RECIPE #59 QUACKGRASS AND SLUGS                 
Categories: Garden, Bugs, Repellents                        
 
                                                            
           ORGANIC GARDENING MAGAZINE                            
           MAY\JUNE ISSUE 1993                              
                                                            
  Roger Hagin Ph.D. a weed scientist at the USDA            
  Agricultural Research station in Ithaca N.Y. was          
  investigating the interaction of certain plants when      
  he noticed that slugs were avoiding areas where           
  quackgrass was grown. In his home fields he observed      
  that the only area where his corn wasn't riddled by       
  slugs was were quackgrass grew. He round up some          
  quackgrass and applied it as mulch over the surface of    
  the field and sure enough the slugs left that area        
  alone. The doctor says that quackgrass acts on the        
  nerves that are responsible for the feeding instinct      
  in slugs, but it is harmless to other creature            
  including (fortunately) earthworms and (unfortunately)      
  SNAILS. The doctor suggests sprinkles of dried ground      
  quackgrass lightly around plants that attracts slugs      
  and say you could try putting dried quackgrass into       
  your blender with some water and whip it up into a        
  solution to spray on the plants but he warns against a    
  stong solution to spray on seedlings; it may act like     
  an herbicide on young tender plants.                      
                                                            
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