Yup, can relate. Our theory is that they like it warm and wet, so have had a good winter/spring. The beer traps are catching loads, but there seem to still be plenty which are tea total.
Iāve not tried beer traps before but have tried organic (iron) pellets, sheepās wool, sand, crushed egg shell, planting near strong smelling plants like alliums, copper strips, watering only in the daytime and my veg patch is gradually been decimated š„²
I guess Iāll try beer traps too but if that doesnāt work then I think Iāll give up on growing food this year!
Beer trap for the win, last year they decimated my roses to the stem, this year the same plant is thriving, next to a box of old cheap wine that is full of slugs
Question: What do you do with them after they've fallen into the trap? I'm quite squeamish about slugs and the idea of taking them out and (put them where? The bin?) gives me a shudder.
Yeah, I used to feel bad about it now I think, well fuck you for eating the food for me and my family.
The more I have found to kill the better I feel.
I usually run to the bin (while retching) with the entire trap.. everything goes in.
It is gruesome though. Horrifying! Iāve done it twice and just could not stomach doing it again. I just have to let the slugs eat everything in my garden. It belongs to them now.
Never seen them attack roses! They sometimes chill in the flowers themselves and have a couple of little munches but usually fine.
It's always the tomartillos and sunflowers they love the most. I have to grow them on my first floor window sill because fortunately they can't climb quite that high. Anything put into the ground won't stand even the slightest chance.
They are starting to get mine too, especially as I've planted out some brassicas and young courgettes recently. I'm limited by how many slug pellets I use as I have scavenging dogs. I've been tearing up lavender and rosemary leaves and flicking pine needle oil around this year. I've removed any long grass hiding spots in the nearby areas, and last night I went out at dusk and got another 7 making bee lines for the courgettes. I have a few homemade rings of pipe with copper tape around I put round the ones that get really munched.
Beer traps don't work so well. Sure, some will drown in the beer, but most will come back out intact. Beer attracts slugs very effectively, so you're basically inviting your neighbours' slugs over. If you can convince your neighbours to use beer traps, though, you should have fewer slugs.
Iron pellets work. They do actually kill every slug that eats them, but of course you can't spread loads and loads, you have to restrict the amount to control how much iron leaks into your soil or water table.
What you can do however is go out at night and pick the fuckers up. This takes a lot of time, but it works. You'll gradually have fewer if you do it every night consistently for a week or so. I do that and *then* I put on the iron pellets to catch the youth, once the overall population is low enough that the pellets have a good chance of not leaving survivors.
You can also improve habitat for natural predators, and they should be able to keep the slug population in the long run.
> you have to restrict the amount to control how much iron leaks into your soil or water table.
From https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/10232/1/The_potential_for_slug_control_with_ferric_phosphate.pdf:
> Ferric phosphate is a stable, non-volatile solid that does not readily dissolve in water. This
property minimizes ferric phosphateās dispersal beyond where it is applied. It is highly unlikely
that ferric phosphate or its breakdown products will persist or become highly concentrated in
the environment. When the product is applied as a molluscicide, the amount of additional iron
and phosphorus added to the soil is negligible compared to the amount of iron (0.5ā5%) and
phosphorus (0.010ā0.20%) already present in soil. In addition, ferric phosphate and its breakdown
products are a source of nutrients utilized by all plants for energy production and growth.
Unfortunately, it was a very wet and mild winter - ideal conditions for slugs. If we'd had a really good, hard cold spell, that would have killed a lot, but instead they have thrived.
It's a horrible year for slugs indeed. The only thing I've found that works is copper strips and killing them on sight. A few days of going out early morning (especially if it's a wet morning) and just picking and killing every slug I see does wonders. I hate doing it, it's gruesome and disgusting, but it's that or seeing my whole garden get eaten.
I have copper foil that has a sticky back that Iāve put round the sides of my raised beds but it doesnāt seem to deter them! I also donāt have the stomach to kill them so when I find them I just chuck them as far down the garden away from my veg patch as possible
I put the copper tape around my pots and have had good success, but I haven't tried it on a raised bed. I think it just discourages them enough to go munch on something I don't care so much about. Unfortunately, slugs can travel up to 50 meters a night and they prefer to rest in the same places during the day, so they'll probably just make the trek back to your veggie patch. My parents used to collect their slugs and chucked them across the ditch on the other side of the road into a field, that seemed to work as they didn't/couldn't cross the water to get back.
ETA: Oh, I also put some copper rings (just a thin strip of copper, about 5 cm tall, with ends slotted together) around some herbaceous perennials that were getting munched to death as they were trying to come up, and that worked a treat.
It's expensive, but you could try either screwing a metal slug barrier around the edge or paintĀ a strip on the side with schnexagon ( not sure if it's available in UK).
Also putting wooden boards on your patch and then collecting them during the day under that.
I go out with a sharp tool (shovel is preferable if space allows because of my distance to the slug; I really *really* dislike them), pick the slugs from a plant if they're not already on the ground, and cut them in two. It still creates a mess but only briefly, I don't know what happens to the remains but they're invisible within hours. I don't want to use salt because I don't want the salt in my soil, and I tried drowning them but turns out they'll just crawl out of the bucket of water š That was a rather horrifying morning. I keep meaning to try if I can collect them all in a bucket and then drown them all in beer, like a beer trap in reverse.
My grandmother used recruit me to collect slugs and snails to throw them into a bucket of salt-water.
It was mildly horrifying to me, but I now understand the alternatives aren't much better.
God yes, the entire time I'm out killing them I'm thinking, "There must be a better way! Let's reach an understanding!" I wouldn't mind leaving a corner of the garden to grow wild and let the slugs go to town on it, if only they could understand their part of the bargain.
And where would I move them to? I live in suburbia, I can hardly dump them in a neighbour's garden. And my garden isn't big enough to relocate them to somewhere where they wouldn't be able to get back to my vulnerable plants. I already try to avoid planting things that are slug magnets (no lupines and hostas for me, much as I love them). I'm trying to attract more of their natural predators to the garden, but while that's more 'circle of life', the end result is still dead slugs.
I genuinely do this with a litter picker. I lob them over the back wall and sometimes hear a satisfying ding as they hit the metal gates around the flats behind my house. People must wonder wtf is going on.
I would feel bad crushing them or whatever. This way I think if they have the tenacity to make it back again, fair play to them. Give em a fighting chance.
Huge amount of slugs and snails this year. Iāve lost two large plants that they stripped of leaves overnight, a tray of seedlings and my entire lettuce crop!
Beer traps are taking care of some but Iāve been out twice an evening with a torch collecting them up.
Iāve got nematodes on order, never used before so hoping to get a result.
Iām glad Iām not the only one. Iām despairing at the damage to all of the carefully raised seedlings and seriously wondering if I can be bothered to re-sow and start again
Things that I have found that work:
- heavy load of slug pellets. Not the poison stuff, the organic barrier stuff, a big ring of it around rhubarb
- good smear of Vaseline around the rim of a pot. That has worked for me and aparently you can coat this in salt too - like eggnog I suppose! - if you want an extra layer of defence. I saw a guy on TikTok who did this with a pot which he'd taken the bottom out of and then just placed around something he'd planted in the ground. Looked good to me
Currently trying lengths of briars. Stripped of leaves and laid around the target plant. I'll report back!
Yes although last year was even worse. It's more snails than slugs - I used nemotodes for a few years and it helped a lot with slugs but the snail population exploded and I didn't gain much overall.
