Q. I took your advice and am treating these nasty
critters like slugs......have drowned and/or gotten them drunk. But, they keep
coming. I have two bowls with about 100+ critters in each every morning.
My neighbor has been giving me his old cans of beer. I had to dig up the
rhubarb plants and put them in pots. This is sure a frustrating year. Hope you are having more luck.
A. I am sorry to hear you're having such a problem with
these critters. Maybe I can add my two cents. These critters are crustaceans,
in the same classification as lobsters and crayfish. They have gills and so
must have a wet environment to stay alive.
Anything in the garden that keeps
moisture on the surface of the soil and around plants is going to encourage
them. Likewise, they will want to hide during the daytime underthings that
collect moisture such as mulches, newspaper late on the soil surface, boards on
the soil surface, etc. sometimes just laying these items on the soil surface
and removing them during the day followed by some light vacuuming with a
cordless vacuum can provide some control.
As far as chemicals are concerned,
I see diatomaceous earth recommend a lot. The problem
with this is it cannot
handle wet environments. Neither can these critters so they are kind of
mutually exclusive of each other. As far as pesticides go the natural products
containing pyrethrum is supposed to work.
Heavier duty insecticides such as
the synthetic pyrethrins which end in -thrin in the ingredients should also
work. I saw a report that the insecticide Sevin (carbaryl) will also work. I
hope this gives you some other options.
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