TOPIC: Final seed of the season planted

I had a few more pound of seed to plant and we finally got em in the ground today.

I may be fightin slugs all year but I decided to straw em in and see how well it works.

My rows are cut off at an angle to allow for an access road to spray here and on around the hillside.

Hillhopper,
Great looking woods and nice job on the planting beds.
Latt

Thanks Latt.
There is quite a few signs of voles so for the the last couple months I'v had bait traps set out with peanut smelling rat poison that comes in cubes. I had them anchored to the ground with old bridge nails pushed into the bait through the bottom of the trap. From the signs of the bait I was having success when after the last snow I discovered deer had stomped my traps and stole the bait, every one of em, I think it was a total of twelve. It probably wasn't enough to kill em but I hope there is a deer somewhere with a severe belly ache and a hesitation to come back. Oh the joys of woodland farming!

Hillhopper

Hillhopper,
I was discussing a ginseng grower that is a friend of a well known ginseng grower that I talk to now and then. He stated that his friend has had more damage attributed to Mice and Voles than Slugs, Deer, Humans or disease. His friend lost 50% of his 10 to 15 year old roots due to Mice chewing them up. I know Mice and Voles can be a problem, but I had no idea they could be so prolific. I guess the fella used to set many traps and bait poison. Then for whatever reason he backed off and the damage they caused overwhelmed him. He lost in the neighborhood of 5,000 roots.
I cannot imagine losing that many roots. So I guess I will have to add this to my list of something to watch out for now.
What kind of traps do you use? I was thinking about making a home made trap for mice and voles. I was thinking about using a 5 gallon empty drywall bucket with the lid on and running 2 or 3'' PVC into the bucket and them burying the bucket deep enough to where the PVC opening is at ground level. I am thinking the mice might crawl down the PVC pipe and fall into the bucket and I would have bait poison in there for them. I do not know if they could crawl back up the plastic walls of the bucket. If they did their days would be numbered after they ate the bait poison. I am thinking this would be a good way to get some of them.
Thanks,
Latt

Hillhopper

Nice job! I like being able to get close to my beds with an ATV for spraying.

If you have problems with slugs like I've had in the past, but not much of a problem since I have killed most of them. The best stuff for slugs is Deadline M-Ps It will withstand up to 6\" of rain and still be effective.

rosecare1.stores.yahoo.net/deadlinemps1.html

For mice and voles I have found that a 2\" diameter of black pvc 16\" long and shove a piece of JT Eaton bait block with peanut butter in it into the pvc works well by just laying the pvc on top of the ground covered with leaves but the ends left open. The pvc protects the bait from the rain. It's an easy way to set many traps.

Also when I plant a new bed and notice runway holes in the ground, I shove bait blocks into the holes.

classicfur

Hillhopper,

I looked around online and there are a bunch of different ideas out there on how to make a 5 gal bucket mouse trap - here is just one example that sure looked like it would work and you would not have to burry the bucket.

www.frugal-living-freedom.com/mouse-traps.html

PS - nice job on getting those seed in the ground.

I am still waiting on my next pound of seed that I ordered from Hardings.

I called him back yesterday to check on it and he said his ground was frozen and he had to wait a little while to get the seed up out of the stratification container.

It was supposed to ship yesterday so I should have it in a couple more days.

TNhunter

TNhunter,
That is a great link. Looks like a great way to catch and dispose of mice. I know my idea could be improved on of using a 5 gallon bucket. I am going to put out a few at each ginseng bed to keep them little critters away from my ginseng.
Looks like we are all on to some good preventative maintenance here when it comes to mice.

Classicfur,
I like the idea you have as well for the PVC pipe with the JT Eaton bait block with peanut butter.
I think I will give that a try as well. Can you buy the JT Eaton bait block at most hardware or Lowes / Home Depot stores etc?

Both of these should really impact the mice and vole population. I know for every one you kill another 50 or more will not be born to eat our ginseng.
Latt

Latt,
I had a few packs of those quart size disposable tupperware containers that are like a $1.50 per 4 pack. I turned them upside down and cut holes in the ends of the container section, i pushed a large nail through the bait block and through the lid into the ground before snapping the the top section on. It worked great and the clear container let you view the bait to see if it needed replacing but I wasn't expecting an assault of deer vandalism.lol. I would imagine they could move around most any bait station if they smelled something good inside and wanted it but the containers I used aren't strong enough to withstand the beating (especially in freezing temps). They may never bother it again, who knows, they left them alone for nearly 2 months until now.

Classicfur,
Im sure the pvc trap will work good as well and be more resistant to stomping from a deer. I haven't had slug problems before but I haven't used straw either.Do you buy Deadline locally? Im just wondering if that is something that can be picked up at a Lowes or hardware store or if you have to special order it. Yesterday while planting I noticed a couple snails already moving about so I imagine the slugs are right behind em. Your right on the atv spraying, it makes the job so much easier and faster. There are some certain areas I will have to stretch a hose about 40' to get it all but Iv inserted some hooks into some trees to keep the hose of the plants while pulling it along.

TNhunter,
Boy we sure are havin some nice weather here in TN aren't we! I hope you get your seed before it turns back cold. Good luck on your planting, i reckon all that is left for me now is to wait on spring.

Latt,

I've found the JT Eaton bait blocks at Ace Hardware and at Lowes. I usually chop each block into 3 pieces, then shove one piece halfway down the pvc pipe. If you see the pieces dissapearing, that is a good sign that they are eating it or stealing it to eat later. If it's gone, just keep adding more until they stop eating the bait.

Hillhopper,

That Deadline slug bait can be found at hardware stores in smaller sizes. I found the best way was to buy the 10 lb bag from the link above. A 10 lb bag lasts me more than two growing seasons. I had a severe slug problem at the beginning. If I had not used the bait, the slugs could have easily wiped out thousands of plants. But now it's not too bad as long as I apply it lightly a couple of times in the spring. I would say that slugs have been my #1 pest problem.

Just don't let the pests get out of control!

Good luck,

classicfur