Agave - slug attack?

[guyhamilton]

Hi,

I have an Agave that is fairly large in a pot in littlehampton in the UK. Its mild and we rarely get much frost. He has very recently started to suffer from what I think is slug attack;







I have been using copper tape around the pots which has worked till now. But left for a couple of days and I think the copper tape must of deteriorated and I came back to find the damaged show in the attached photos. Last night when I returned I replaced all the copper tape and as a further measure sprinkled slug pellets around the base. I had some further damage in the morning - I have two small Agaves next to it which have remained untouched. So I guess my queries are as follows;

1) Is this likely to be slug attack? I can't see a mucus trail.

2) Whats the best way of protecting the plant from this kind of attack? Is copper tape effective?

3) I am going to check on the plant in the night to check for any slugs and the like - perhaps ones got past the copper when it was degraded and has taken up residence? would slug pellets in the pot be a good idea?

Thanks

Guy

[hegar]

Hello guyhamilton,

the damage shown by your agave plant may well have been caused by snails or slugs. Those animals do have a rasping mouth part which allows them to scrape off the leaf epidermis. They also seem to feed in a pattern, that causes roundish destruction of the affected plant tissue.
Because they usually do show up to do their nasty work at night, you could go out one night with a flashlight. You should be able to find the culprits right at the scene of the crime.

My agency (USDA) suggests a ring of salt around any object to either not allow snails or slugs from entering or escaping. Diatomaceous earth, which consists of the exoskeletons of small ocean creatures called diatoms, will also help control these mollusks. For them crawling over this material is similar to a human walking across razor blades. They will suffer cuts trying to do so.
Another thing you can do is to set out traps with old, stale beer. Just make sure, that the opening is about even with the soil surface. Slugs will be attracted to the odor, fall in and drown happily.

I do regularly visit northern Europe and know, what big slugs you do have. Those can not only be very voracious, but also quite numerous.
As stated above, use a flashlight and go to your plant before retiring to bed. Most likely you will see the cause of the damage done to your agave plant.

Harald

[ElieEstephane]

I use a ring of wood ash. It's very effective but it should be renewed ounce it gets wet