Slugs are one of the more annoying garden pests because they are gross and they will craw inside your larger vegetables like lettuce. However, they are also one of the easier pests to remove with organic methods that are safe for your pets and children. Here are some simple and effective methods for how to get rid of slugs in your garden.
Remove Slug Friendly Habitats
Slugs need damp cool places to hide during the day while they come out at night to feed and reproduce. Keep things like wood piles, rocks, and pots away from your garden that slugs cannot hide under. Also, water your garden in the morning so that by evening it is not damp to the touch.
Manual Removal
While it may be a little time consuming at first going through your garden just before dawn and picking out the slugs is an effective method to cut their population quickly. Use a flashlight to spot their shiny trails and follow it to the slug. After a couple days of this there should not be many slugs left in your garden.
Attract and Catch
To make it easier to manually remove slugs in your garden you can attract them to one area. Turn an empty pot upside down on an uneven surface creating a cool damp place for them to hide. Then in the afternoon go out, turn the pot over, and remove the hiding slugs. If you don’t have an empty pot available you can attract them with corn meal. Out a few tablespoons in the bottom of a jar and place the jar on its side near where the slugs have been active. Go out in the evening one the slugs are active and they will be in and around the corm meal jar.
Sand or Coffee Grounds
To keep slugs out of your garden so you don’t have to remove them later is with a barrier or fence. Slugs have very sensitive bellies and will not cross a thick barrier off rough or gritty substances. Pour a thick band around plants you want to protect from slugs and they will not cross it. Just be sure there are not slugs inside that sand “fence” or they will not ever leave. Crushed egg shells and salt work as well, but excess salt in your soil can be harmful to the plants you are trying to grow. Copper stripping of 2 inches or wider will work as well, but that can get expensive for larger areas. Since the slugs can’t get to the food in your garden they will move on looking for another place to find easily accessible meals.
Beer Trap
A very effective method to get rid of slugs in your garden is with a beer trap. Dig a couple 4 to 6 inch deep holes around the edge of your garden and put glass or plastic cups in them. The lip of the cup should be even with the top of the soil. Fill the cup about ¾ of the way with beer and wait. The slugs are attracted to the yeast in the beer. They will crawl into the cup and then drowned when they can’t get out. Ever morning just dump the slugs out, place the cup back and refill the beer.
Sources:
Amy Dingmann, “Garden Pests: How to Get Rid of Slugs in your Garden” Essortment.com
“How to Get Rid of Snails and Slugs Naturally” eHow
“How to Get Rid of Garden Slugs” WikiHow
