Question
I have something that is eating the leaves of my newly planted sunflowers. There are little irregularly shaped holes in the leaves.   The plants are still young (no flower yet). What can I do?

Answer
Keli, it sounds like you may have slugs in your garden.  Slugs are very prevalent in late spring and early summer, when nighttime temperatures are cool and the weather is fairly wet.

I, too, have had many heartaches over the damage slugs have done to my plants over the years.  I have tried everything including beer traps, diatomaceous earth, homemade traps, and copper.  I must admit that I've had moderate success with the beer, but it would evaporate each day and got expensive to maintain.

I am happy to say that I've finally discovered an effective deterrent.  It is a product sold by a company named Gardens Alive, and is called Escar-Go.  Although it is a pesticide, it is organic, and is therefore non-toxic to humans and pets.  It also stays active and solid even after a heavy rain.  Just sprinkle small amounts around each plant, and reapply every 10 days.  In case you're interested, click on the attached website and search for Escar-Go.

http://www.gardens-alive.com

If the area is large, making this product impractical, try spraying the soil with an ammonia and soap solution.  Mix one tbs. lemon ammonia and one tbs. of non-concentrated dishwashing liquid per gallon of water. You'll need to apply this solution twice per week, and preferably in the early morning hours when slugs are most active.

I hope this helps.  Let me know how it works.

Regards,

Mike