Organic Slug Control

June 4, 2024 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Many of our customers occasionally struggle with pests. Unfortunately, they’re a part of gardening! One common issue we see, especially in spring and early summer, is slug damage. These slimy little creatures are active at night and during cool temperatures, snacking on your plants, especially young, tender foliage. They can take out entire seedlings or reduce your harvest from tasty crops like tomatoes and strawberries. Learn how to identify and combat a slug problem with organic methods.

Signs of Slugs

Shiny slime trails across leaves and the ground.
Irregularly shaped holes in leaves, flowers, and fruit.
Look for slugs at night or on rainy days.
Look for slugs under lower leaves, boards, and other cool, moist shelters.

Deter Slugs

Slugs thrive under certain conditions. To prevent them from becoming an issue, avoid making your garden an attractive habitat for them.

Here are some ways to deter them:

Prune lower branches and foliage to encourage air circulation and sunlight.
Stake plants like tomatoes to encourage air circulation and keep fruit off the ground.
Divide or thin plants to encourage air circulation and sunlight.
Remove natural mulch, like old leaves, at least temporarily.
Add compost to beds, improve soil, and improve drainage to help combat wet conditions over time.
Remove places where slugs could hide, like containers, flats, stones, boards, etc.
Use water-wise gardening techniques like drip irrigation or soaker hoses to minimize excess moisture.

European Starlings are not native to the U.S. but are common in the southeast and are incredible slug predators.

Attract Predators

In the long term, attracting slug predators can also be an effective way to manage slugs. We think they look a little slimy, but many creatures, such as slugs, beetles, toads, turtles, snakes, ducks, and certain songbirds, find them to be a tasty treat. Providing habitats for these animals within your garden can encourage them to stay and eliminate slug populations.

Handpick or Trap Slugs

One of the simplest ways to get rid of slugs is to handpick them. Put on some garden gloves and head out at night with a flashlight for a bit of slug hunting. Then, crush the slugs or toss them into a bucket of soapy water.

While we previously mentioned getting rid of slug homes like boards, you could add them to make the perfect trap. Each morning, flip your board and kill any slugs you find.

Another classic method for dealing with slugs is the good old-fashioned beer trap. Take small containers or dishes and bury them a bit in the garden so the top is level with the ground. Then, fill them with beer or a water and yeast mixture. The slugs will be attracted to the beer or yeast mixture, fall in, and drown. If you have a serious problem, you may need to put out a good number of traps and change them daily.

Organic Slug Baits & Deterennts

Coating plants with a heavy dusting of diatomaceous earth can help keep slugs at bay. However, it must be reapplied frequently and isn’t always a great long-term solution.

Copper foil or bands are another effective slug deterrent. While they can easily be affixed to a single raised bed, they may not be an efficient choice for large gardens.

You can also purchase organic baits like Sluggo, which is OMRI-certified. If you want to use slug bait, this is a good option because it’s safe for pets and non-toxic. It’s made from iron phosphate.

Many other slug baits are toxic to other animals, including pets and young children. Always select and use garden products carefully.

We always aim to work with nature to create beautiful, bountiful gardens. Unfortunately, pests will always be an occasional issue in any garden, whether organic or conventional. Thankfully, slugs are a relatively easy pest to deal with, and you can use these simple strategies to deter and eliminate them.

Garden Advice

Ants on Your Plants: Are They Bad for the Garden?

May 28, 2024 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

When you start gardening, you’ll probably start noticing more of the life that visits your yard. For most non-gardeners, insects only come into focus when they enter houses, but for gardeners, they suddenly play a bigger role on stage. You start noticing the earthworms in the soil, the pillbugs scurrying around in your mulch, and the slugs that come to chew big holes in your kale. Many folks will spot ants visiting their garden and wonder what they’re doing there. Are they pests or garden allies?

Why Are There Ants on My Plants?

Ants may be visiting your garden for several reasons. Like us, they must meet a few essential needs to survive: moisture, food, and shelter. These needs are met in different ways depending on the species of ant, and there are almost 800 ant species found in the United States today! Though these species vary widely, below we’ll cover some of the more common reasons you’ll spot them on your garden plants.

Collecting Water

The way that ants source water varies with species. Some ants are specifically adapted to get all their moisture needs from their food sources. Harvester ants, for instance, can get most of their moisture needs from seeds, while other ants may get most of their moisture from flower nectar.

However, it’s not unusual for ant species to gather water from dew droplets or puddles. If you often spot ants visiting your plants that tend to collect dew, they could be harvesting the water.

