Any tips for keeping slugs at bay?

Last year slugs completely destroyed my hostas. I tried baiting them with beer, but that didn't work for me. My plants were gnawed to bits and looked so ugly by July that I was ashamed for anyone to see them. I'd like to prevent the same thing from happening this year if possible.

Does anyone know of any really good methods for keeping slugs away from hostas and other plants? Originally I wanted a more organic solution (hence the beer bait), but at this point I'm willing to try anything, organic or not.

Help!

i too tried the beer bait and it didnt work. What kinda worked for me is laying wet newspapers in a shaded area (I put it under my sea lavender leaves) they slugs and snails would crawl into and hide in the newspaper, and I would just pick it up and throw it away, snails, slugs and all. I used the whole newspaper, when done reading I refolded it, put the band back on it and dunk it in a pail of water, then just stuck it under the leaves.

I have heard that copper strips work too, I am going to try them around my containers this time to see f they really do work. something about the snails dont like to cross the copper?

I'll keep watching this thread to see if anyone else has an idea that might work better :o)

I only had luck with the beer bait if I buried a three inch shallow bowl about a 1" below the soil line under leaf cover and kept it full every night. Newspaper soaked in the beer might draw them. I finally saved my garden by going out early in the morning with the salt shaker.(*wince*) I know that sounds terrible, but I was determined to get One meal out of the work I put in in planting that year! I also went out armed with flour for the worms! I had beautiful turnips but stems for tops! My greens were so eaten up I pulled them. I do not know which did the damage, but both drew my evil eye. I will be watching also for any tips.

They won't cross copper barriers, so you can do that. Or try a slug/snail bait made with iron phosphate (whatever you do, don't get snail bait with metaldehyde as the active, it's very toxic to pets)

Sluggo is safe to use around areas where pets or children may touch things. The slugs eat it and go off to die so don't expect to see them die on the spot.

Lee Valley Tools sells the copper stripping.

I'm trying coffee grounds this year around all the hosta and there's a thread that's all about coffee grounds on the Rose forum.

it is gross, but as far as chemical gree, salt works great. you just have to reapply it after any rain or heavy dew.

I just read something about using diatomaceous earth as a slug defense. Has anyone tried that with any success?

There's a thread about this on the hosta forum, too. Apparently if you dilute ammonia 1 part to 10 and apply that around your hostas it won't harm the hostas but will kill the slugs and their eggs. I haven't tried it but plan to this year

Kayly - I'd have gone to the diatomaceous route myself but I read that it has to be reapplied after every rain or watering.

Today I read that molasses can be used as beer, in a saucer. It still leaves us to empty it. I'd prefer the newspapers or Sluggo.

how do the coffe grounds work? do you just sprinkle them on top of the beds? I have lots and lots of coffe grounds, so this may be a solution for me.

Beer did not work at all for me, either.

For some reason, I only found Sluggo effective early in the season. Then it just seemed to stop working.. even though I kept putting more out, constantly. I also think chipmunks were eating it, which didn't help The super toxic stuff is not an option for me because of my dogs, but I understand it works. I may try copper this year, even though I'd really be happier if the slugs were just, well, dead. I also always take the time to hunt them down after a rain, which brings them out.

dont you need to keep some slugs and snails in the garden? I thought that you dont want to kill them all cause you need a healthy balance? just curious if anyone knows....

The only way I can think of that they'd be beneficial is that some birds eat them, but I imagine most of those birds eat other things too and honestly there's no way you're going to get them all, so I don't think there's too much to worry about. If you're worried about it, use the copper barriers instead, that'll protect your plants but won't kill the snails.

I should also add...I don't think Sluggo and that sort of thing kills anything besides slugs/snails. When people talk about keeping a healthy balance, a lot of times it's in the context of killing insects--with them, the spray that you use to kill the bad bugs kills the good bugs along with it so it upsets that balance, but with slugs/snails it's a different situation, at least with things like iron phosphate you're not going to harm anything besides the slugs/snails.

I have to admit, when I watched the chipmunk stuffing his cheeks with the Sluggo, I was a bit concerned about him. I know they are a pest, but I'd still feel bad killing them. I can't imagine all that Sluggo was good for them.

