I planted my lettuce this year and it grew wonderfully, until I picked them and there were slugs insides. So I had to find a tried and true way to get rid of slugs in my garden naturally, without using harmful chemicals and pesticides.
Slugs are those slimy creatures that come out at night and leave a trail of shiny slime behind them. Slugs will devour your vegetables and plants, like my lettuce.
There are some that like to keep slugs as pets, yes….well to each his own, right?
Getting rid of slugs can be as easy as crushing up egg shells and adding the crushed egg shells to your soil. Egg shells are also a great addition to help compost the soil. My mom used egg shells in all her house plants. Crush the egg shells into small pieces, till or mix into your soil or place around the bottom of your plant. The egg shells act as shards of glass and the slugs will avoid attacking your lettuce and plants.
Give the slimy creatures a Beer to help get rid of slugs in your garden. Yes, it really does work. There was a study done at Colorado State University , yep a study, on the best brand of beer that slugs like the most. Kingsbury Malt and Budweiser came out on top, but you can use any beer.
My slugs like Bud Light, it’s what we drink in our home and we like to share. Don’t use stale beer, the slugs like it just as much as we do! Wait until dusk and fill an old margarine tub top with beer and place on top of the soil as close to the damaged plants as possible. The next morning they should be filled with dead drunken slugs.
If you are not a beer drinker and don’t want to spend money on beer for your slimy friends. Spritz your slugs with some coffee. Research has found caffeine to be very effective at deterring slugs. Save your old coffee from the morning and spray them full strength directly on the beasts in the evening. You can even place your coffee grounds around your plants to deter the slugs.
Slugs get shocked when they touch copper. You can buy ready made copper guards or use pennies to get rid of slugs in your garden. Place pennies around your plants to keep our slimy friends from a feast on your garden.
Place some old wooden planks between your garden beds. Our slimy slugs will crawl underneath to hide from the sun. In the morning lift the boards and the slugs will be on the boards. Scrape the slimy slugs from the board into a bucket and dispose of.
Even better is placing a newspaper wet with sugar water to even further lure our slimy creatures. This will keep the slugs out of your garden.
Amy Cohen is an organic garden who loves to share her tips and tricks about organic gardening. Don’t miss more tips on how to get rid of slugs in your garden and organic gardening tips at How To Get Rid Of Slugs And More!
there’s also the less pleasant way to remove slugs – sprinkle with salt which dehydrates them, poor things!
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I think it’s much kinder to let them drown in the beer. Especially if they have drunk lots of it first and then they just slip away without realizing it. Hopefully?????
Yes, that does sound a lot kinder Karen :)
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Dear Amy,
I’ve done quite some research on slugs since we’ve had an invasion of a new species in our garden that doesn’t respond to the old tricks. In my research, and also in a course I took recently here in Germany, I’ve learned that beer traps (which we’ve used in our garden in the past) seem effective because they’re filled with slugs. BUT What happens is that you actually attract slugs from far-away places (like your neighbor’s garden) because they “smell” happy hour!
The slugs we have here know no fear or discomfort – they will slither over just about any surface – grit, eggshells, razor blades.
The copper pipes I’ve heard about and seem to be effective. I also saw a piece on BBC Gardeners World which involved installing copper pipes around the beds and simultaneously applying a bacteria (I think) which kills off the slugs.
I’ve found that certain varieties suit them less – my romana lettuces, for example, are usually left alone. Also, planting out at a later stage, where the older leaves are less of a delicacy, has worked well.
Slug season here in Germany has already started – they’re feasting on my Brussel Sprouts at this very moment…According to the German literature that I’ve read, there is no perfect solution for this plague in an organic garden, so we may need to join the guy who wrote a book titled (translated) “Have you kissed a slug today” (ie. if you can’t beat ‘em…)
I think there is a good clue here how to deal with slugs with beer. If they are so attracted that they will come from your next door neighbours garden then it seems likely that the best solution is to put the beer around the perimiters of your garden. Maybe then the slugs will crawl away from the main core of your garden to the edges where they can enjoy themsleves with “happy hour”
Bar open all day anyone :-)
Anyone tried this? I’ll give it a go this summer to see what happens.
I have a lot of problems with slugs in my garden and the only way that makes a difference is for me to collect them when they show up in the evening. some evenings I have collected over 500 slugs. I have a pair of scissors that I use to cut the heads ( the fastest way to die for a slug).
the most humane way for killing slugs is to put them in the freezer, they will drift off to sleep but never wake up. and for the precious plants you can always set up an electric fence, search on google. Well my war against the slugs will soon start again up here in sweden :)
Oh heck… I can’t imagine cutting thier heads off but I suppose it’s really quick and we can leave the bodies out for wildlife to eat.
I found this interesting post
Looks like getting a good balance of wildlife is the real answer…. :-)
I stopped putting out beer traps because I felt I was ‘breaking the food chain’ by using up more calories to grow lettuces than I was actually getting from the lettuce crop! Incidentally, I think traps always work more effectively if you cover them with broken crocks or bricks – it seems to give the gastropods an extra incentive to crawl in!
Thankfully we have shrews and plenty of toads in our garden which seem to keep pest populations in check.
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Yes the best answer is always to encourage more wildlife to help keep a balanced food chain. Weve had very mixed weather lately here in UK and my hostas are really starting to grow. It’s only a matter of time before the slugs and snails make their move to eat them. Our gardens around here are inundated with snails. Shame really because I do love snails they look really pretty moving along carrying their homes on their backs. Hmmm what to do????
Grow ferns instead? They have beautiful foliage too. Have you tried garlic sprays on your hostas?
Goo recently posted..April Flowers
Oh what a brilliant idea thanks Goo. I also have some wonderful ferns and your right they don’t bother with them at all.
Found a cool product for those of us who need to use garlic barriers in bulk. ( Im sure there are more sites that sell this too) http://www.garlicbarrier.com/testimonials.html and I also found the recipe ( looks a bit of a lot to do but there ya go) http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/natural-pesticide-garlic.html to make the garlic spray.
Love your site btw Goo!
brilliant idea Goo… and the garlic spray really does work. I saw all the smails slithering in the opposite direction ha ah who wouldn’t run away from the smell of garlic?
Yes GOO… Thats the real answer to maintaining the balance in your garden and controlling unwanted pests eating you flowers fruit and veg. Add a wildlife pond and bring forgs and toads into your garden and create lots of lovley places to encourage and help birds too. These are all natural predators for those insects like slugs and earwigs that you don’t want destroying your crops.
A new organic alternative that I found to work is called Slug Shield. And it lasts all season. They have a website.
Thanks for the tip on Slug Shield Jenn. Looks great!
wrap thin copper wire a couple of time around your plant pots and tubs and the slugs get a gentle electric shock and go away.
good idea Sue. I can imagine its a bit of a fiddly job securing the copper wire in place though so it doesn’t fall down to a place where it’s ineffective. But yes if it can control slugs and snails then it’s worth giving it a go.