Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!harpo!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry From: berry@zinfandel.UUCP Newsgroups: net.garden Subject: Re: Snails (slugs) - (nf) Message-ID: <1057@zehntel.UUCP> Date: Fri, 10-Jun-83 01:17:54 EDT Article-I.D.: zehntel.1057 Posted: Fri Jun 10 01:17:54 1983 Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jun-83 04:46:48 EDT Lines: 20 #R:rocksvax:-45500:zinfandel:18500004:000:936 zinfandel!berry Jun 9 10:02:00 1983 It sounds like you have an infestation of cutworms. They eat through the stem of young succulent tender plants, and then snails and slugs get the rest of the plant. cutworms tend to eat one stem, then burrow down and sleep during the day. Scratch around in the dirt near the newly toppled plant, find the little begger and snuff him. Keep it up a few days and they'll go away. An alternative, drastic method to eradicate cutworms is to spray a broad spectrum herbicide (like Roundup - monacetyl glyphosate. It degrades safely in a week or two.) and till the soil when everything dies. A period of a couple of weeks with no plants will starve all the cutworms. We did this to our back yard (for other reasons; the previous tenant let it turn into a jungle.) and so far have had exactly 2 cutworms. When they were killed our problem disappeared. Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900