Farming Aphids, Scale Insects, and Mealybugs

Many ant species, including Argentine ants (Linepithema humile), Allegheny mound ants (Formica exsectoides), common citronella ants (Lasius claviger), and longhorn crazy ants (Paratrechina longicornis), all enjoy feeding on honeydew, a rich, sugary substance secreted by aphids, scale insects, and mealybugs as they feed on plant sap.

These ants will go to great lengths to ensure a steady supply of honeydew. The ants actually farm the aphids and other insects almost the way we do livestock. They will protect the aphid colony, keeping their habitat clean and fighting off predators. They also cull certain insects, especially older ones, that produce less honey-dew. When they want to collect honeydew, they gently tap the insect’s abdomen to encourage them to secrete honeydew.

Amazingly, ants will also carry these insects to new plants to increase production. Obviously, this behavior can be problematic for gardeners.

Thankfully, aphids are usually a reasonably easy pest to eliminate. A strong jet of water to kill or blast the aphids off the plant may be enough to do the trick. You can also use insecticidal soap or soapy water to kill the aphids. However, this method comes with some risks. It can destroy the waxy coating on leaves and may burn foliage, especially during hot and humid weather.

Harvesting Other Sugary Foods

Many of the ants that enjoy honeydew also love other sugary foods, such as flower nectar, fruit juices, and human food scraps. While the ants may seem like a nuisance if they show up at your picnic or climb into your flowers to gather nectar, they don’t do any harm. Usually, they don’t harvest fruit or juices unless the produce is already damaged.

For example, finding ants in a hole in strawberries is often a significant complaint. Interestingly, it’s not typically the ants making the hole. Usually, slugs eat strawberries and other fruit at night, and then the ants harvest from the opening that the slugs have created during the day. Usually, if you can eliminate the slugs, the ants will cease to be an issue.

Leaf Cutters

You may also see leafcutter ants like the Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) in certain parts of the United States. These interesting ants can often be seen carrying large pieces of foliage back to their nests. This particular species has been known to work together as a colony to defoliate a citrus tree in less than 24 hours!

These foliage foragers aren’t eating the leaves; they take them back to their nest and chew them into a paste as fertilizer for their fungus gardens. Regardless, they can spell trouble if you’re trying to grow plants and trees within a colony’s range.

Unfortunately, for people coping with leaf-cutter ants, many of the organic “ant baits” you see recommended aren’t effective because these species only feed on the fungus they grow in their nest.

We don’t have personal recommendations because they aren’t an issue for us. However, many permaculturalists in other areas recommend raising guinea fowl or treating the nests with boiling water.

Harvester Ants

Harvester ants collect grains and seeds, which they store in granary areas within their nest. These ants aren’t usually a significant issue for vegetable gardeners, though you may observe them gathering seeds from plants around you. They can be an issue for grain farmers.

Benefits of Ants

While we may sometimes butt heads with ants and other creatures in our garden, it’s important to remember that they have their place. There are several benefits to ants that many gardeners and nature lovers can appreciate.

Many ground-dwelling species, like northern fungus-farming ants (Trachymyrmex septentrionalis), aerate the soil and improve fertility. These industrious ants bring minerals and nutrients up from deep below the surface, making them accessible to trees and plants.
Many ants, like large imported big-headed ants (Pheidole obscurithorax), are voracious predators of other pests. Researchers have found that one species, Buren’s Pyramid Ant (Dorymyrmex bureni), often feeds on invasive fire ants (Solenopsis invicta).
Some ants, like American winter ants (Prenolepis imparis), plant wildflowers. About 11,000 plant species, including many native wildflowers like bloodroot, trillium, and violets, have developed seed appendages that attract ants, encouraging them to harvest the seeds and transport them to new locations.
Ants clean up carrion, food scraps, and other waste, helping reduce the number of flies and other animals attracted to a location.
Some ants, like black harvester ants (Veromessor pergandei), help landscapes recover from wildfires, drought, and overgrazing. Researchers have found that the rims of their nests are “islands of fertility.” In these fertile soils, plants recover more quickly and help re-seed the nearby landscape.

Depending on the species, seeing insects in the garden can bring joy and worry. Hopefully, this will help you understand why you’re seeing ants in your garden, what they’re up to, and what steps you may need to take.

Garden Advice

Growing Mint: Is It Invasive?

