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January 16, 2008

On the trail of pesky slug slime on siding

By North Shore Gardener , Barbara Barger

Q: My son and daughter-in-law moved to Lake Oswego, Ore., last year from California. The area is so lush all the time because of consistent rainfall. However, with all that moisture comes a lot of big slugs. They don't mind the slugs because they haven't done any damage,.but the shiny trails they leave on their plank board siding won't come off with any of the usual cleaners. Normally, I can offer advice on pests, but usually that involves getting rid of them. I've never dealt with cleaning these trails. Any advice?

A: I think this is the first time I've been asked how to remove slug trails from siding. My only experience has been removing slug slime from my hands after hand picking the pests from my.hosta. A solution of warm water and vinegar works well for that chore, and I don't see why it wouldn't work on siding as well. If the trails have.dried on the siding.and are stubborn, consider renting a power washer and using the vinegar and water solution with it....

But your son needs something safe to deter the slugs in the future - a band of something very coarse, like eggshells or sharp gravel, or splintery wood mulch placed around the house would probably do the trick. Some gardeners use a barrier of copper tape around an area they wish to protect..Be sure to prune back any foliage that touches the house. Slugs can't jump, but they can climb branches and slither from leaf to leaf.

Q: I just read your recent instructions about storing dahlia.bulbs. You state that they should not touch, but mine came out of the ground in a very large clump, all tangled together by little roots and soil. Should I snip each tuber.away from the clump? Won't that harm the little roots?

.I brushed off as much soil as possible, let them dry in the basement, and then removed the rest of the soil as best I could. I've stored them in a roomy cardboard box, covered with dry peat moss, as my gardening book suggested. I was concerned about storing them in plastic bags-I was afraid that would contribute to mold if there was any moisture left in them. However, last year I did store some tubers in plastic bags with some leftover packing sawdust from bulbs that I had delivered. They were fine for re-planting this past summer, but they multiplied so much I couldn't separate them when I dug them up..That's why I'm now concerned about moisture from the soil remaining in the clump.


A: Some gardeners do separate their tubers, being sure there are eyes on every piece. The tiny roots aren't what's important, but the eyes are. Every piece needs to have two or three eyes on it.

Any type of tuber can rot and mildew if it's too moist when packed away. Whatever packing method you choose, be sure to dry the tubers first and dust and cut edges with a fungicide, letting them dry again if not using a powdered fungicide.

I have avoided plastic, too, but there have been some studies done looking at wrapping tubers separately and completely air-tight in Saran Wrap. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to check them for rot as often over the winter. (I think I'd only try this the first time with a few well-dried tubers.) To do this, complete soil removal is necessary, then gently hose to wash.the tubers and dry completely.

A moist bulb or tuber, stored touching another tuber, can cause rot (like the proverbial rotten apple that spoils the whole barrel). But if air circulation is good, or a fungicide has been applied,.rotting might not occur.

Q: I repotted a few houseplants - a peace lily, hoya and small tree (I'm not sure what kind it is) - and they have developed.some fluorescent yellow mushroom-like things growing in the soil. Do you have any clue what caused this?

A: Those fluorescent mushroom-like things probably are just that. The mushroom spores were in the soil you used to transplant.

We always recommend using a sterile bagged soil for containers.so things like this don't appear in the pot. But sometimes even with bought, bagged soil, the spores still get in.

* Was the bag of soil damaged in any way, providing an access for the spores? A tiny tear from a fork-lift truck on a loading dock could be the way they got in.

* Was the bag of soil you used already open and then saved, maybe from last spring or even longer? It's easy for spores, bugs and even weed seed to get in if the package has been opened.

* Did you use garden soil? Then it's an easy guess: the spores were in the soil.

Remove the mushrooms you can see, if they bother you or if you have young children or curious pets in the house. Then, cultivate the soil very lightly. Repeat if the mushrooms reappear. Or, repot the plants in fresh soil, being careful to clean the pot thoroughly. You could also try drenching the soil with a fungicide.



This week's dirt: Re-hang your bird feeders, or place new ones near a window where you can watch a bird circus all winter. Repair or replace any bird feeders that have been damaged by high winds, ice storms and squirrels The birds need our help to get through this winter - and we'll need their help to keep them here to catch bugs in the garden next summer.

nnn

North Shore Gardener by Barbara Barger of Beverly is a regular feature of the Home North section. Reach Barbara by e-mail at nsgardener@comcast.net or write to her c/o Essex County Newspapers, 32 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA 01915.

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