I think I will get some copper and make some bands around some hostas right after they start to emerge. The most important thing is that they stay off my hostas. I hate that they are so attracted to those. I have even tried to plant mostly "slug resistant" hostas, but they still find a way to ruin them.

Does anyone know if the slug/snail bait made with iron phosphate will harm the earthworms?

I thought that sluggo was poisonous for dogs? is there a new formula?

There are liquid sprays for snails and slugs which have metaldehyde as the active ingredient, (which is the same ingredient in many snail baits and meals,) only this comes in a bottle and you mix it with water and spray it on.

One such product is called SLUG - IT

I have used it with good success as a foliar spray and then use Sluggo as a follow up/back up treatment. It lasts well in wet weather conditions. You may try using it, and spray at night when they're out actively foraging your plants . I have found that spraying at night (after a rain or after you've watered) works best because you can actually see the slugs and and can direct the spray right on them. It will also kill the adults...snails AND slugs. When I use it, I really DRENCH everything from all angles.

I have cats and don't let them out while I'm spraying, and not until I'm sure it's dry. I haven't had any ill-effects from using it as far as cats are concerned. I need to use it right now, in fact, but I'm out of it !

Here is the link to the co. that makes it. If you can't find it where you are, you can probably get it on-line if it isn't banned for use where you live.

www.monterey/lawngarden.com

Sluggo, from all I've read, will not hurt any birds or animals or even other insects. The Diotamaceous earth will kill off the earwigs, which do great damage here to clematis.

The copper barrier is useless if the hosta leaves touch the ground as many do. The slugs will just crawl up the leaves.

Our radio gardening guy, Ralph Snodsmith, lays down a board at night and the slugs congregate below it and then he picks them off the board and drops them in a can of water and kerosene. The newspaper that was previously mentioned sounds easier.

oneanjl - just sprinkle the grounds (cooled off) around the plants, directly on the earth.

I had a flat of annuals that I didnlt get to for FOREVER and was continuously pulling the sluhgs out of the bottoms of those little cells. They found those to be nice homes almost thought about doing it on purpose this year LOL

Great idea for a new slug trap.

Best thing to do with the slug/snail products is always check the label--there are a lot of brand names out there that sound similar to each other, and a lot of brands have a couple of different formulas where some may have safer ingredients than the others, so I would always check the label. If it has metaldehyde as the active, don't get it if you have pets (and since it's so toxic to pets, I imagine it probably isn't good for any other sort of animals that might be in your garden) As far as I know, the Sluggo brand only uses the safer ingredients, but it only takes a few seconds to check the label, I'd recommend doing that with any pesticide that you buy.

I guess Im too scared to use anything with chemicals. My puppy is only 4 1/2 pounds, so he is more suseptible (sp?) to things than most animals. I also will have a grand baby crawling/toddling around. I dont mind picking up a wet newspaper every week ~ heck my paper boy always throws my newspaper in the nearest puddle anyways! LOL.

I also have some redwood containers that my DH built for me. The slugs and snails love to hide between the container and the wall to the house, so I usually hose them off when I water, and just let them float down the street :o)- my neighbors probably hate me :o)

I'm too afraid to use anything with metaldehyde too, even if I was super careful. I'd just never forgive myself if my dogs got into it, as that stuff is bad news. I use Sluggo liberally, but even that I put in the areas where my dogs are kept out of. I do have some hostas whose leaves don't touch the ground, so I would still like to give the copper a shot for those. (They are pretty young hostas) . I also always find slugs hanging out in the bottoms of nursery plants that are still in their pots. Even if you kill all you find, it's the ones that you know are out there, feasting in the night, that ruin my mornings when I walk out to survey the garden. I had some last year that ate big holes in the petioles of my "slug resistant" hostas, causing the whole leaf to collapse.

I alsocan't stand earwigs!! They may do some of the damage that I blame the slugs for. I believe I saw something online about a version of Sluggo that took care of earwigs, too, but I don't know if that is still safe to use around pets.

"Sluggo Plus " has earwig killer in it.

so the sluggo really will be safe for my lil dog? I think Im just a lil paranoid because he is so tiny. I went to buy bloodmeal to add to my lasagna beds, and after I read the package, I took it back to the store. then someone else on here said its safe if you mix it in the soil really well. I'm just not sure I want to take the chance on the blood meal. I do have some beds that are up high and the doggie cant get to them, so maybe I'll try sluggo in those.