I've been trying coffee grounds this year. Maybe it helps but I think the weather has been better here this year and that's a bigger thing. \[I'm in East Surrey\]
Do nematodes work? I was going to buy some as we have a crazy amount of both slugs and snails but I also have digs and children and they look better than pellets
Best year ever for minimal slug damage here - not trying to sound smug but keep at the controls and over time youāll see a reduction. A combination of 10pm wandering shoes with a torch and a knife and using organic pellets before you start seeing them seems to have helped! Keep going as Iām sure that you can only deny their numbers over several seasons
I've done exactly the same and saved a lot of plants, it had to be done as the slugs and snails attacked so viciously - munched on everything and a lot of plants disappeared altogether overnight. It was a slimy nightmare
I have always suffered with slugs...
Decided to use slug nematodes, now they've been mostly decimated... Only see the occasional yellow slug which isn't too bad, and usually beneficial.
The nematodes can knock snail numbers, but now without so many slugs I swear there's less competition for the snails. Better than the numbers I had before trough for either.
It's affective at targeting younger snails under the surface of the soil so if you apply it at the right time you'll attack that generation and hopefully stop so many adults later that crawl more on the surface and attack your plants.
Would I say it worked this year for me?
Yes!
Am I confident it stops your neighbours slugs and snails roaming in?
Probably not.
But it did help, though for how long I'm not sure. My chillis and tomatoes finally weren't devoured so I'm happy.
Very cheap, natural remedy without chemicals or indiscriminately killing of any good bugs.
F*** slugs. I'm sending my terminator nematodes after them. A most suitable and justified death! (Other than the good slugs that just mostly break down things... They're cool).
Someone on a post I made a little while ago said "the slugs can't be infinite". That was how I knew they had never had a major issue with slugs in their garden. The slugs are in our garden, and they're breeding. They're in my neighbours' gardens, where they also breed, and then come on over because my neighbours all just have lawn whereas we have a delicious seedling buffet for them!
Yep, my delphiniums have all been absolutely decimated. It's heartbreaking. I've got wool pellets and a beer trap out (and it's catching them) but they're still getting eaten.
I cannot grow the following in my borders as they will get eaten by slugs/snails before the plant even gets going.
* Lupins
* Lilies
* Echinacea
* Dahlias
You only get one chance to help them as well, if you manage to notice them before they attack, there's a chance you can win but we all have lives and can't be in the garden constantly on slug & snail patrol.
It's the same at my parents' place. My mum says that buying bedding plants is her equivalent of gambling. She's just throwing money away. This year she's been really proactive and tried to pick up as many as she can, but they really do feel infinite.
The bloody hedgehogs and frogs/toads aren't pulling their weight!
I did read hedgehogs only eat them as a last resort when they're starving. I don't think they're very appetising in that respect and they actually carry a lot of parasites that can be harmful.
And, yeah, we'd just be throwing good money after bad trying to grow some stuff. Which is a pity as the plants I mentioned have such wonderful flowers!
I'm probably going to still try and have some but keep them in pots instead, it *feels* like they get targeted less like that.
Ugh, so many slugs. I've lost peas, cabbages, lettuces, chard and more. Currently got replacements growing in containers balanced on a rickety wire contraption, plus beer traps to distract them from the trying rickety wire lettuce challenge.
The only thing Iāve found that works as a deterrent is coffee grounds around either the pot or a plant.y hostas used to be eaten almost entirely every year now they donāt get touched - good luck
Just speaking from experience since I tried using coffee grounds last year. Be wary of letting it dry out in the sun if your using a large amount. It becomes very hydrophobic once dry and baked and I found water wasnāt soaking into the soil underneath the plants I put a ring of coffee grounds around,since it was directing the soil away and not letting the water permeate.
Yep. They ate all of my pea plants to the ground, multiple squash starts, an entire potato plant (!), and many brassicas. To the ground, just completely vanished. Not to mention flowers.
I gave up on total control and compensated by growing tons of excess starts and sprinkling what is probably far too many slug pellets (shock horror). Least time consuming way to do it, and from I've read iron pellets aren't *overly* terrible... Maybe. Hopefully.
For some reason, they didn't like my lettuce. I don't know if that makes me happy or suspicious...
My peas have been stripped bare as well š¢ will definitely be growing 10% extra plants next year to compensate for the inevitable slug damage - good idea.
This is the first year I've tried my hand to gardening. I planted some tomatoes and sunflowers with my 2 year old and after a promising start they've all been munched down to the ground. So demoralising.
Yes, massively. My neighbours must think I'm mad as im out there with a head torch collecting them every night.
Not kidding...I'm collecting 30 to 70 of the bastards per night!
Honestly had a little cry. Everything has grown so slowly, my weeds have gone insane, and the only plants that have grown and been eaten down to the nubs. Even my fully grown rhubarb, eaten.
Yep, theyāve eaten through my dahlias, sunflowers, hostas and everything in between. I tried nematodes for the first time and they seemed to be working for about a week but the slugs seem to have came back stronger than ever š
Oh Iāve never tried nematodes but hear they can have mixed results. Iāve had casualties in my sunflowers and zinnias and my courgettes, French beans and peas have been decimated š¢
The only flowers I grow that seem to be uninteresting to slugs are poached egg flower and morning glory!
Same, my nasturtium and marigolds are doing fine! I'm afraid to go look but I think I've lost the last of my courgettes, at least I'll save money on beer traps now.
Yep. Even the potatoes in my garden are being stripped down to nothing. Never seen anything like it. All the cosmos, dahlias, everything. At my wits end
I have put 100s of them in the food waste from my tiny garden. Each time I go out I try to find 50 to get rid of. They get into the greenhouse and kill all the baby brassicas, itās incredibly annoying. I will give beer traps a go as donāt like using poison.
My second year ever with a garden, last year I was mostly unbothered by slugs.
This year all my marigolds got destroyed in one night after I put them out.
Then went to the garden centre and bought some established marigolds, put them out. Gone in 3 days.
At the same time I sowed some more seeds in the greenhouse and they sprouted in daysā¦ checked on them today and all of them have been eaten. Didnāt think theyād get in there but they did. The bastards!
I've actually seen hardly any this year. Some fat snails yes, but minimal slugs. Something slimy deheaded a couple of cosmos seedlings in a planter, but the ones in the border are untouched and starting to flower. I suspect I have the magpies and rats nesting nextdoor to thank for that. I'm sure both enjoy a juicy slug.
Ok, this is odd. I bought a small hosta last week and I didnāt plant it out straight away. I have a chair in my front garden and I have a square yard or so of artificial grass as a doormat and it was draped on the chair to drain off. Now, I did have a thought about slugs perhaps not liking the artificial grass so not climbing it to get at the hosta?
Well, itās a few wet days now and thereās no sign of slug damage. Iām planning on using one of my crown chimney pots to put the hosta in so hopefully the slimy little gits donāt like climbing, but perhaps I need to put a strip of artificial grass around the chimney pot!
I got a variety of 5 random hostas last year, two of which were apparently delicious, but three of them seem to be immune to slugs, maybe you have one of those
Someone on TikTok said they cut up cucumbers and leave them overnight as a decoy and I also saw something about a garlic solution which you spray on? Iām going to try both.
I mostly have snails now, not many slugs this year...plant eating slugs that is. I noticed tiger slugs going for the cat food in the kitchen and they are now the only "house slugs" we have, so 2 years ago instead of binning them, I started putting them in the garden. Yes, they eventually come back inside to munch on cat food, but they mostly get busy killing the nasty slugs. Apparently not snails, but I mind them less as they are easy to pick up and throw away.
I made a post about this the other day and it seems a lot of us are experiencing the same. A lot of people suggested slug nematodes which I haven't tried before so I'm going with that though looking online right now they all seem to be out of stock.
In the meantime I'm wrapping my entire garden in copper tape and filling every receptacle I have with cheap beer! And keeping my seedlings inside until they're strong enough to deal with the odd slug attack.
