homedepot.ca carries it

canadiantire.ca carries it

If you go to Googles.ca and search 'where to buy slug bait' you get all kinds of Canadian resources for various brands.

Dave

Thank you for the links, however, they do not link to the product I am looking for. Canadian Tire and Home Depot do not carry Sluggo Plus, they were the first places I checked. And I started with google and it didn't turn up much, if anything, for Sluggo Plus or an equivalent. Home Depot does carry a different brand bait (Safer's) but it is only ferric sodium. Canadian Tire's brand (Scott's) is ferrous phosphate. I'm hoping someone can provide a specific reference as I've come up empty. My understanding is that without the spinosad (what turns Sluggo into Sluggo Plus) you won't nuke the bugs like pill bugs.

"My understanding is that without the spinosad (what turns Sluggo into Sluggo Plus) you won't nuke the bugs like pill bugs."

Don't know the source of that info. Sounds like some sort of claim the manufacturer would make in their advertising hype. But no, it isn't correct.

There are any number of slug bait brands available and Sluggo and so-called Sluggo Plus are just one of the brands. They all work on both to the point that is necessary and have been used by many for years. Long before "Plus" even existed..

Spinosad is an insecticide and pill bugs/sow bugs are not insects, they are crustaceans. So while Spinosad is a good product and has some specific uses it can also kill beneficial insects. It can be purchased separately if you want to add it to your slug killer but its primary benefit is insect control for specific insect pests.

Be careful what you believe of what you read from manufacturers websites. Products that claim to take care of everything with one product don't truly exist even tho the makers often make that claim. And we wouldn't want them to exist since they would kill all the beneficial insects in the garden too.

So the cardinal rule of pest control is use the least toxic product available for the specific pest.

And please keep in mind that generally pill bugs pose no real threat to a garden except to very young seedlings. And are generally considered a beneficial resident unless in massive numbers. So the goal isn't to eradicate them but just to keep them away from the young seedlings until they grow enough to be immune.

Dave

Digdirt2, I got the info from the manufacturer. This is what it says for sluggo:

Sluggo

Kills snails and slugs

• Can be used around pets and wildlife

• Uses iron phosphate which naturally occurs in soil

• Easy-to-use granular formulation

• Remains effective after rain or sprinkling

• May be used up to and including day of harvest

No mention of any insects or bugs other than slug and snail.

For Sluggo Plus:

Sluggo Plus

Insect, Slug & Snail Pellets

For outdoor use around residential sites

Kills earwigs, cutworm, sowbugs, pillbugs, crickets, ants (excluding Fire Ants, Harvester Ants, Pharaoh's Ants and Carpenter Ants), slugs, and snails

Contains Spinosad, derived from a naturally-occurring soil dwelling bacterium

Easy-to-use pellet formulation

They are clearly making a distinction with sluggo plus having the spinosads and killing various bugs that are not listed one regular sluggo. When I looked into iron phosphate it specifically mentions slugs and snails, nothing else. I haven't been able to find any other product that offers the same combination in a single product. Who knows?

Iron phosphate fact sheet

So as far as pill bug control, do you have a suggestion to keep them away from my younger plants? Encircling plants with a line of DE? I do have areas where there are lots of them. I was again at Canadian Tire this morning and they did have a separate bait (of course can't remember it but it wasn't spinosad) that they said to clump 1-2TBSP in bait traps (they didn't have them there though) and keep the bait covered but slightly damp when you put it out. $10 for a small package!

" I haven't been able to find any other product that offers the same combination in a single product."

That was my point. Manufacturer claims are just that - advertising claims. They are just trying to sell a more expensive new product. They are not gospel.

If you can't get it in Canada then use what you CAN get. People were using plain old Sluggo and similar products to control both pests for years.

You are focused on the pill bugs but slugs are the real threat and plain old Sluggo and any of the similar products will eliminate the main threat and reduce the secondary threat at the same time.

Dave

Sorry but the information that just iron phosphate - Sluggo - will kill sow or pill bugs is incorrect. In fact, most extension service fact sheets addressing this topic will have a statement similar to this: "Many baits will combine chemicals that kill pillbugs and sowbugs with another chemical that kills slugs and snails. Baits that only list on the label slugs and snails as target pests do not kill pillbugs and sowbugs. These baits only contain metaldehyde or iron phosphate as the active ingredient, both of which are specific in their killing action to slugs and snails." UI extension (emphasis theirs). It is the addition of spinosad in Sluggo Plus that makes the product effective. Also very effective on earwigs, if they are an issue.

I know that many pesticides are not permitted for use in Ca so can't comment on where to find. And spinosad is currently undergoing re-evaluation by your Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) with a decision forthcoming next year.

If you can't find Sluggo Plus or pelletized spinosad (spray will be ineffectual), then you could try the home remedy of corn meal :-) Place a small amount of corn meal in a covered plastic container with a small entry hole at the bottom to allow sowbugs/pillbugs in. Place in areas of high populations. Sowbugs will feed on the dry cornmeal (it has to stay dry) and swell to death.

Heather, no luck at all with finding this product. Gardengal48, thank you for this information. This product has come up again as desirable this year as I've ventured into keeping brugmansia and bugs tend to love them to snack on. In my region, and many others I have found, earwigs can be very problematic and damaging. A very common go to management for earwigs is specifically Sluggo Plus. Again, the difference being the inclusion of spinosad. It appears the Sluggo Plus isn't available, through regular retailers anyways, in Canada and gardeners are bringing it back from the US for those near the border. Somewhat of a solution is using tanglefoot, a goopy substance you can paint around the trunk to prevent crawling insects/bugs from climbing up into the foliage. It is not always practical to use on all plants, especially young plants, those seemed to be favoured by earwigs.