Your best advice to keep slugs at bay

9 years ago

Few things are as annoying as slugs. They're a gardener's worst enemy and can really ruin your garden.

Do you suffer from slug attacks? What's your best trick for getting rid of them?

March checklist · More Info

Featured Answer

cvanrooy

9 years ago

A bit of beer on a shallow dish. The love it then get drunk and drown.

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Comments (48)

hayleydaniels
9 years ago
Sluggo slug killer that is safe for pets and other small animals.
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OnePlan
9 years ago
what a way to go ! Hic !!!
Patricia Pelgrims
9 years ago
I just sigh and walk away. Sigh !
pgteach
9 years ago
Anything gritty around the plant, they do not like walking on crushed shells, coffee grinds etc.
marmalademum1
9 years ago
Must try this!
inpdx
9 years ago
Beer, eggshells. Must try coffee grounds, as we produce a lot and it's compost, too.
Victoria Harrison
9 years ago
Does anyone know of a slug-friendly solution?! Perhaps a plant or a scent that they don't like? I'm reluctant to resort to slug pellets but my plants are being devoured at an alarming rate...
PRO
ASVInteriors
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Borrow a friend's chicken or hen - they LOVE slugs, I often "treat" them in my garden!!!The other solution is to put on plastic gloves and pick them up early evening when they come out (try to avoid retching (I do)) and put htem in a bucket and take them to the local forest...
Jessica Kerry Mack
9 years ago
Victoria, the only slug friendly solution would be to hand pick the slugs off the plants and release them over a mile away. There have been studies that show they return if you just toss them over the fence.
User
9 years ago
That is a snail. As a toddler, daughter called slugs pets and killed many by bathing them to death lovingly under the garden tap.
User
9 years ago
Ducks eat snails and slugs. Our chickens not interested.
PRO
ASVInteriors
9 years ago
Chook what's wrong with your chickens? I didn't realise they were such gourmets!
User
9 years ago
He won't let me get ducks(working on that) so I throw the snails in the middle of the bitumen road, cars squash them and birds eat them.
hayleydaniels
9 years ago
Pouring salt on them is another way to kill them.

My in-laws had ducks for many years, and would pick up the slugs with small garden implements to take to them.

If you don't deal with them, they'll destroy your garden. We've lost many a plant to them over the years.
PRO
Barnes Walker Ltd - Landscape Architects
9 years ago
Sounds like you need some nematodes
wilsoncritcher
9 years ago
Cornmeal! They love it even though it kills them. It's a weed seed inhibitor too.
I go out with a buckets and take them to the woods though. Salt is the most painful way to kill them. Also use coffee grounds round some plants though a bit too strong for young plants here. Bon chance!
4gabby
9 years ago
Beer does NOT work at all on Slugs in SoCal that's for sure. I hunt them down at night with a lantern that seems to be the best way
4gabby
9 years ago
Cornmeal will draw rats and salt can often kill your plants! Will try coffee grounds too but I do not think they are a deterrent either.
Cynthia Neal
9 years ago
Don't use beer if you have dogs.My dogs found the beer and slugs, ingested the mess, came into my house, and threw up on a brand new rug that I hadn't even paid for yet.
Momof5x
9 years ago
Some people grow herbs besides their plants as some creatures don't like the smell of herbs. I think slugs don't like the smell of parsley or sage. Cinnamon as well works for many creatures, good for the kitchen too.
raine1200
9 years ago
Oh the dogs ate beer and slugs Funny, but better than poodles I had the sug was on a poop and I saw the dog eat it yuck. I wouldn't waste good cornmeal but beer yes, today I am going to sprinkle some sand car litter mixed with coffee grounds. I think it will help and that is cheap enough .
suzanrose
9 years ago
Rose bush clippings. I cut them up into 3"-6" pieces and lay them around the base of the plant, tucked slightly into the soil or mulch.
User
9 years ago
diotamaceious earth sprinkled around the plant AND at the base will keep slugs away. it is ground up sileceous sedimentary rock.
pasleight
9 years ago
Had a gentleman who takes care of the Salt Lake Temple grounds suggest DeadLine pellets. Has worked the best for me. All the rest doesn't do it. If you see one there are a thousand hiding. Never had success with beer. or any of the the organic stuff. Do it early in the spring like end of March, and every month after that.
postemat
9 years ago
I use used coffee grounds with wonderful success. Get them for free from your local Starbucks. You're helping to keep them out of the landfill AND saving your plants. Tad ah!
PRO
Shoa Gallery
9 years ago
Escargo soup ;-)
PRO
Luminoso Design
9 years ago
another option is from Lee Valley tools its a small copper mesh that you are to place around the base of the plants they like to eat.... so far on the ones we have done that with it has worked. Did not realize that they travel back once they are thrown over the fence. They love my hostas and my ferns. www.luminosodesign.com
raine1200
9 years ago
eww slugs are not the same as snails, it would be a slimy mess if you try to cook slugs ...s.
Dawn Taillon
9 years ago
I am with the copper mesh guy. A garden website I used to be on regularly says, throw OLD(don't remember the dates but look it up) real copper pennys around your garden and snails and slugs get shocked and it electrocutes them. I used to have a ton of slugs, not so much anymore. They always ate my garden, till nothing left but a Carcass.
jonathan3
9 years ago
We had slugs until we mulched the landscaping with oak leaves that were pulverized with a lawn mower. We had the giant leopard slugs that were about 3 inches long--eww! We were looking for inexpensive mulch that would improve the alkaline soil over time and the neighbors wanted to get rid of the leaves they had bagged. It was a win-win situation unless, of course, you are a slug. :)
PRO
Barnes Walker Ltd - Landscape Architects
9 years ago
You could also try making one of these penny balls, just need an old bowling ball...
catz1
9 years ago
How does a penny ball help with slugs?
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Barnes Walker Ltd - Landscape Architects
9 years ago
http://permacultureideas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/a-garden-slug-and-snail-repellent-that.html
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Decorative Philosophy
9 years ago
Beer in tuna or cat food cans sunk discreetly into the ground works on the East Coast.
Copper too of course. I cannot champion the salt torture. There are many great products such as EscarGO! ( no joke, that is the name of the product ), that we have used also. Beer is, well it is beer and who wants to empty cans of beer with slugs floating in them each morning?
Peace,
Karen & Joseph
4gabby
9 years ago
So easy to pick them off while feeding at night . Just wield a flashlight and then crush them one by one so they do not suffer a long death. If you leave squashed dead bodies there , others will come to feed since they are cannibals!
User
9 years ago
Horrid things.
4gabby
9 years ago
I absolutely hate slugs and curse whomever brought them over from Asia. Here in SoCal they are like a blight
hambirg
9 years ago
Beer traps.
hayleydaniels
9 years ago
raine1200, the only difference between a slug and a snail is the shell on the snail from what I've been taught.

