Reader Question: How Do I Get Rid of Slugs?
I got a great question from a reader from the U.K., who asked:
"Slugs are becoming quite a problem in my vegetable garden. How can I get rid of these pests? Are there any predators that can help with my slug problem?"
Have you tried setting beer traps for the slugs? This simply involves putting a saucer of beer on the ground. The slugs are attracted to the odor of the beer, crawl in for a drink, and drown. You'll probably have to do this several times, but it does work. Another idea for "trapping" the slugs is to set half of an orange or grapefruit rind, round side up, in your garden and leave it overnight. The slugs will gather under the rind, and you can simply pick the whole thing up to dispose of several slugs at once. This can be a hit-or-miss method, but it may be worth a try.
Slug predators include birds and toads. I haven't been lucky enough to have any toads in my garden yet, but American robins are wonderful for taking smallish slugs out of my garden. I have a male robin who never fails to show up when I'm digging or weeding in my garden. I toss slugs and grubs his way when I come across them, and he gobbles them right up. I think we make a pretty good team!
Do you have any tips for dealing with slugs in your garden? Please share them with us in the comments!
Photo by Colleen Vanderlinden
Luckily, slugs aren’t much of a problem here. When I lived in Ottawa though, I tried all sorts of things. I didn’t have much success with the beer traps, but I used to put short pieces of boards around plants that were favourite slug feeders and they worked great. Just had to turn them over to find lots of slugs underneath. I also used to go out in the evenings and flick them off plants into a bowl of soapy water.
We have had a major slug problem in our yard now for two years. The beer traps didn’t work too well for us. Instead, we use a mulch of dandelions (slugs just love them) to attract them away from our veggies. My husband then slays them with a skewer or pours salt on them. We are lucky to have three toads in our garden, and they do help. I am anxious to try the orange/grapefruit trap. It sounds very user friendly. Thanks for giving us another weapon in our war on slugs.
Kate–the boards are a great idea too. At my last place, we had tons of slugs, and the beds were edged with timbers. They just loved to hide under there. Thanks for the tip!
Julie–The dandelions are an awesome idea for luring them away (and don’t we all have plenty of those?!) Thanks for sharing that tip. I keep hoping a toad will take up residence in our garden. We can hear them, so we know they’re not far, but we have yet to see them in our yard. I hope the grapefruit trick works for you–it’s definitely a winner in my garden.
Slugs – I had never had much of a problem with slubs in New England, but here in the PNW they are everywhere! A local gardner told me to sprinkle eggshells around my plants. I works – apparently they don’t like the sharp edges. Someone else suggested small pieces of gravel with sharp edges. The eggshells work, but it does take quite a few to make a barrier.
I also have a mole problem – any suggestions?
I have been successful getting rid of moles by using mothballs. Moles hate them.
Place some rocks in your garden. They like to hide under them! I have river rock (I actually got from the river)laid them in my yard to edge my flower bed, was gone for about 2 hours came back and there were slugs all over them! I didn’t know I even had slugs. I hadn’t seen them before. How do they just appear?