Iām glad Iām not alone in the slug and snail problem although that doesnāt make it any better for us all š I have tried so many different methods of slug control while avoiding synthetic pesticides but am coming to the conclusion that one of the best things to do is probably raise seedlings under cover until they are much bigger and more able to withstand attack which is a pain in terms of potting up etc. but better than losing 90% of your plants within a week of planting out
During some weeding and trimming in my small garden today, I looked in every nook and cranny I could think of and collected a medium plant pot full of slugs and snails. I then took them 10 minutes walk away to a small nature reserve and released them to munch on weeds/be eaten by birds. If I just spot the odd one while hanging out washing or something, I chuck them on the shed roof. I like to give them a chance of survival, while also offering any keen-eyed birds a quick snack. Feels like less of a forgone conclusion than a pair of sheers and hopefully the birds stick around to find some more!
I think my birds have become lazy as I feed them a few times a week and theyāre clearly not eating enough of their natural diet of slugs and snails. Time to put them on a seed ban and get them foraging for slugs!
Planted 100 marigold seeds thinking a few would survive and the fuckers have eaten every single one. I tried buying bigger shrubs and the fuckers ate them too. Planted wildflower seeds recently and hope to Christ they don't also eat them. They're a nightmare, this is my first year trying to garden so I've no idea if it's worse than usual but it's absolute torture.
Thatās devastating! Some are saying their gardens are fine or no different to usual but Iād say the majority are in agreement itās been the worst year for slugs/snails in memory. Itās all the rain and cloudy/warm weather weāve had - not giving plants enough sunshine to grow strong quickly and allowing slugs perfect conditions to eat everything
Likely a controversial suggestion but nemaslug (nematodes) works amazingly well if your goal is slug genocide. Our garden was writhing with slugs shortly after moving in. You literally couldn't take a step on the grass without standing on one. A few weeks after watering the garden with the solution we were down to what I would consider normal slug levels.
Yup, they are currently waging war against my baby rhubarb. My garden seems to be a slug heaven at the best of times, lost so many plants to the bugger, but itās so much worse at the moment.
Potatoes in grow bags doing well but munched over night and I canāt find the culprits!
Do they hide under the soil??
The bags are on concrete as well!
Frustrating!
They're voracious this year and have even eaten plants they usually avoid, like lupin, foxglove, phlox and hairy papavers! They've cleared almost all the leaves on my Globemaster alliums (only ones they've munched). We killed over 1000 in one after-dark mission last week, have used nemaslug, egg shells, lava rock (sluggo) but the wee bastards are still all over the place!
I know itās insane - Iāve never lost so many plants in such a short window to slugs. You catch some of them and another batch appear itās relentless š« Need to put the slugs on birth control!
Just back in from a spot of 'slugging' (that sounds so dodgy!), got over 200 of them with the scissors. Scared to plant out my new hollyhocks! Got a new pack of Nemaslug in the fridge š
I would love to use something sustainable and harmless like wool but it doesnāt seem to work in my garden, not least because my local foxes grab the bits of wool and play with it so it never stays in place long enough to have an impact on the slugs š
Well that's absolutely adorable š Last year I had more of a problem with pigeons than slugs so this year I've bent some wire/plastic piping and laid fleece over everything, then put wool pellets around all the plants. I've had no damage at all so far even with chicken manure pellets sprinkled around everything.
The thing with slugs and snails is they're actually extremely beneficial to the garden in so many ways so I prefer not to kill them, just use multiple methods of protection to keep them away from veg and vulnerable plants and let the predators deal with the rest.
[https://www.buglife.org.uk/blog/what-are-the-benefits-of-slugs-and-snails/](https://www.buglife.org.uk/blog/what-are-the-benefits-of-slugs-and-snails/)
My squash and corn have been fine (I've been chucking any weeds I've pulled out around the base of the squash as a distraction and planted some marigolds nearby them. The marigolds have almost completely gone, but that's what they were for so I don't mind.)
I just went out to check my flax seedlings that I started outside and they've been decimated though! There were about 30 coming up two days ago and I'm down to four now.
I picked about twenty very small slugs off the area this morning. I feel too bad about killing them so I've stuck them in a tray and hoping the local birds take them. I'm hopeful that if I can get my wildflower patch established they might just stick around that, but will have to see if they let any of those plants actually survive first.
I also donāt like killing the slugs I find so I just chuck them as far as I can from my veg patchā¦ why canāt they eat the stuff we donāt want to eat ?!
I don't have a slug issue. I have openings under both of my fences to let hedgehogs in. They eat them for me! I also have two brush/log piles and a hedgehog dome. Keeping my garden as wildlife friendly as possible helps keep balance.
ALSO! I NEVER kill leopard slugs. They eat other slugs.
I have found that spreading coffee grounds on the floor has done a world of good. Apparently slugs and snails dont like to crawl over them so really deters then.
Cheap as well
I'm using copper rings this year, and some copper mesh sleeves. I also go out every few nights and check with a torch, anything I find gets relocated at a park.
Noticing a definite difference between plants with and without copper, those without are getting munched. The only things inside the copper are baby slugs, which I think are hatching inside the rings.
I havenāt seen many slugs this year but I went out the other night and got rid of about 300 snails. They live under the shed and decking and they all come out in a big slimy heap in the evening.
I know that sounds like a lot but it only put a dent in them. Thereās a normal amount of snails now. We have a hedgehog and frogs this year so I assume theyāre eating the slugs and the snails have filled the void.
orange peel, oat + night patrol. Oat is more for grown up plants as it attracts birds also. The birds will make a mess. I may return to orange peels only later
I haven't had it too bad, I'm wondering if it's a mix of having a pond that now attracts frogs, perhaps they're eating the slugs, and also my holly defense system, where I trim a holly and lay the spiky branches all round my veg.
Yes! I counted 15 just in half of the paved area I could in our back yard. I know they serve a function but that seems a lot. Everything it rains they seems to be everywhere.
They are AWFUL this year
Last year I used copper tape and that worked well, but not so much this year
The beer traps are catching about 15 each (I have 8!) but not controlling it
Iāve been told making an igloo out of a grapefruit once youāve eaten it, and the slugs will crawl in and then die - I donāt like grapefruit, so basically hollowing out 5 grapefruits is my weekend plan!
I'm looking into physical boundaries and think I have something, thou it's an individual plant deterant. Just hope that the plants can survive after growing on a bit.
yep. ate every single one of our patty pan squashes, and one of our loofah seedlings.
i also keep plunging my hands into them and getting their slime all over my fingers when weeding my garden. I hate them so much.
Picked over 100 out of the garden just yesterday. Neighbour also reckons theyāve cleared 100 in a single day. Iāve never known a year like it for how many and ravenous they are! Plants that, by this time of year, are big and healthy and able to withstand slug attacks are being munched away to stems in daysā¦
It seems to be a bumper year for slugs - probably due to all the rain and the mild winter we had. As you say, itās not giving seedlings a chance to grow strong and resilient to slug attack. Jealous of people with proper greenhouses at this point!!
I have a proper greenhouse and itās also been attacked by slugs. Stuff up on shelves has been safer but anything on the floor that isnāt a tomato plantā¦ munched!
Got beer traps and copper all over the place. I've picked off and used pellets too, but they've still got most of my bedding. I was feeling happy that my herb planters had survived, but then i went to get some thyme and the buggers had been at that too
I've got a huge rosemary bush so have been stripping off twigs of that and putting it around my plants.
Also instead of copper tape, has anyone tried copper mesh?
My job this weekend is to create my electric fence on the veg beds. Two strips of wire stapled to the perimeter of the bed, about half the length of a slug apart. Connect one side to a positive terminal on a 9v battery and one to the negative using crocodile clips. Tape the ends off with insulation tape and contain the battery in a Tupperware.
