopping myself from running away whenever I saw one, forcing myself to hold still, and concentrating on bringing my breathing and pulse back to normal levels, while thinking about how irrational my fear was. Eventually I stopped having that gut fight-or-flight response whenever I saw one, and they don't bother me anymore (unless they're particularly ugly and/or in a really creepy location). Now my mom and sister will call me when there's a spider in the house, and I'll trap it in a cup and release it outside. To be honest, the thought of squishing a spider bothers me WAY more than the thought of one of them crawling over me. Exoskeletons- ugh!

I have replaced my fear of spiders with a fear of stairs- stair are much more dangerous (especially for us clumsy folks)!

Good luck,
Jenn :-)

Brown recluse spiders are in the mid west and south.

If you don't like spiders perhaps you could get some preying mantis oothecias and put them in your GH. They will hatch out and eat every living bug, including each other and really they are much less creepy than spiders.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:298363}}

I'm not fond of some of the giant ones I've seen in my garden, but I leave them be. If any are inside, I put them in something and release them outside.
I agree with you on slugs, they are so gross!!! I can't stand them, I have seen some huge ones this year in my garden, I pick them up with wood chip, and throw them in our big garbage bin outside, they are nasty.

My exterminator says you can't really spray for spiders, but you can spray for their food. So he sprays for all other bugs and so spiders don't stick around. Here in Kansas, we have brown recluse -- bad news! He also puts out sticky traps for whatever few that are left, rarely have I seen more than one or two on the traps. Whew! Maybe putting those sticky traps in the greenhouse would help.