As far as using oak leaves as a mulch, be very careful as it takes 7 years for them to decay. We used to put the oak leaves in our garden as we have 2 neighbors with 35' oak trees who don't feel compelled to pick up the leaves in the fall so they end up in front of our house. My husband is almost fanatical to make sure every leaf is picked up so he's taken it upon himself to pick them up out of the street, and put them in our garden until he started researching why they didn't break down over the long wet winters here in the Pacifc Northwest, and found it takes 7 years for them to decay. Now they go in the green bin.
pavinia
9 years ago
I had slugs that lived in my living room 2 years ago, they only came out at night, but weren't very subtle leaving snail trails all over the carpetted floor. I did however catch them a couple of times whilst on a mission to the fridge for a midnight snack - I'm not sure who was more shocked! Salt did the trick!
Natosha Schafer
9 years ago
Sluggo. Really works.
manningcarl
9 years ago
2 years ago i moved into my house, the established garden was really suffering slug and snail infestation. Instead of pouring chemicals into the ground which affect all good insects, and animals too, I did a bit of research and made a few subtle changes to encourage toads, frogs hedgehogs and more birds to come and feast. We have a resident toad called "Steve" and are frequented by frogs, birds and 2 hedgehogs.
Now I see slugs and snails regularly but they never get to trash my plants because of Steve and Co, Perfect natural balance and it helps out species that are struggling to survive.
hesmywatermelon
9 years ago
The beer in a shallow glass thing works REALLY well. When I do it I put the bowl down and they are around within 15min. leave it overnight for a few nights and theyll all be gone. plus at least they die happy :-)
pavinia
8 years ago
Upon returning home last night, I went out to admire the progress of my beautiful beans and courgettes. Much to my dismay, there was barely one leaf in tact due to a slug invasion. So, in a total slug fury, I proceeded to shower the bed with salt and broken eggshells. I feel incredibly sheepish and guilty this morning....
Rob
8 years ago
old butter tub sunk into the ground half full of beer. Slugs love it, they go in, get drunk then drown - my grandfather swore by it - may have had more to do with his noxious home brew however.
Catherine Hounslow
8 years ago
I'm afraid slug pellets are the only thing that seem to work for me . I collect slugs up before the birds get to them .
If I notice them on the plants I crush them under foot .
toots15
8 years ago
Beer bath. I put out a plastic cup full of beer and forgot about it, only to discover, days later, it was overflowing with slugs. Best to check daily.

Your best advice to keep slugs at bay

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