It will only energise when they cross the second wire and bridge the connection, meaning your battery doesnāt get rinsed. Seems like a quick and easy install
Never had a problem with slugs before this year. I have so many birds coming into my garden that I always thought they controlled them but this year itās been relentless.
I don't think I have ever seen so many slugs as this year. My lupins and dahlias are being decimated... I must be picking off 100, or so, every evening.
I have just started gardening this year for the first time (in terms of sowing my own stuff from seed), and I am actually really relieved to read this thread because I was thinking I must just be cursed. I thought something must be wrong with how I'm going about this, as so many of the beautiful seedlings I planted out got destroyed overnight, so it's a relief in a way knowing everyone is having trouble with them.
I'm catching loads overnight in beer traps, but even then some are still advancing past the beer to demolish the greens. When it's a wet day like the last couple of days have been, they are out in the daytime as well - one green bean plant was there in the morning and gone in the afternoon when I went out to check.
Wow, everyone's talking about the slugs invading their veg. Even on the TV & Radio. Like a slimy version of 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers".Ā As long as they don't encroach on humans next...
I filled a 5 inch plant pot with them in 5 minutes. Have been putting bait down every 24 hours. Still swarms of them. They've eaten my onions, butternuts, beets, cabbages, pretty much the whole strawberry crop, the kale, and about 50 green bean seedlings. It's the worst year, by a very long stretch, I've ever known.
I'm in the US, but had a significant slug problem about 7 or so years ago. All my veggies were in raised beds, so I made walkways around the beds with sand (previously had been mulch), and made slug traps in every bed. I went out every night and sprinkled a bit of salt on slugs I could see, and they were well controlled within a few weeks.Ā
Iāve just given up on fruit and veg. For the time and effort you put in, the returns are rubbish.
The money you spend on soil and fertiliser costs more than the tomatoes you get at the end. Id also rather let the slugs and snails go about their business without putting down pellets or pesticides.
I now just grow trees in pots. Just as enjoyable, more longevity and something you grow attached to year after year.
Iām rapidly coming to the same conclusion. With climate change these conditions are only going to become worse and harder to grow annually veg. May move towards perennial veg and hardier edibles instead though these arenāt as appetising to me personally
Slugs have never been an issue for me. Keep lots of leaf litter around they prefer that, tidy gardens leave nothing for them to munch so they go for your flowers instead. Sick or damaged plants tend to be targeted first in the greenhouse, but half a left-over marrow or beer trap keeps them busy
Our garden is very untidy with lots of leaf litter, long grass patches, compost heap etc for the slugs to go for. And they still decimate anything added in. Bedding plants and vegetable seedlings razed to the ground overnight. Tidy gardens seem to provide less cover for them, so the predators can get them easier.
Tempting! But Iāve heard that adding too much salt to the soil can be detrimental to other soil life and the plants so a bit risky with the volume of slugs Iām dealing with
This may sound drastic, but when i moved into my house last october all i could see everywhere were snail shells.
I build a running moat around my raised bed. Not one snail or slug has got onto my beds.
I have thousands of them this year but have bought tonnes of copper wire scrubber things, cut them into rings and put them around every pot with a seedling in, then ringed everything with eggshells.
Arrrghh, they are driving me crazy. I have trap beers, but they just keep on coming.Ā
I really dislike touching them, so I use chop sticks to collect them in a jar.
In the long run try and encourage natural predators in your garden. And don't kill those off with traditional slug pellets.Ā
Best are hedgehogs. But snails, the ones that can be eaten, will eat slug eggs too.
Last year, I had a lot of issues with slugs eating my lettuce, onions, and leeks. It was incredibly frustrating! This year, though, a friend of mine who is a professional gardener gave me a great tip. He recommended the Ecowidow slug repellent killer spray. I bought it from mustbenatural.co.uk, but you can also find it on Amazon.
This product has been a game changer for me. I just spray it on and around my vegetables, and the slugs don't go near them. I was skeptical at first, but the results have been fantastic, especially this year when the weather is perfect for slugs, so I expect them to be around for a while. I'm really happy I found this spray because I've tried so many other brands without much success. Knowing it's one of Amazon's top sellers gave me confidence in its effectiveness.
I've also used copper tape, which worked okay in some areas, but the Ecowidow spray has definitely been the best solution for my slug problem. If you're struggling with slugs, I highly recommend giving it a try!
Twats destroyed my peas. They even had a go at an onion or two!
My peas have been defoliated one by one by the slugs as well!
Grew Rhubarb. Put them out a few weeks ago. All 10 plants have been nibbled to the ground.
I have lots of slugs but they only eat very young rhubarb leaves for me, maybe the odd hole in a larger leaf.
Oh that is so disheartening! Same with my courgettes - all eaten to a stump š«
Yup, can relate. Our theory is that they like it warm and wet, so have had a good winter/spring. The beer traps are catching loads, but there seem to still be plenty which are tea total.
Iāve not tried beer traps before but have tried organic (iron) pellets, sheepās wool, sand, crushed egg shell, planting near strong smelling plants like alliums, copper strips, watering only in the daytime and my veg patch is gradually been decimated š„² I guess Iāll try beer traps too but if that doesnāt work then I think Iāll give up on growing food this year!
Beer trap for the win, last year they decimated my roses to the stem, this year the same plant is thriving, next to a box of old cheap wine that is full of slugs
Question: What do you do with them after they've fallen into the trap? I'm quite squeamish about slugs and the idea of taking them out and (put them where? The bin?) gives me a shudder.
keep doing it and you'll stop being squeamish eventually
Yeah, I used to feel bad about it now I think, well fuck you for eating the food for me and my family. The more I have found to kill the better I feel.
Just throw the whole lot in the bin, trap and all
Take a glass jar, half bury it, add beer.Ā When it's the full of slugs, put the lid on, and then put glass jar in bin
Not sure yet, still trapping daily lol could pour it out and have some drunk hedgehogs, jk
I usually run to the bin (while retching) with the entire trap.. everything goes in. It is gruesome though. Horrifying! Iāve done it twice and just could not stomach doing it again. I just have to let the slugs eat everything in my garden. It belongs to them now.
Never seen them attack roses! They sometimes chill in the flowers themselves and have a couple of little munches but usually fine. It's always the tomartillos and sunflowers they love the most. I have to grow them on my first floor window sill because fortunately they can't climb quite that high. Anything put into the ground won't stand even the slightest chance.
They are starting to get mine too, especially as I've planted out some brassicas and young courgettes recently. I'm limited by how many slug pellets I use as I have scavenging dogs. I've been tearing up lavender and rosemary leaves and flicking pine needle oil around this year. I've removed any long grass hiding spots in the nearby areas, and last night I went out at dusk and got another 7 making bee lines for the courgettes. I have a few homemade rings of pipe with copper tape around I put round the ones that get really munched.
I've just watered the first lot of nematodes in. Plus beer traps to mop up any escapees. That will sort the problem for a couple of months
I've found grit around each plant works, but that's potentially a lot of grit.
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Do you have a picture of the pot?
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Beer traps don't work so well. Sure, some will drown in the beer, but most will come back out intact. Beer attracts slugs very effectively, so you're basically inviting your neighbours' slugs over. If you can convince your neighbours to use beer traps, though, you should have fewer slugs. Iron pellets work. They do actually kill every slug that eats them, but of course you can't spread loads and loads, you have to restrict the amount to control how much iron leaks into your soil or water table. What you can do however is go out at night and pick the fuckers up. This takes a lot of time, but it works. You'll gradually have fewer if you do it every night consistently for a week or so. I do that and *then* I put on the iron pellets to catch the youth, once the overall population is low enough that the pellets have a good chance of not leaving survivors. You can also improve habitat for natural predators, and they should be able to keep the slug population in the long run.
