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Slug damage in relation to watering regime

1998; Elsevier BV; Volume: 70; Issue: 2-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0167-8809(98)00157-1

1873-2305

Bernhard Speiser, Marcel Hochstrasser,

Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Abstract Slug activity is highly dependent on sufficient soil moisture. In this study, we therefore investigated whether changes in the watering regime influence slug damage to lettuce. The experiment was carried out in Central Switzerland in the summer of 1996. Twelve plots (3 treatments × 4 replicates) measuring 1×1 m were planted with 11 lettuce plants each. To assess slug damage for each lettuce plant, the percentage of leaf area consumed by slugs was estimated at seven dates during the experiment. Plots were watered daily either in the evening (treatment Evening) or in the morning (treatment Morning). In the third treatment (Pellets), plots were watered in the evening and additionally treated with metaldehyde slug pellets (one application at planting). In the treatment Evening, slug damage increased sharply at the beginning of the experiment and by the end of the study, almost 60% of leaf area was lost. In the treatments Pellets and Morning, slugs consumed approximately 12% of leaf area. Treatment Evening differed significantly from the treatments Pellets and Morning, but Pellets and Morning did not differ from each other. In this study with lettuce, morning irrigation thus gave a level of protection against slug damage as good as metaldehyde pellets combined with evening irrigation.