What do you do against slugs

[Tigress]

I wonder what works against slugs on my flowerbeds. Any suggestions are welcome, thanks

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

Eggshells in the soil apparently help with slugs. A small container of beer attracts and drowns slugs as well. Though I have not tested it apparently you can buy copper tape that is supposed to deter them. I have been waiting to get up to my garden to test out an enhanced version of the copper tape. The beer and eggshells do work, but it is hard to get 100% coverage with them.

 

[Tigress]

Lostvalleyguy, thanks for those suggestions. I'll be sure to try them out soon.. the beer one should be the easiest.. although I would feel bad to watch them drown : / What do eggshells do that keeps them away?

 

[gata montes]

Hi Tigress - although I haven't tried it myself - I've heard that if you don't have beer a mixture of honey and yeast work just as well.
Another popular method for deterring slugs - is to place a mixture of coffee grounds and crushed eggshells around the plants you want to protect or even to use a caffeine based spray in the infected areas.
There is however a very good garlic based organic deterrent called ECOguard - which is said to be very effective and although not available everywhere is certainly well worth looking out for

 

[kalinaprim]

@gata montes, Thank you for your advice. I will try it right now. I hope it helps me, because I don't know what else to do

 

[sweetkymom]

I heard cinnamon detours a lot of pests from gardens and flower beds. Not sure if it really works but I have a neighbor that uses cinnamon every year he plants anything. It's worth a try.

 

[firelily99]

Egg shells, dried pine needles and kosher salt all work. If that fails their are commercial slug pellets that will get rid of the little slimy buggers.

 

[Jewell]

I use cedar mulch. It works as well as any commercial products I have tried. You do have to watch out for slugs early and reapply cedar mulch around susptible plants like lilies and hostas. Occassionally roughing up the cedar to disturb any trails they have created is also important. Since I started using it two years ago I've noticed a sharp decline in our usual 6 inchers pictured above.

Cedar mulch is plentiful and cheap where I live so I use it on all the paths as well as on beds to keep weeds down and conserve moisture during the summer.

 

[DDavies]

I use a combination of crushed egg shells, coffee grounds and salt. The egg shells cut into the slugs leading to dehydration and death. I'm not convinced that the coffee grounds do much but add them because they are good for the soil. Some friends have reported luck with spraying cold coffee on plants.

Salt deters them because it leads to death. When they come in contact with salt, it draws the moisture out of their body. I have inadvertently thrown salt on a slug; it "bubbled" and was not a pleasant sight.

I also set out beer traps. They do work. I would suggest you check the traps every morning and dump them out. If you don't, you'll have a horrible smelling mess to deal with.

 

[Chuck]

There is an organic product called Sluggo Plus. The active ingredients are iron phosphate and spinosad and it is labeled organic. Kills snails, slugs, pillbugs, cutworms, grubs etc. I normally use traps but last year I had a huge crop of cutworms and ths stuff did the trick

 

[headfullofbees]

I use "nemaslug" nematodes.

 

[Susan Nelson]

If you have a fireplace, save the wood ashes and put them around plants. You need a fairly thick layer, about 1/2 to 1 inch. In areas with heavy rain, you may also eventually need to replenish the ashes. I have done this for a few years around all my hostas. It is not 100% successful, but it definitely makes a difference.

 

[Corzhens]

If you have a fireplace, save the wood ashes and put them around plants. You need a fairly thick layer, about 1/2 to 1 inch. In areas with heavy rain, you may also eventually need to replenish the ashes. I have done this for a few years around all my hostas. It is not 100% successful, but it definitely makes a difference.

I think I've heard that from my father-in-law although it was not very clear. He was talking to my husband in our previous house where there was a big backyard with grass. The slugs are coming out every morning and I heard the mention of ash from the barbecue pit as a good deterrent to slugs.

What we do is to catch the slugs and place in a bucket. The slugs are crushed and mixed into the compost bin. It serves as a good fertilizer material. For the leftover slugs, we clean the surroundings, leaving no stone unturned and presto, no more slugs. But it would be a problem if you have a big garden.

 

[Darknessfairy]

I don't have snails in my garden because I'm on a hill but people in the bottom of the hill use coarsely grounded cornmeal (we call it palenta), apparently snails love to eat it, they eat too much and die. Later you collect them. Bear and wood ash also works. I wouldn't recommend using salt because salt gets in the soil and kills everything including good bugs.

If there's too many snails you can try getting Indian runner ducks. They are very popular here, they are mad about snails...only problem is when there are no snails they gobble up vegetables and flowers too

 

[Esther Knapicius]

personally I do nothing as I have some lovely toads who love to eat them. however, one year I heard about the beer method, gave it a try, its cheap beer poured in a low saucer placed on the ground, they did gravitate to it, and found bunch of little dead bodies in it the next day.