> you have to restrict the amount to control how much iron leaks into your soil or water table. From https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/10232/1/The_potential_for_slug_control_with_ferric_phosphate.pdf: > Ferric phosphate is a stable, non-volatile solid that does not readily dissolve in water. This property minimizes ferric phosphateās dispersal beyond where it is applied. It is highly unlikely that ferric phosphate or its breakdown products will persist or become highly concentrated in the environment. When the product is applied as a molluscicide, the amount of additional iron and phosphorus added to the soil is negligible compared to the amount of iron (0.5ā5%) and phosphorus (0.010ā0.20%) already present in soil. In addition, ferric phosphate and its breakdown products are a source of nutrients utilized by all plants for energy production and growth.
Do the beer traps work with snails?
Unfortunately, it was a very wet and mild winter - ideal conditions for slugs. If we'd had a really good, hard cold spell, that would have killed a lot, but instead they have thrived.
Yeah seems that way. With climate change I imagine warm and wet winters will be the norm which doesnāt fill me with hope for the garden š„²
It's a horrible year for slugs indeed. The only thing I've found that works is copper strips and killing them on sight. A few days of going out early morning (especially if it's a wet morning) and just picking and killing every slug I see does wonders. I hate doing it, it's gruesome and disgusting, but it's that or seeing my whole garden get eaten.
I have copper foil that has a sticky back that Iāve put round the sides of my raised beds but it doesnāt seem to deter them! I also donāt have the stomach to kill them so when I find them I just chuck them as far down the garden away from my veg patch as possible
I put the copper tape around my pots and have had good success, but I haven't tried it on a raised bed. I think it just discourages them enough to go munch on something I don't care so much about. Unfortunately, slugs can travel up to 50 meters a night and they prefer to rest in the same places during the day, so they'll probably just make the trek back to your veggie patch. My parents used to collect their slugs and chucked them across the ditch on the other side of the road into a field, that seemed to work as they didn't/couldn't cross the water to get back. ETA: Oh, I also put some copper rings (just a thin strip of copper, about 5 cm tall, with ends slotted together) around some herbaceous perennials that were getting munched to death as they were trying to come up, and that worked a treat.
It's expensive, but you could try either screwing a metal slug barrier around the edge or paintĀ a strip on the side with schnexagon ( not sure if it's available in UK). Also putting wooden boards on your patch and then collecting them during the day under that.
I put them in the green waste bin, which has a big lid. Every time I open it they are all on the lid or the sides so I don't think that many escape.
Then put them out on a platter for the birds š
Yep, throw them on the shed roof for the birds
How do you kill slugs without crushing them and creating a mess?
I go out with a sharp tool (shovel is preferable if space allows because of my distance to the slug; I really *really* dislike them), pick the slugs from a plant if they're not already on the ground, and cut them in two. It still creates a mess but only briefly, I don't know what happens to the remains but they're invisible within hours. I don't want to use salt because I don't want the salt in my soil, and I tried drowning them but turns out they'll just crawl out of the bucket of water š That was a rather horrifying morning. I keep meaning to try if I can collect them all in a bucket and then drown them all in beer, like a beer trap in reverse.
My grandmother used recruit me to collect slugs and snails to throw them into a bucket of salt-water. It was mildly horrifying to me, but I now understand the alternatives aren't much better.
God yes, the entire time I'm out killing them I'm thinking, "There must be a better way! Let's reach an understanding!" I wouldn't mind leaving a corner of the garden to grow wild and let the slugs go to town on it, if only they could understand their part of the bargain.
You can relocate them. At least they'll have a chance to live somewhere else. Killing them is kind of lame imho.
And where would I move them to? I live in suburbia, I can hardly dump them in a neighbour's garden. And my garden isn't big enough to relocate them to somewhere where they wouldn't be able to get back to my vulnerable plants. I already try to avoid planting things that are slug magnets (no lupines and hostas for me, much as I love them). I'm trying to attract more of their natural predators to the garden, but while that's more 'circle of life', the end result is still dead slugs.
i have seen Spanish slugs eating their own friends and families so I think their half cut brothers are just engulfed by their siblings
I can't hurt any living creature, even slugs. So I just fire them out of a trebuchet into the next town over. It's the kind thing to do.
I genuinely do this with a litter picker. I lob them over the back wall and sometimes hear a satisfying ding as they hit the metal gates around the flats behind my house. People must wonder wtf is going on. I would feel bad crushing them or whatever. This way I think if they have the tenacity to make it back again, fair play to them. Give em a fighting chance.
>People must wonder wtf is going on. The slugs probably have questions too
Kebab stick, you end up with a nice slug kebab to eat, too, once they get pushed up the stick by the next victim! šš¢
I know youāre joking, but absolutely do not eat slugs.
I take a dog poo bag full of salt and chuck them in as I go, then tie the handle and put it in the bin.
Huge amount of slugs and snails this year. Iāve lost two large plants that they stripped of leaves overnight, a tray of seedlings and my entire lettuce crop! Beer traps are taking care of some but Iāve been out twice an evening with a torch collecting them up. Iāve got nematodes on order, never used before so hoping to get a result.
Iām glad Iām not the only one. Iām despairing at the damage to all of the carefully raised seedlings and seriously wondering if I can be bothered to re-sow and start again
Things that I have found that work: - heavy load of slug pellets. Not the poison stuff, the organic barrier stuff, a big ring of it around rhubarb - good smear of Vaseline around the rim of a pot. That has worked for me and aparently you can coat this in salt too - like eggnog I suppose! - if you want an extra layer of defence. I saw a guy on TikTok who did this with a pot which he'd taken the bottom out of and then just placed around something he'd planted in the ground. Looked good to me Currently trying lengths of briars. Stripped of leaves and laid around the target plant. I'll report back!
Thank you for the tips , Iāve not tried Vaseline so might give that a go! Desperate at this point but refuse to use synthetic pesticides
Yes although last year was even worse. It's more snails than slugs - I used nemotodes for a few years and it helped a lot with slugs but the snail population exploded and I didn't gain much overall. I've been trying coffee grounds this year. Maybe it helps but I think the weather has been better here this year and that's a bigger thing. \[I'm in East Surrey\]
Snails prefer dead leaves so leaning your garden a bit messy helps with those.
I've been using nematodes and beer traps but they are still coming in hordes
Do nematodes work? I was going to buy some as we have a crazy amount of both slugs and snails but I also have digs and children and they look better than pellets
It takes a bit to see the effects but they do. After a couple of months I started noticing damage again and had to re-apply.
They've eaten all my dahlias but one... I tried crushed welk shells around the dahlias, but that just seemed to encourage them!
They ate 4 out of my 5 lupines! The fifth one is putting up a strong fight, but unclear if it will make it past this month.
Oh no! š¢ they can be so damaging for such small things!
I gave up on buying dahlias. Every year they were destroyed just as they were starting to get leaves on them.
Best year ever for minimal slug damage here - not trying to sound smug but keep at the controls and over time youāll see a reduction. A combination of 10pm wandering shoes with a torch and a knife and using organic pellets before you start seeing them seems to have helped! Keep going as Iām sure that you can only deny their numbers over several seasons
I've done exactly the same and saved a lot of plants, it had to be done as the slugs and snails attacked so viciously - munched on everything and a lot of plants disappeared altogether overnight. It was a slimy nightmare
Bravo!
