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Feeding Slugs To Neps???

My greenhouse is kept pretty wet / Bark covered floor
&
At night it's Slug Fest in there

Although they don't seem to bother my Neps
At least I don't see any chew marks on any of them

Unfortunately i can't say the same about other plants in there

As of right now I just go on my nightly slug smashing missions
But I think it's time to get some slug bait

But before doing so
I was wondering what your thoughts were on feeding slugs to Neps
Some what smashed so they wouldn't slither out / LOL

Good Idea / Bad Idea / No Idea / Whatever
???

Just Wondering

DC
 
Couldn't hurt, worse thing that would happen is you lose a pitcher. Slugs are probably pretty nutritious, I know every lizard I've had loved a good slug.
 
I once fed a worm to a Nep pitcher; let's just say putrid doesn't even begin to describe the smell that developed a few days later. And it really didn't do anything special in terms of fertilizer (that's I could see at least).

If you're just trying to get rid of the slugs beer works very well. Take a small bottle, cut the top 1/3 off and turn it upside down into the bottom 2/3. Add a little beer in the container and slightly bury the bottle. Leave it overnight and in the morning you should have a good amount of them in there. If you put to much beer though they'll drown (or get Alcohol poisoning, I've yet to determine which). By putting just a little bit you can just let them fall in there and throw them outside in the morning.
 
The plants i have sitting on the ground catch them all the time. They just fell in the pitchers and drown...at least some of them do. No bad effect on the plants.
 
I fed a small slug to one of my first vfts... The entire trap rotted off, and with it, the plant after a week. I try to avoid things with slime...
 
I fed some snail eggs to some of my small (3" diameter plants not-including pitchers) nepenthes and they're doing great.
 
My nepenthes outdoors catch alot of slugs and big snails.
It depends on how big the trap is and the amount of fluid in it, bigger pitchers tend to be able to break down the slug better with less smell.
Not sure how well it works as "fertiliser" but i guess its still food for the plant
 
I once fed a worm to a Nep pitcher; let's just say putrid doesn't even begin to describe the smell that developed a few days later. And it really didn't do anything special in terms of fertilizer (that's I could see at least).

If you're just trying to get rid of the slugs beer works very well. Take a small bottle, cut the top 1/3 off and turn it upside down into the bottom 2/3. Add a little beer in the container and slightly bury the bottle. Leave it overnight and in the morning you should have a good amount of them in there. If you put to much beer though they'll drown (or get Alcohol poisoning, I've yet to determine which). By putting just a little bit you can just let them fall in there and throw them outside in the morning.

I had a pretty large slug population last year too

the beer method works really well, i used empty tuna cans, first time out they were literally full of slugs.

Salt also works :p, if you like to watch them bubble up and dissolve, though this is spot treatment

Be warned when feeding slugs to my plant, i probably dumped 20+ slugs into my N. caesar pitcher, not all at once but over time. I did cut the pitchers off before i brought it back in the house, it smelled horrible :puke:

I also didn't see much of any benefits from it maybe the pitchers caught a few more bugs because of the smell, that was probably it,
 
Thanx For The Input

Surprisingly for as many as I find in there they really don't do that much damage
Mainly to some of my ferns, spider plants & other misc plants like that
They don't seem to go for the Neps at all / Good Thing
But have damaged a few Butterworts

Kind of answered my main concern if they would just rot & get nasty & smelly

My plants are outdoors & I put like pieces of fruit in there to attract bugs & I'm forever feeding them bugs from the garden
So they're all well fed

Was just wondering if there was any benefit to feeding them slugs

Thanx Again
DC

---------- Post added at 02:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

PS~ I Tried The Beer Thing & I Just Ended Up With a Bunch Of Drunk Slugs
&
They Get MEAN When They're Drunk

LOL
 
  • #10
You might want to kill then before placing them in the pitchers. Otherwise they can crawl out :-O
 
  • #11
I do catch behemoth slugs outside and I feed them to my ventricosa. I don't notice a smell and I sit about 3 feet away from my grow area on my computer.

Oddly, the pitchers I feed slugs to develop so much nectar, it starts oozing down the pitcher and onto the pot sides. Is this a sign that it likes what I'm doing?

I can't say whether or not the slugs are doing a great deal of good because there are so many day to day variables in my growing I can't really point at one thing and say it's working well for me.

As for snail bait I use sluggo outside in my garden. It's harmless to pets and you don't have to use any in the pots. The snails love the stuff (to death), and your plants won't have to ingest any of the iron that is released when you water.
 
  • #12
I do catch behemoth slugs outside and I feed them to my ventricosa. I don't notice a smell and I sit about 3 feet away from my grow area on my computer.

Oddly, the pitchers I feed slugs to develop so much nectar, it starts oozing down the pitcher and onto the pot sides. Is this a sign that it likes what I'm doing?

I can't say whether or not the slugs are doing a great deal of good because there are so many day to day variables in my growing I can't really point at one thing and say it's working well for me.

As for snail bait I use sluggo outside in my garden. It's harmless to pets and you don't have to use any in the pots. The snails love the stuff (to death), and your plants won't have to ingest any of the iron that is released when you water.

Cool

I Might Toss a Few In For The Fun Of It
Just Because a "Plant" Eating a "Slug" Is Ironic
 
  • #13
haha , well if they are living outdoors they should be fine naturally eating whatever they naturally catch
 
  • #14
I've fed some of my bigger pitchers slugs and snails. I never noticed a smell, nor had any escape. I was suprised at how long it took them to break down. I thought it would be quick since they are are soft and squishy, but it took many months.
 
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