Re: the copper strips and leaves touching the ground. Cant you just put the copper tape around the whole bed? my beds are edged off with redwood 2x4's I was just going to put the copper tape all along the top side of the 2x4 and then clean all the snails out of the beds. if they wont cross the copper, wouldnt this work?

For what you'd pay for that much copper tape, you could probably just buy lengths of 1/2" copper pipe and edge the top of the beds with it, and it would last a lot longer, too. It will develop that green patina in time and not stand out so much.

The good thing about sluggo is that the granules are very small and you sprinkle it. It doesn't fall on the ground in large obvious clumps, like snail meal or pellets, so your pet won't be as apt to ingest any large amount of it.

If you use sluggo at the very beginning of the season, you have better luck at controlling the snail and slug population while it's still minimal.

Noreaster - here's what the copper tape looks like on the page from Lee Valley Tools:

Thanks, Pirl. Now that scares me, reading that there are "large, determined slugs" that may try to cross it. Hm. I think I have large, determined slugs in this yard, lol.

oneanjl, you could edge the whole bed, but you'd have to be sure that it was slug free before you did that. I use mulch, so I assume they burrow down in there during the day. I guess I was thinking off fashioning some sort of collar out of the copper. The Sluggo people say it's pet safe, but I'm crazy paranoid about stuff around my dogs, too, so like I said, I use it, but I make sure to use it in the places my dogs keep out of. I have to research the pesticide that is included in Sluggo Plus that is for earwigs.

Here, this is what I want to try to make. If it actually works, it would be worth the cost because I really can't stand going out and finding big holes in my hosta, or whole leaves collapsed because of holes in the petioles! I also just read that you should have about 3" of copper as a barrier.

http://www.slugrings.co.uk/

I may try the amonia solution this year too.

What a funny poem on that link!

Well Pirl, I reviewed my garden pics from last year and it does appear that some of my hostas may be touching the ground in spots, darn it. I guess it's back to the drawing board. I will say the ones I have in pots fair very well, slug wise, but of course you can't put them all in pots. Now I'm wondering if I can devise a way to put the Sluggo in little cages or something that chipmunks can't get into but slugs can...

Maybe you could put it under a layer of screening cut to fit the areas.

Scissors always work.

wow! Has anyone priced copper?! way, way to expensive. Even the copper 'tape' at the hardware store is $9 for only 10 feet!

my question is this, if copper tape will work, why cant I just pour an a 1/2 inch line of rock salt to outline my garden beds. My beds are clean right now and I just removed all the mulch, so I can see that there are no slugs/snails right now. I'm getting ready to put in some plantings, and thats when they will strike, I just know it. wont crossing the salt line kill the buggers too?

Won't the salt just dissolve into the soil with rain? Would that be bad for the plants?

I looked up craft copper on ebay and it seemed affordable if you can get years of use out of it. (and assuming you aren't talking about covering acres of garden with it- my garden is pretty small. )

Yes, the salt will dissolve into the soil and if you used enough of it, it could be bad for the soil. So I wouldn't recommend that. I'm also not sure if just crawling across a line of salt (if it hasn't dissolved yet) is going to be enough contact with salt to kill the snails or not. The salt approach really only works if you catch the snails in the act and put it directly on them, that way it works before it dissolves into the soil, and you're also not using enough to really cause harm to the soil.

Would you consider sharp gravel?

I'm not sure if that would work or not. Diatomaceous earth is sharp but very tiny pieces, that's why it penetrates easily through soft-bodied insects, slugs, etc. With the larger gravel pieces, even though they're sharp they may not penetrate when they crawl across it (if this doesn't make sense, an analogy would be getting a splinter in your finger...very tiny splinters of wood get into your skin really easily without trying very hard, but if you have a big fat sharp stick, you'd really have to put a lot of force behind it to get it to break the skin)

I just did a search on different grades of gravel and it looks like crushed stone may be a better choice. I could try it on one bed of hostas and see if I still find slugs.

hmmm, thats interesting about the crushed stone, they have it all over the public garden near my work. I wonder if thats the reason why?