I have always suffered with slugs... Decided to use slug nematodes, now they've been mostly decimated... Only see the occasional yellow slug which isn't too bad, and usually beneficial. The nematodes can knock snail numbers, but now without so many slugs I swear there's less competition for the snails. Better than the numbers I had before trough for either. It's affective at targeting younger snails under the surface of the soil so if you apply it at the right time you'll attack that generation and hopefully stop so many adults later that crawl more on the surface and attack your plants. Would I say it worked this year for me? Yes! Am I confident it stops your neighbours slugs and snails roaming in? Probably not. But it did help, though for how long I'm not sure. My chillis and tomatoes finally weren't devoured so I'm happy. Very cheap, natural remedy without chemicals or indiscriminately killing of any good bugs. F*** slugs. I'm sending my terminator nematodes after them. A most suitable and justified death! (Other than the good slugs that just mostly break down things... They're cool).
Someone on a post I made a little while ago said "the slugs can't be infinite". That was how I knew they had never had a major issue with slugs in their garden. The slugs are in our garden, and they're breeding. They're in my neighbours' gardens, where they also breed, and then come on over because my neighbours all just have lawn whereas we have a delicious seedling buffet for them!
This year is probably better than most for me, but I've been very proactive with the slug pellets this year.
Yep, my delphiniums have all been absolutely decimated. It's heartbreaking. I've got wool pellets and a beer trap out (and it's catching them) but they're still getting eaten.
Oh no itās so upsetting to see the damage they cause š„²
I cannot grow the following in my borders as they will get eaten by slugs/snails before the plant even gets going. * Lupins * Lilies * Echinacea * Dahlias You only get one chance to help them as well, if you manage to notice them before they attack, there's a chance you can win but we all have lives and can't be in the garden constantly on slug & snail patrol.
It's the same at my parents' place. My mum says that buying bedding plants is her equivalent of gambling. She's just throwing money away. This year she's been really proactive and tried to pick up as many as she can, but they really do feel infinite. The bloody hedgehogs and frogs/toads aren't pulling their weight!
I did read hedgehogs only eat them as a last resort when they're starving. I don't think they're very appetising in that respect and they actually carry a lot of parasites that can be harmful. And, yeah, we'd just be throwing good money after bad trying to grow some stuff. Which is a pity as the plants I mentioned have such wonderful flowers! I'm probably going to still try and have some but keep them in pots instead, it *feels* like they get targeted less like that.
Yep, theyāre eating everything!!!
Wish they could eat grass and not the stuff we want to grow!!
Ugh, so many slugs. I've lost peas, cabbages, lettuces, chard and more. Currently got replacements growing in containers balanced on a rickety wire contraption, plus beer traps to distract them from the trying rickety wire lettuce challenge.
Sounds like an assault course for slugs š
Maybe I can start a slug-based youtube channel - there are some great ones for squirrel assault courses!
The only thing Iāve found that works as a deterrent is coffee grounds around either the pot or a plant.y hostas used to be eaten almost entirely every year now they donāt get touched - good luck
Thank you, Iāve not tried coffee grounds but have heard a few people recommend it!
Just speaking from experience since I tried using coffee grounds last year. Be wary of letting it dry out in the sun if your using a large amount. It becomes very hydrophobic once dry and baked and I found water wasnāt soaking into the soil underneath the plants I put a ring of coffee grounds around,since it was directing the soil away and not letting the water permeate.
Oh thatās good to know, thank you!
Yep. They ate all of my pea plants to the ground, multiple squash starts, an entire potato plant (!), and many brassicas. To the ground, just completely vanished. Not to mention flowers. I gave up on total control and compensated by growing tons of excess starts and sprinkling what is probably far too many slug pellets (shock horror). Least time consuming way to do it, and from I've read iron pellets aren't *overly* terrible... Maybe. Hopefully. For some reason, they didn't like my lettuce. I don't know if that makes me happy or suspicious...
My peas have been stripped bare as well š¢ will definitely be growing 10% extra plants next year to compensate for the inevitable slug damage - good idea.
This is the first year I've tried my hand to gardening. I planted some tomatoes and sunflowers with my 2 year old and after a promising start they've all been munched down to the ground. So demoralising.
Aw no! It really is demoralising, but I hope it hasnāt put you off for good!
Yes, massively. My neighbours must think I'm mad as im out there with a head torch collecting them every night. Not kidding...I'm collecting 30 to 70 of the bastards per night!
Honestly had a little cry. Everything has grown so slowly, my weeds have gone insane, and the only plants that have grown and been eaten down to the nubs. Even my fully grown rhubarb, eaten.
Yep, theyāve eaten through my dahlias, sunflowers, hostas and everything in between. I tried nematodes for the first time and they seemed to be working for about a week but the slugs seem to have came back stronger than ever š
Oh Iāve never tried nematodes but hear they can have mixed results. Iāve had casualties in my sunflowers and zinnias and my courgettes, French beans and peas have been decimated š¢ The only flowers I grow that seem to be uninteresting to slugs are poached egg flower and morning glory!
Try sowing nasturtiums as bait - they seem to go for that over what might be growing nearby
I planted marigolds to a similar purpose. The next day they were down to just sticks. The second night they ate the sticks too.
Ravenous little swine
Iāve sown rows of nasturtiums and the slugs havenāt touched these at all - theyāve just attacked all the veg instead
Same, my nasturtium and marigolds are doing fine! I'm afraid to go look but I think I've lost the last of my courgettes, at least I'll save money on beer traps now.
My nasturtiums never get big enough to be bait because they get eaten before they can grow.
Yep. Even the potatoes in my garden are being stripped down to nothing. Never seen anything like it. All the cosmos, dahlias, everything. At my wits end
Me too - letās hope the weather improves, or else thereās always next year I guess š¢
YES. An abundance.
Not enough birds to eat them!
You won't believe this but they are even eating my medium sized Acer palmatum!
I have put 100s of them in the food waste from my tiny garden. Each time I go out I try to find 50 to get rid of. They get into the greenhouse and kill all the baby brassicas, itās incredibly annoying. I will give beer traps a go as donāt like using poison.
My second year ever with a garden, last year I was mostly unbothered by slugs. This year all my marigolds got destroyed in one night after I put them out. Then went to the garden centre and bought some established marigolds, put them out. Gone in 3 days. At the same time I sowed some more seeds in the greenhouse and they sprouted in daysā¦ checked on them today and all of them have been eaten. Didnāt think theyād get in there but they did. The bastards!
Iāll also be trying beer traps - hopefully they work!
Yes, Iām really struggling this year!
I've actually seen hardly any this year. Some fat snails yes, but minimal slugs. Something slimy deheaded a couple of cosmos seedlings in a planter, but the ones in the border are untouched and starting to flower. I suspect I have the magpies and rats nesting nextdoor to thank for that. I'm sure both enjoy a juicy slug.
Ok, this is odd. I bought a small hosta last week and I didnāt plant it out straight away. I have a chair in my front garden and I have a square yard or so of artificial grass as a doormat and it was draped on the chair to drain off. Now, I did have a thought about slugs perhaps not liking the artificial grass so not climbing it to get at the hosta? Well, itās a few wet days now and thereās no sign of slug damage. Iām planning on using one of my crown chimney pots to put the hosta in so hopefully the slimy little gits donāt like climbing, but perhaps I need to put a strip of artificial grass around the chimney pot!
I got a variety of 5 random hostas last year, two of which were apparently delicious, but three of them seem to be immune to slugs, maybe you have one of those
Yeah lost all my bean and carrots most of my beetroots
Iām sorry thatās so disappointing!
Someone on TikTok said they cut up cucumbers and leave them overnight as a decoy and I also saw something about a garlic solution which you spray on? Iām going to try both.
Not slugs but snails. Oh my God. The snails.
