Gardening in the face of pests - what's the effect of covering plants?

My mother had an evening ritual every evening to get rid of slugs in her garden which seemed to work because she doesn’t have the issue anymore. She took a coffee can and put about an inch of gasoline in it and then proceeded to collect slugs every morning and evening. The gasoline kills them instantly.

If you’re worried about beasties and trapped air, you could try something like row cover. (This is not an endorsement – they just came up first in Google.) Row cover, or garden cloth, is permeable to light, air, and water, but still keeps the nasties away.

@laureth, that’s a great idea!

I don’t know what covering them does, but you may want to throw some really good companion plants in there instead – marigolds, borage, nasturtiums, etc – that will keep the nasties away and be sacrificial lambs for the good stuff.

I was having problems with chipmunks digging up my newly sprouted corn to get the seeds. What’s worked best has been cutting the bottoms off of clear plastic cups, and putting them over the plant with the wider side dug into the dirt. With the whole in the top, the plant gets air and is free to grow up throught the cup.

Hot pepper also seems to work okay, but you need to reapply every time it rains. I don’t like it for that reason.

I’ve been having good luck with diatomaceous earth in keeping away the snails and slugs. It’s organic and nontoxic and safe for vegetables. I’m still stumped on how to beat the squirrels – my plan when my tomatoes start fruiting is to throw some garden netting over the whole thing and hope for the best.

Anyone have any insight into the metabolic cycle – which is what I was asking about?

Not that I’m not giving some of these ideas consideration…

Here’s a link that might help. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01854.htm The actual volume of oxygen and co2 produced/consumed would vary from plant to plant I would think but the plants have to be allowed to expel the oxygen, that alone is reason enough not to keep them under glass jars. A fence will keep the rabbits out and companion plants, as @MyNewtBoobs suggests are helpful too. Marigolds, e.g. attract hover flies and hover flies eat aphids. Covering the plants with cloth will also keep beneficial insects away and the glass jars really aren’t a good idea. Plants need to breath in and out too, in their own way.

@lillycoyote I’m certain that covering them at night has almost no effect (your cite agrees). I’m sure there’s some CO2 produced by the decomposing plant matter they are planted in. I mean people have sealed terrariums!

What’s more there is C02 in the soil, both gaseous and dissolved in the water.

Anyone have any hard information?

As Newt said, planting marigolds and nasturtium will help with some, and nasturtium also produces a peppery green that is great in salad. They are also very prolific and simple to find and grow.

To get rid of rabbits, take a dozen eggs and a quarter to half cup of cayenne pepper, put it in a gallon milk jug, fill with about a half gallon of water and let it sit outside for a week or so, opening daily to release the air, then shake and let sit. You can use a pump sprayer to apply, though the solids could clog the hose. I use a Miracle Gro sprayer and apply it to the perimeter of the garden and in my boxes. It smells like hell until dry. Once dry, you won’t smell it but the rabbits will for weeks.

Slugs will drown in a small tin can filled with beer, as long as the can is buried enough for them to climb over the lip and enter.

I cover most of my seeds with chicken wire or landscapers screen until they emerge to keep squirrels and birds from attacking. Short of a Daisy I have not found a really good way of keeping the squirrels at bay though.