A "Pluggo" for "Sluggo"

From: "Jay Vannini" interbnk at infovia.com.gt> on 2000.06.15 at 02:35:40(4784) Dear fellow plant enthusiasts: I thought that I'd drop in with some comments on a relatively new (?) molluscicide on the market that I am now using, thanks to Lynn Hannon, at whose greenhouse I first encountered it, and the estimable Ralph Lyman, who also recommended the active ingredient for slug control last year. The product is called "Sluggo" and it is basically iron phosphate, an attractant, and a binding agent presented in handy pellet form. While manufactured in Germany, it's distributed by a company called Lawn & Garden Products, Inc. of Fresno, CA. I won't actually stoop as far as recommending a retail sales point - suffice to say that there are several of 'em on the web. +More Brothers and Sisters - as the Lord is my witness - I think I love this stuff! Following years of working with varying metaldehyde preparations (pellet baits, slurries, sprays, etc.) as the frontline defence against the ravenous hordes of slugs that my garden and adjacent forest spawn every rainy season, coupled with esoteric traps using beer and so forth, for the first time (hallelujah!) I appear to have achieved resounding strategic superiority over my slimy nemeses. Following an initial application two weeks ago, EVERY tender new Anthurium leaf I have unfolding outside is still immaculate, my Sobralia and Masdevallia blooms manage to complete their fleeting lives without being mangled even before opening, and - as an additional dividend - I'm not sweating my dogs or lesser native wildlife running afoul of gummy, cruddy, aesthetically and environmentally displeasing hot pink metaldehyde baits (Hasta la vista, Bayer!). This, in spite of the fact that it has basically NOT stopped raining here for the past fortnight, conditions that in the past would have had my plant collection as overrun as Dien Bien Phu on the "Free French Fries Nite" in 1954. Admittedly, I have not tried DE, largely 'cause I fear that my snuffling mutts will contract some queer respiratory ailments (silicosis, perhaps?) if I fling it about hither and thither. Also, this stuff ("Sluggo") ain't, by any stretch of the imagination, cheap. But after having found a pot of Phragmipedium seedlings mowed down, and having the growing tip of a young Anthurium reflexinervium scarfed up during an evening's meal (in spite of the presesence of fresh met. baits in the general area), I finally decided that my existing measures, both indoors and out, needed a radical overhaul. In any event, those of you with similar vexatious confrontations with the "n. shell-less gastropod, often destructive to small plants" might wanna give this stuff a serious looky-looky. Now if they could only find the right presentation for control of the larger species that are in politics... Cheerio - Jay

From: Robb Smith resmith at saltspring.com> on 2000.06.15 at 21:44:33(4786) This product was discussed on another forum recently, with similar positive reports. Apparently it is available under the brand names "Sluggo", "Escar-Go!" and "WorryFree". Robb Smith +More Salt Spring Island BC

From: "Ted Held" Ted.Held at henkel-americas.com> on 2000.06.15 at 21:48:21(4792) I was curious about this report, being a long term opponent of slugs. How did you determine the composition as iron phosphate? Is there something extra that acts as an attractant, for example? I wonder since the company I work for produces tons of this stuff as a waste product. Not very expensive. We pay to have it disposed of. I will have to check this out. Anybody else have experience?

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