Archive for June, 2009

I had just cleaned the deck, the BBQ and the hot tub cover the day before when my daughter came running in the house to tell me…

snails…”SLUGS are attacking EVERYTHING! I noticed that she was also rubbing her little fingers together and then I knew she had made the mistake of touching them. If you are familiar with the little slimy critters, once you get there slim on your hands or fingers, it’s nearly impossible to get off!

If that’s not bad enough, they leave a slimy trail everywhere they’ve been.

So I told her it’s time for us to go on the slug and snail patrol but first we sat down and did some research. We wanted to find some helpful information that we could use and share with our readers for ways to “Get Rid Of Slugs And Snails – without the use of chemicals.

Here’s what we found and we hope it is useful information for you as it was for us!

How to Get Rid of Slugs and Snails With Yeast

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Most of the commercially available, poisonous pellets, liquid or granules aimed at pesky snails and slugs may also prove toxic to pets, children and wildlife. Since slugs and snails love yeast, this article will show you a great, child and pet friendly means for dealing with them in your garden.

Steps

  1. Put a lump of brewer's yeast or sprinkle powdered yeast into a jar of warm water and sugar. The jar must be deep enough to keep the slugs and snails from crawling out. You can also buy containers (traps) designed specifically for this purpose at garden supply stores. A suggested mixture is two cups of warm water, a packet of dry yeast, and one teaspoonful each of salt and sugar--the salt will help ensure that the slugs and snails die before they have a chance to escape. If you're going to dump the slugs and/or mixture in your garden or compost pile, skip the salt; it'll make your soil too salty.
  2. Dig a hole large enough for the jar to sit in up to its mouth. This is best done in the vegetable patch or other garden space where the slugs and snails are patrolling.
  3. Repeat every few feet. Put these traps throughout your garden at intervals of six to eight feet, since the yeast won't draw them in from any further than that.
  4. Check daily and remove slugs and snails that have been attracted to the jar and dispose of them. They will have crawled into the jar and drowned. You can leave them in the garden to decompose and contribute to the organic matter of the soil, or put them in a compost pile (either way, crushing them will hasten the process, if you are not squeamish about doing so).
  5. Renew the mixture regularly. It will be impacted by rain and evaporation, so top it up as needed.

Video

You can watch the original video at WikiHows or watch the one below that we located for you.

Tips

  • This can also be done with beer instead of a yeast mixture.

Things You'll Need

  • Brewer's yeast or powdered yeast
  • Sugar
  • Warm water
  • Jar
  • Digging implement

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Get Rid of Slugs and Snails With Yeast. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Here's a video:snails

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carbon-foot-printIf you’re like us here at Home And Garden Guide Online…

…we’re always looking for a way to save money and at the same time reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible.

I personally went on a quest to locate information for my very own garden in conjunction to drip watering systems and irrigation systems.

water-wheel-irrigation-systemAs usual I went on one of my loooong research projects and even though I got into some really neat, old, and some what elaborate systems…

…Here’s one of several ideas I came across for review and referral.  Hope you like it and get some good tips from it and other suggested links below.

How to Set up an Inexpensive Irrigation System

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Are you looking to maintain a lovely garden, but you're not sure when, or how much to water? Or perhaps you just forget to water, and all your hard work wilts or dies? Here is a simple and relatively inexpensive way to solve your watering dilemma.

Steps

  1. Purchase a faucet hose timer. These items can be bought for as little as USD $15.
  2. Put in fresh batteries at the beginning of each growing season.
  3. Attach the timer to an outdoor spigot.
  4. Attach your feeder hose to the timer.
  5. At the end of your feeder hose, attach a hose manifold or multiple line splitters to accommodate the number of soaker hoses or sprinkler heads you need.
  6. Test your set up by turning the faucet on, turning the timer on, and checking to be sure water is coming out where you need it to.
  7. Adjust the stop valves as necessary to regulate the flow of water.
  8. Set the timer. The inexpensive ones give you several options such as half an hour twice a day, or an hour once a day, etc. The expensive ones allow you to be much more precise in when and how long you are watering.
  9. Observe the next few days of watering cycles to be certain everything is working as planned.
    • Note:If using sprinkler heads, you can use the method described in How to Calibrate Your Sprinklers to make sure your plants are getting the right amount of water.
  10. Relax, knowing you can leave for extended periods of time without worrying about whether your plants will be alive when you return.

Tips

  • Some people use "regular" garden hose with nail holes at intervals in lieu of a soaker hose. This works fairly well for a long row of bushes, for example, with holes poked in the hose only at the base of each successive bush.
  • A soaker hose can be placed under mulch for even better water utilization and savings.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Set up an Inexpensive Irrigation System. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.


Related Home And Garden Guide Online Articles:

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