May 21, 2024 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Mint is one plant that stirs the pot on social media! Recently, I’ve come across several reels and posts expounding on the horrors of this plant and how you should never plant it in your garden. It’s usually labeled as an invasive, and there are stories of it traveling through neighbors’ yards, through cracks in the sidewalk, and into the woods! That said, many people enjoy growing and using mint. It’s a beautiful herb with wonderful flavor and medicinal properties. In this post, we’ll discuss how to grow mint without it taking over your property.

Is Mint Invasive?

Yes, it can be invasive. Specific types of mint, like culinary mint (Mentha spp.), tend to be aggressive spreaders. Some mint species, like the aforementioned culinary mint, are considered weeds in some states.

While mint can outcompete many of your garden plants and will happily take over disturbed areas like vacant lots and pastures, you generally won’t find it creeping into native forests. Usually, when we think of invasive species, we think of species that readily outcompete our native plants in their natural habitats, like kudzu with its long vines climbing over and killing trees in its quest for the most sun. Mint is not invasive to the degree that kudzu is.

Mint can be controlled, and we’ll discuss how to do that below. Certain species in the mint family are less aggressive. Also, some mints may spread readily but aren’t considered invasive in the same sense because they’re native to the United States.

Controlling Mint

Many mints can spread through seed and creeping roots. This double reproduction is one of the features that allows mint to spread so effectively. There are a few things we can do to prevent this spread.

Many folks recommend growing mint in containers, and this is a great option! Mint makes a beautiful patio or porch plant. It tolerates full sun or partial shade, and there’s some evidence that some mint species may repel insects like mosquitoes.

Growing mint in a small seperate bed is also a good option. If your bed is surrounded by grass, it’s easy to keep it mowed short around it and prevent the mint from spreading. Alternatively, you can hand-pull any escapees. Raised beds with solid bottoms can further eliminate spreading issues. Cut mint before it goes to seed to prevent it from self-sowing in other areas of your garden.

You can also plant mint in less-than-ideal habitats. Generally, mint doesn’t do well in very hot, dry spots. It will be much easier to manage where conditions are unfavorable.

Mint Varieties

As I mentioned above, not all mint species are as aggressive as culinary mint. Do your research before you plant a mint family species. While most mints can be used for culinary and medicinal preparations, their fragrance, flavor, and benefits may vary widely. Some mints are also more ornamental, and you will find variations in appearance and growth habits.

American Wild Mint (Mentha canadensis)

American wild mint is native to most of the United States and much of Canada. It’s an excellent, native aromatic herb that puts on masses of tiny, purplish flowers in later summer. The flowers are a great source of pollen and nectar for native pollinators. Don’t let the fact that it’s native fool you; this mint can spread just as aggressively as the non-native species.

Anise-Hyssop or Licorice Mint (Agastache foeniculum)

This beautiful herb is native to the North-Central US and is cherished for its ornamental beauty and versatile uses. It offers a unique flavor for tea or culinary use, has medicinal properties, and is great for bees.

Anise-hyssop will self-seed, and new patches may pop up, but it doesn’t tend to spread as aggressively as culinary mint.

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)

Hyssop is a beautiful semi-evergreen sub-shrub or large herb with stunning purple flowers. It has a strong flavor and a camphor-like odor, and it’s often used to season poultry. It doesn’t share culinary mint’s strong, aggressive tendencies.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

This mint can be used medicinally or to amuse your cat. Note that only about 2 out of 3 cats are amused! The remainder, who do not have the dominant gene for this response, are bored by this plant. Catnip spreads some but doesn’t tend to creep as aggressively as culinary mint.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

Lemon balm resembles culinary mint and can be an aggressive spreader. True to its name, it offers citrusy, lemon-scented foliage rather than the classic mint smell. Lemon balm is widely used as an herbal tea.

Mint (Mentha sp.)

This is culinary mint, the king mint of spreading. It’s excellent at reproducing through its creeping roots. It’s a hardy, aromatic herb with good flavor for tea and culinary use.

Note that mint grown from seed produces plants that vary widely in flavor and appearance, from spearmint to menthol mint to peppermint. We recommend sowing it in pots and transplanting your favorite plants.

White Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)

Horehound is another aggressive spreader. Its pleasant fragrance, menthol-like flavor, and medicinal benefits make it a popular choice for lozenges and candies.

The mints are hated by some for their aggressive tendencies and beloved by others for their incredible fragrance and hardiness. If you’ve always wanted to add mint to your garden, you needn’t give up the idea entirely, just because it may spread. Try some of our control tips and select the right mint for your garden to enjoy these fun herbs.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange