For Gardeners: Dealing with Slugs/Snails

[Chemguy]

Beer! If you bury a cup in the ground so that the lip is at ground level, you can fill it 1/3 with beer and a tablespoon of flour. This has worked very well for me, a little better than beer alone, and I'm not sure why (maybe I imagine it?). If you would rather not use beer, just use a cup of water and 1 package of yeast. This works well for slugs in the midwest.

BTW, my neighbor was told to use DE as a dust on plants. I don't think it works as well as the beer/yeast trap, but you might wamt to try it if you've some DE laying around.

 

[Illia]

Ducks work WONDERS but are also pretty bad at tearing up young plants.


Beer is another good one.


If you're rich enough you can line your garden with copper.

 

[clubby]

I stopped useing slugpellets and just use beer ,but with the amount of rain this year it was useless ,i have always grown hostas in pots and this year tried one in the ground ,not much left of it now tho.

 

[so lucky]

I use crushed egg shells and I think they work well.

 

[DancingHen]

I also live in the PNW, and the slugs are a constant issue in the garden. I have employed 2 muscovy ducks who patrol the gardens and they eat an amazing amount of slugs each day. So far they have done little damage themselves to the plants. I also accidentally discovered a new trick. I had a piece of tupperware I used to scoop chicken crumbles with, and accidentally left it outside in the rain. It had a small amount of crumble dust in it, and when it filled with water it apparently attracted slugs. I found it the next morning packed with dead floating slugs! Works like the beer trap, only using chicken crumble dust from the bottom of a feed bag which is thus safe for any of the poultry that may find it in the garden. So now I make slug traps out of this crumble soup and leave them around the garden. My ducks love finding the bowls of feed and slug soup!

 

[arcatamarcia]

Quote:
That is a great discovery. I'm going to try this first chance I get!

 

[kriswrite]

My hubby hates to give beer to the slugs, and it doesn't seem to get near enough of them. Eggshells don't work, either, and since my garden isn't raised or bordered. And no room for ducks

I do let our hens out in our yard when we are outside, and I'm able to keep them out of the garden simply by either spritzing them with water from the hose when they go in the garden or by sending them back into their run when they are "bad girls" and go in the garden. Slowly, they seem to be learning to stay out. But if they scratched around Cory's, I fear it would be harmful. It's not safe for humans, I know. I will try Sluggo; thanks, everyone!

 

[lotusgirl40]

I use codex grade diatomaceous earth in the garden. It kills lots of pests and won't harm any of the animals. The ducks will eat the slugs but mine also eat lots of graden plants and what they don't eat the trample to death with their big feet.

 

[jomoncon]

One of my problems with using beer to attract slugs was that the rain would fill up the container & waste the beer. Then I discovered this Instructible, and it works great for providing just enough shelter for the beer while letting all the slugs in.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Snails-Drink-Drive-Die/

 

[2overeasy000]

Quote:
Great idea. I've been thinking that the chicken crumbles that I keep in 5 gal buckets smells just like the 5 gal batches of beer that I make. I guess the slugs feel the same way. Go figure.