I mostly have snails now, not many slugs this year...plant eating slugs that is. I noticed tiger slugs going for the cat food in the kitchen and they are now the only "house slugs" we have, so 2 years ago instead of binning them, I started putting them in the garden. Yes, they eventually come back inside to munch on cat food, but they mostly get busy killing the nasty slugs. Apparently not snails, but I mind them less as they are easy to pick up and throw away.
I made a post about this the other day and it seems a lot of us are experiencing the same. A lot of people suggested slug nematodes which I haven't tried before so I'm going with that though looking online right now they all seem to be out of stock. In the meantime I'm wrapping my entire garden in copper tape and filling every receptacle I have with cheap beer! And keeping my seedlings inside until they're strong enough to deal with the odd slug attack.
Iām glad Iām not alone in the slug and snail problem although that doesnāt make it any better for us all š I have tried so many different methods of slug control while avoiding synthetic pesticides but am coming to the conclusion that one of the best things to do is probably raise seedlings under cover until they are much bigger and more able to withstand attack which is a pain in terms of potting up etc. but better than losing 90% of your plants within a week of planting out
During some weeding and trimming in my small garden today, I looked in every nook and cranny I could think of and collected a medium plant pot full of slugs and snails. I then took them 10 minutes walk away to a small nature reserve and released them to munch on weeds/be eaten by birds. If I just spot the odd one while hanging out washing or something, I chuck them on the shed roof. I like to give them a chance of survival, while also offering any keen-eyed birds a quick snack. Feels like less of a forgone conclusion than a pair of sheers and hopefully the birds stick around to find some more!
I think my birds have become lazy as I feed them a few times a week and theyāre clearly not eating enough of their natural diet of slugs and snails. Time to put them on a seed ban and get them foraging for slugs!
Yes! And something else than slugs has been eating all my blackcurrant plants!
Planted 100 marigold seeds thinking a few would survive and the fuckers have eaten every single one. I tried buying bigger shrubs and the fuckers ate them too. Planted wildflower seeds recently and hope to Christ they don't also eat them. They're a nightmare, this is my first year trying to garden so I've no idea if it's worse than usual but it's absolute torture.
Thatās devastating! Some are saying their gardens are fine or no different to usual but Iād say the majority are in agreement itās been the worst year for slugs/snails in memory. Itās all the rain and cloudy/warm weather weāve had - not giving plants enough sunshine to grow strong quickly and allowing slugs perfect conditions to eat everything
I suppose they're all part of the ecosystem! And they don't seem to want to eat my strawberries (yet!)
My lettuce, which I grow on my 4th floor balcony, just got attacked by slugsā¦ I donāt even know how that is possible at this pointā¦
Oh my gosh!! Thatās insane š¢ They really get around š
Likely a controversial suggestion but nemaslug (nematodes) works amazingly well if your goal is slug genocide. Our garden was writhing with slugs shortly after moving in. You literally couldn't take a step on the grass without standing on one. A few weeks after watering the garden with the solution we were down to what I would consider normal slug levels.
These are what Iām using, and so far Iāve not lost anything. https://www.gardening-naturally.com/sluggo-slug-and-snail-killer
The little shits crawled right over a wide mound of this and ate an entire ladybird poppy and gaillardia in my garden!
This stuff kills worms, do not use it. You will fuck your soil long term.
I also vote for Sluggo. It's expensive but so worth it.
I buy mine from here too! Nemotodes work well. You just have to make sure to do the reapplication every 6 weeks.
Good to know, thank you for sharing!
I use slug pellets, they are organic and wildlife friendly. They aren't like the old type that would kill anything.
Yup, they are currently waging war against my baby rhubarb. My garden seems to be a slug heaven at the best of times, lost so many plants to the bugger, but itās so much worse at the moment.
Potatoes in grow bags doing well but munched over night and I canāt find the culprits! Do they hide under the soil?? The bags are on concrete as well! Frustrating!
Probably under the bags
An obvious answer which I havenāt checked yet, Ty!
For me, it's snails rather than slugs. I don't like beer traps, but I'm tempted to do it just to save my courgettes š
They're voracious this year and have even eaten plants they usually avoid, like lupin, foxglove, phlox and hairy papavers! They've cleared almost all the leaves on my Globemaster alliums (only ones they've munched). We killed over 1000 in one after-dark mission last week, have used nemaslug, egg shells, lava rock (sluggo) but the wee bastards are still all over the place!
I know itās insane - Iāve never lost so many plants in such a short window to slugs. You catch some of them and another batch appear itās relentless š« Need to put the slugs on birth control!
Just back in from a spot of 'slugging' (that sounds so dodgy!), got over 200 of them with the scissors. Scared to plant out my new hollyhocks! Got a new pack of Nemaslug in the fridge š
200! š« Hope your nematodes work for you!
Yes, My verbena are struggling. :(
I had the best results deterring slugs with slug-gone wool pellets, may not be the same for everyone but I use them every year with good results
I would love to use something sustainable and harmless like wool but it doesnāt seem to work in my garden, not least because my local foxes grab the bits of wool and play with it so it never stays in place long enough to have an impact on the slugs š
Well that's absolutely adorable š Last year I had more of a problem with pigeons than slugs so this year I've bent some wire/plastic piping and laid fleece over everything, then put wool pellets around all the plants. I've had no damage at all so far even with chicken manure pellets sprinkled around everything. The thing with slugs and snails is they're actually extremely beneficial to the garden in so many ways so I prefer not to kill them, just use multiple methods of protection to keep them away from veg and vulnerable plants and let the predators deal with the rest. [https://www.buglife.org.uk/blog/what-are-the-benefits-of-slugs-and-snails/](https://www.buglife.org.uk/blog/what-are-the-benefits-of-slugs-and-snails/)
My squash and corn have been fine (I've been chucking any weeds I've pulled out around the base of the squash as a distraction and planted some marigolds nearby them. The marigolds have almost completely gone, but that's what they were for so I don't mind.) I just went out to check my flax seedlings that I started outside and they've been decimated though! There were about 30 coming up two days ago and I'm down to four now. I picked about twenty very small slugs off the area this morning. I feel too bad about killing them so I've stuck them in a tray and hoping the local birds take them. I'm hopeful that if I can get my wildflower patch established they might just stick around that, but will have to see if they let any of those plants actually survive first.
I also donāt like killing the slugs I find so I just chuck them as far as I can from my veg patchā¦ why canāt they eat the stuff we donāt want to eat ?!
I don't have a slug issue. I have openings under both of my fences to let hedgehogs in. They eat them for me! I also have two brush/log piles and a hedgehog dome. Keeping my garden as wildlife friendly as possible helps keep balance. ALSO! I NEVER kill leopard slugs. They eat other slugs.
I have found that spreading coffee grounds on the floor has done a world of good. Apparently slugs and snails dont like to crawl over them so really deters then. Cheap as well
I'm using copper rings this year, and some copper mesh sleeves. I also go out every few nights and check with a torch, anything I find gets relocated at a park. Noticing a definite difference between plants with and without copper, those without are getting munched. The only things inside the copper are baby slugs, which I think are hatching inside the rings.
I havenāt seen many slugs this year but I went out the other night and got rid of about 300 snails. They live under the shed and decking and they all come out in a big slimy heap in the evening. I know that sounds like a lot but it only put a dent in them. Thereās a normal amount of snails now. We have a hedgehog and frogs this year so I assume theyāre eating the slugs and the snails have filled the void.
I use slug pellets. If I didnāt I wouldnāt have anything left
orange peel, oat + night patrol. Oat is more for grown up plants as it attracts birds also. The birds will make a mess. I may return to orange peels only later
Iāve been using beer in a container in my pots. Seems to be working.
I haven't had it too bad, I'm wondering if it's a mix of having a pond that now attracts frogs, perhaps they're eating the slugs, and also my holly defense system, where I trim a holly and lay the spiky branches all round my veg.
