How to keep slugs away...?

Question

My husband and I have a wooden patio out back of our back door (which we are hoping to remove soon) and at night slugs come out of nowhere and it is really really disgusting!!!! We are wondering...for the time being....how do we keep the slugs away...there are so many?!?!?!?!

Answer 1

-Slug pellets are the best way in my opinion, however read all precautions first. There cheap and very very effective.

Here are some other ways found from doing research-

- Try strips of aluminum foil in collars around young stems of seedlings. Commercially bought collars also have the same effect but cost quite a bit more!

- Don't mulch susceptible plants as slugs love damp dark areas.

- If you fancy an evening stroll in the garden, don't forget your torch. Seek out the slugs and drown the emerging slugs in hot water in a bucket - yuck!

- Encourage slug-eating birds with nesting boxes and bird tables.

- Make a water haven for frogs and toads - even a sunken bucket of water will do - make sure to surround it with dense dark leafy areas in which the slug devouring amphibians can hide!

- Sink a jam jar into the soil. Fill it with beer, even luscious lettuce leaves but leave a twig for other insects to escape and don't forget to keep it clean and topped up! Don't put it too close to your precious plants or you may attract a new population!

Answer 2

Put salt everywhere so when they get on it.. theyll die.♥

Answer 3

All of the first four answers are fine answers.

Let me add one more.

You can buy Diatomacous Earth, the garden kind, not the pool filter kind.  This earth will cut the slugs to ribbons as they try to crawl over it.

It will also deter most any other kind of ground dwelling insects that might climb up on your deck.

Answer 4

Salt is bad it can hurt plants and soil. there are places in Europe that the enemy salted the land a very long time ago and the land is still barren. Don't use salt. Beer works awesome so does the egg shell and they wont hurt you plants. make sure the beer is in a tray or 1/2 full can.  

Answer 5

Unless you can keep them from getting under your patio, which is a nice cool, dark, damp slug happy home, they will keep coming up. The simplest and safest method of control is to use a set of barbecue tongs or similar and simply pick them into a plastic bag, tie and toss into the trash.

As the slugs are attracted to shadows for hiding on bright mornings you can also moisten the ground and lay a few pieces of wood or sacks etc. on the grass in the area of your patio to attract them to an easily collectible location and then use the tongs as above.

A couple nights and most of your problem will be gone.

Answer 6

salt will work for slugs it will kill them

Answer 7

Put a couple shallow trays of beer out there...they will go into the beer!  Make sure it is AWAY from the plants because beer DRAWS them !  But they will go to the beer and not the plants.

Another method that I have used is egg shells around the plant, around an inch or two away from the stem or bush of the plant. Make sure they are cleaned out so do don't end up with any vermin; but they don't like walking over the sharp edges. Oh, make sure you put the sharp side up.

Sprinkle  rolled oats around  apparently, the slugs and snails eat the oats and then dry up. Nice ready-stuffed meal for the frogs and birds!



Also copper wire and mesh around the plants keep them out too.

buy a box of slug bait at Walmart.

Answer 8

I'd try any or all of these suggestions.  My motto is:  the only good slug is a dead slug.  I HATE those things!  We were camping one time, and I went to put my foot into my sandal, which I'd kept outside overnight.  You guessed it - one of those Very Nasty Creatures had gone inside, and I had the pleasure of feeling it on my foot.  

Yuck.

Answer 9

Other than using beer traps, salt or baits getting a couple of pet Khaki Campbell ducks. The make great pets, lay plenty of delicious eggs and love to eat snails and slugs.

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