So this morning I go down to check the fig nursery under the citrus tree.  I don't fear fungus gnats here.  It's been good so far.  Then I notice the cutest baby fig in the world had lost it's first leaf.  What?  So I get closer......  SLUG!!  I smashed it with my hiking staff (I need it to get down our steep hill safely).

I never dreamed Slugs would be an issue!  Got the babies surrounded with gopher wire, but slugs can get through.

I guess this afternoon I'll pop a top off a bottle of beer, drink half and pour the rest in a pie tin, sink it, and let the suckers drown.

I have a few treasures in that nursery, and I do not wish to lose them.

Suzi

PS Norman's Yellow (cutest baby fig in the world) is no longer cute.  Has a nice strong stem, new fresh growth, so it's doing fine, even without that first cute leaf.

Snails also!  I do my flash light hunt each night, now that I fenced my chickens from scratching my food plants... you would not believe, they camuflage  or turn into the color of the fig so it is hard to find them, but at night they shine with light on them... eww.  Yeah, they suck life out of them.

Would DE spread underneath act as a an unwelcome mat?  It's cheap if it would work.

The only problem I've had with slugs is when they eat newly sprouted plants. A mature fig should not have an issue with slugs IMHO. If you have those giant snails like they have in Los Angeles well that could be a problem or a benefit. They taste good if you cook them like the French do.

Couple hours SE of LA, no giant snails, and this slug was small, but so was the newly sprouted fig!  No DE on hand, but plenty of beer.

Suzi

Suzi, is the beer effective?  *For drowning the slugs, I mean... 

I got 3 slugs in a plastic lid.  Also got some slug and snail bait at HD.  3 slugs is better than none!  All the figs in the fig nursery are untouched at this moment.

Suzi

Pics from 2007 after a tropical storm in Houston.

Less than one nights worth of damage
 
 
Another one enjoying the fruit

 

Suzi, you musta missed this thread of mine, & don't be fooled by the title. As mentioned on another thread, the ants were a red herring (!!). I was up against slugs & wasps here:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/ant-attack-7012340?&trail=50

Check out posts #52, 58 & 59, and there are plenty of other suggestions for controlling them here:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/slug-attack-6873452?pid=1283337760#post1283337760

The beer method is not totally reliable, coz the slug class of '14 have graduated with honors and are a lot smarter than you might think. Either that, or else the word has got around on the slimevine. Consequently, they can now indulge in their favorite tipple without falling in the booze in a drunken stupor.

If you can be bothered, another method I found to be very effective is to 'harvest' them of a night after placing shallow lids filled with oatbran at strategic locations in your garden. They love it, and will obligingly gorge themselves on it until you call time. I pick them up with ice tongs and drop them in a jar containing a very strong salt solution. 

If you can't be bothered & don't wanna kill them gratuitously, try the wet&dry method described in post #58 of the first thread.

And good luck.

Costas, I did read your thread, and I even commented, but it was about ants.  I tried the cinnamon.  Didn't work.  We got really tough ants here.  What is oatbran and where can I buy it?  Not at Stater Brothers.  That is the only store in this small town.  I don't even live in the town, but it's the closest shopping place. 

Suzi

Hey Suzi - Not sure where you can buy it in the US (I live in the UK), but see here for a description of what it is: http://www.mornflake.com/oatbran/what-is-oatbran.aspx

Google it to find your local supplier, but if you can't find it over there, PM me your address & I'll send you some.

As I said above, don't be fooled by the thread title - it wasn't just about ants, as the posts I referenced will show. The title only mentions ants coz they were the first culprit I saw attacking my figs, and jumped to the obvious (but wrong) conclusion. I later discovered (and saw) slugs and wasps doing the primary damage. The ants were just opportunist 2nd-round visitors cleaning up after the event.

It was a case of a little detective work & perseverance to discover what was really going on, but if you still need to control ants, then you need to get either fruit-tree grease or Tanglefoot. Both are effective and basically do the same thing - create an impassable barrier to their progress up the main trunk. 

Again, good luck. 

Hi,
On two summer-cuttings in my greenhouse, they pinched the terminal buds for me ... Problem : I didn't ask them to.
We've got rainy weather and that situation had been lasting for the last 3 weeks. Because of neighbors neglecting their garden, mine got overcrowded with floods of slugs and smalls and huge .
So last week, I needed to hit strong and went beer in the garden and baits in the greenhouse.
That reminds me that I need to replace it this evening as the bottles should be full of rainwater or/and slugs .
My 200 liters water-barrel got already filled up twice .

Slugs are a threat to root-suckers, young stems and terminal buds . Slugs like to feed on dead wood on fig-trees .

If you've got grass around the tree, I would weed some, to make a clear area around the tree.
If you've got mulch, I more than once saw slugs attracted by the mulch to hide in.

slugs hate wood ashes. dust the plants well n you will have zero slugs on your trees.

That's good news Susie!  We have 3 wood burning fireplaces, so I'll be saving the ashes to dust the susceptible little shoots.  Mostly I don't care because most shoots are weeds, but in my fig nursery, I protect the ones emerging from ground with gopher wire cages.  Slugs can get right through those holes, and the little baby figs are at risk.  Ashes might not make them photo worthy, but this is something I will try!

Suzi