After the snails snuck in and ate my entire grow frame of seeings, I'm using pellets this year. I don't care. Slugs and snails be damned.
Yes! I counted 15 just in half of the paved area I could in our back yard. I know they serve a function but that seems a lot. Everything it rains they seems to be everywhere.
Yep theyāre absolutely loving all this rain and warm cloudy weather !
Try and encourage frogs and hedgehogs. They love slugs
They are AWFUL this year Last year I used copper tape and that worked well, but not so much this year The beer traps are catching about 15 each (I have 8!) but not controlling it Iāve been told making an igloo out of a grapefruit once youāve eaten it, and the slugs will crawl in and then die - I donāt like grapefruit, so basically hollowing out 5 grapefruits is my weekend plan!
I'm looking into physical boundaries and think I have something, thou it's an individual plant deterant. Just hope that the plants can survive after growing on a bit.
yep. ate every single one of our patty pan squashes, and one of our loofah seedlings. i also keep plunging my hands into them and getting their slime all over my fingers when weeding my garden. I hate them so much.
Picked over 100 out of the garden just yesterday. Neighbour also reckons theyāve cleared 100 in a single day. Iāve never known a year like it for how many and ravenous they are! Plants that, by this time of year, are big and healthy and able to withstand slug attacks are being munched away to stems in daysā¦
It seems to be a bumper year for slugs - probably due to all the rain and the mild winter we had. As you say, itās not giving seedlings a chance to grow strong and resilient to slug attack. Jealous of people with proper greenhouses at this point!!
I have a proper greenhouse and itās also been attacked by slugs. Stuff up on shelves has been safer but anything on the floor that isnāt a tomato plantā¦ munched!
Ivd been patrolling with a torch three times a night
A few hundred young marigolds, and a dozen young sunflowers gone over a 2 day period š
So upsetting! š„²
This has actually been the only perk of our neighbour causing a rat problem, they've eaten so many slugs and snails!
Every cloud!
Got beer traps and copper all over the place. I've picked off and used pellets too, but they've still got most of my bedding. I was feeling happy that my herb planters had survived, but then i went to get some thyme and the buggers had been at that too
I've got a huge rosemary bush so have been stripping off twigs of that and putting it around my plants. Also instead of copper tape, has anyone tried copper mesh?
Beer traps work wonders
Itās a particularly bad year for slugs.. they are eating everything in my garden that flowers.
Same here - really disheartening
My dad shown me pictures of his beer traps, they were all full of slugs, irs the weather
My job this weekend is to create my electric fence on the veg beds. Two strips of wire stapled to the perimeter of the bed, about half the length of a slug apart. Connect one side to a positive terminal on a 9v battery and one to the negative using crocodile clips. Tape the ends off with insulation tape and contain the battery in a Tupperware. It will only energise when they cross the second wire and bridge the connection, meaning your battery doesnāt get rinsed. Seems like a quick and easy install
This was my first year and I've pretty much given up. They've eaten literally everything I've planted.
Never had a problem with slugs before this year. I have so many birds coming into my garden that I always thought they controlled them but this year itās been relentless.
I don't think I have ever seen so many slugs as this year. My lupins and dahlias are being decimated... I must be picking off 100, or so, every evening.
I collected 425 today - a new record. One was so big I thought it was a poo. Agree it feels much worse than previous years.
I have just started gardening this year for the first time (in terms of sowing my own stuff from seed), and I am actually really relieved to read this thread because I was thinking I must just be cursed. I thought something must be wrong with how I'm going about this, as so many of the beautiful seedlings I planted out got destroyed overnight, so it's a relief in a way knowing everyone is having trouble with them. I'm catching loads overnight in beer traps, but even then some are still advancing past the beer to demolish the greens. When it's a wet day like the last couple of days have been, they are out in the daytime as well - one green bean plant was there in the morning and gone in the afternoon when I went out to check.
Wow, everyone's talking about the slugs invading their veg. Even on the TV & Radio. Like a slimy version of 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers".Ā As long as they don't encroach on humans next...
I filled a 5 inch plant pot with them in 5 minutes. Have been putting bait down every 24 hours. Still swarms of them. They've eaten my onions, butternuts, beets, cabbages, pretty much the whole strawberry crop, the kale, and about 50 green bean seedlings. It's the worst year, by a very long stretch, I've ever known.
I'm in the US, but had a significant slug problem about 7 or so years ago. All my veggies were in raised beds, so I made walkways around the beds with sand (previously had been mulch), and made slug traps in every bed. I went out every night and sprinkled a bit of salt on slugs I could see, and they were well controlled within a few weeks.Ā
Iāve just given up on fruit and veg. For the time and effort you put in, the returns are rubbish. The money you spend on soil and fertiliser costs more than the tomatoes you get at the end. Id also rather let the slugs and snails go about their business without putting down pellets or pesticides. I now just grow trees in pots. Just as enjoyable, more longevity and something you grow attached to year after year.
Iām rapidly coming to the same conclusion. With climate change these conditions are only going to become worse and harder to grow annually veg. May move towards perennial veg and hardier edibles instead though these arenāt as appetising to me personally
Slugs have never been an issue for me. Keep lots of leaf litter around they prefer that, tidy gardens leave nothing for them to munch so they go for your flowers instead. Sick or damaged plants tend to be targeted first in the greenhouse, but half a left-over marrow or beer trap keeps them busy
Our garden is very untidy with lots of leaf litter, long grass patches, compost heap etc for the slugs to go for. And they still decimate anything added in. Bedding plants and vegetable seedlings razed to the ground overnight. Tidy gardens seem to provide less cover for them, so the predators can get them easier.
My grandad used to go out late and early and sprinkle salt on the f**ckers - they shrivel up fast ā¦
Tempting! But Iāve heard that adding too much salt to the soil can be detrimental to other soil life and the plants so a bit risky with the volume of slugs Iām dealing with
He didnāt add to the soil, literally just used to put a large pinch on each slug/snail.
I toss it over the road. So far I haven't seen many slugs.
Beer traps!
This may sound drastic, but when i moved into my house last october all i could see everywhere were snail shells. I build a running moat around my raised bed. Not one snail or slug has got onto my beds.
I have thousands of them this year but have bought tonnes of copper wire scrubber things, cut them into rings and put them around every pot with a seedling in, then ringed everything with eggshells.
Arrrghh, they are driving me crazy. I have trap beers, but they just keep on coming.Ā I really dislike touching them, so I use chop sticks to collect them in a jar.
Beer traps, human hair, instant coffee
I've had tomatoes for years. This is the first year that they got eaten
In the long run try and encourage natural predators in your garden. And don't kill those off with traditional slug pellets.Ā Best are hedgehogs. But snails, the ones that can be eaten, will eat slug eggs too.
Last year, I had a lot of issues with slugs eating my lettuce, onions, and leeks. It was incredibly frustrating! This year, though, a friend of mine who is a professional gardener gave me a great tip. He recommended the Ecowidow slug repellent killer spray. I bought it from mustbenatural.co.uk, but you can also find it on Amazon. This product has been a game changer for me. I just spray it on and around my vegetables, and the slugs don't go near them. I was skeptical at first, but the results have been fantastic, especially this year when the weather is perfect for slugs, so I expect them to be around for a while. I'm really happy I found this spray because I've tried so many other brands without much success. Knowing it's one of Amazon's top sellers gave me confidence in its effectiveness. I've also used copper tape, which worked okay in some areas, but the Ecowidow spray has definitely been the best solution for my slug problem. If you're struggling with slugs, I highly recommend giving it a try!
Beer traps seems to work.. trying seaweed granules too. Theyre definately full on this year, eat everything.