Speaking of slugs in an earlier forum I thought about our damp climate and all the slugs we have here. The biggest problem with slugs is the shaded areas.
Anyway, I thought back to our first home when DH’s grandmother lived with us. One day while tending the veggies she told me she had a magic of sorts…That if she sang a song to a slug it would curl up and die..I laughed but then she proceeded to show me her magic trick.
She leaned in close and wispered a chant to the little critter…it curled up and instantly died!
I thought about it more recently and also remembered that she always had sweet spicy breath. I asked her what she was chewing on one day that made her breath smell like christmas cake and she said cloves (Syzygium Aromaticum). She liked chewing them for the lovely scent, they cure mouth illnesses and toothaches and are sugar-free.
Hmmmm….Putting two & two together I wonder if the clove oil on her breath killed the slug?
Cloves are antibacterial and antifungal and work well as a cure for mildue and fungus in the garden as a dust…this year I will try them as a slug deterent and see if that solves the magic mystery :)
-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20
10 comments so far
MsDebbieP
home | projects | blog
3967 posts in 546 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 338 days ago
well isn’t that fascinating!
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)
GrandmaT
home | projects | blog
3352 posts in 424 days
hardiness zone 5
posted 338 days ago
Yah, FASCINATING is the word here … great story!! Let us know this summer how this turns out.
-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI
MsDebbieP
home | projects | blog
3967 posts in 546 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 338 days ago
and I’m thinking about all the uses I can use cloves for.. hmmm
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)
Damocles
home | projects | blog
805 posts in 399 days
hardiness zone 5
posted 338 days ago
and I’m thinking about the days when I was a lad, and my Grandpa could make flowers wilt with his breath. It was much later in life that I discovered that Grandpa was fortified with Canadian whisky!
-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit
MsDebbieP
home | projects | blog
3967 posts in 546 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 338 days ago
lol… well preserved, huh?
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)
XploreOrganics
home | projects | blog
916 posts in 424 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 338 days ago
Hmmm…so maybe this is deeper than I thought…So why DID she need to use cloves for her breath? Could there be another underlying chemical that she was covering up ;)
-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20
imagooch
home | projects | blog
6 posts in 338 days
posted 337 days ago
Interesting about the cloves/whiskey stories…..
In the spring I spray my hostas with vinegar and water 1:10 to the point of run-off just as they are up and before they unroll. This kills both eggs and slugs on contact. I repeat it mid season if there looks like a problem is developing, but it is harder then beacuse You have to get under the leaves as well and with a huge hosta, it is difficult. I also use egg shells, but with over 100 hosta plants, I resort to asking a restaurant that serves a lot of breakfasts to “donate” some of their shells!!
-- Anne, Chatham, Ont
GrandmaT
home | projects | blog
3352 posts in 424 days
hardiness zone 5
posted 337 days ago
Great advice …
-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI
Eklectic
home | projects | blog
1484 posts in 346 days
hardiness zone 5a
posted 337 days ago
I will try the water/vinegar!
-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a
XploreOrganics
home | projects | blog
916 posts in 424 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 337 days ago
Do be sure that if you use vinegar on plants to kill bugs to mix it very dilute (imagooch said 1:10, this is good), spray in early morning, late evening or on an overcast day and do not use on delicate young plants or the vinegar may burn them.
-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20