Slugs

What ya'all do about slugs?

Beer traps worked for me. Placed outside the garden to draw them away. The trouble was racoons enjoyed them too.

Somewhere back in my memory I remember being told to pour salt on them.

Someone JUST posted something about slugs and I cannot find it!

They said they wrapped a copper wire around containers that had slug- beloved plants in them because the copper had sufficient charge to discourage the progress of slugs and snails toward the plants. I imagine this could be expanded onto a raised bed scenario if the sides of the bed were smooth and firm enough that a wire could fit snugly against it.

I don't know about this method personally but thought I would mention it. If I can find the original post (credit where credit is due) I will link it in this thread.

Thanks Mercy....

Mercy Pergande wrote:Someone JUST posted something about slugs and I cannot find it!

That would be my post in Growing Basil.  Here is my whole post:

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

Many moons ago, a old pioneer here in Oregon gave me another word of encouragement: "Don't let them win." He was talking about the deer who were eating my garden. He told me, "If you have to put electric fence everywhere, you do what you have to do, but you don't let them win."

I put a double electric fence around my cabbage and broccoli patch (a deer favorite), 3 feet apart, and then crisscrossed the patch every witch way with wire. They couldn't touch it.

Today's basil menace (as mentioned above) is the dreaded slug that seems to LOVE my basil. "Don't let them win." I finally found a solution that works. I planted my basil in large pots, including an old camping ice box. I then wrapped bare copper wire around each pot close to the top. A circle of copper wire will carry a very small millivolt current, and the slugs and snails can feel it. They will not cross the line.

I just harvested my first batch of delicious basil, which I am dehydrating to chop up for future culinary use. Also in the dehydrator is a large harvest of sage getting ready for the same purpose.  Hopefully I will post a photo of my slug proof pots soon.

There is another reason I am winning the slug wars right now. Malachi 3:11 says, "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground." I've been praying over my garden and asking God to rebuke the devourer.  God answers prayer... perhaps by reminding me that a circle of copper wire can do wonders.  This year I am also experiencing the best lettuce harvest ever (another slug favorite).

Here is a picture of my slug proof pots:

Here are some more things that I do that are effective in fighting the dreaded slug:

1. One hour or so after dark I go out with a flashlight and hunt for slugs on my plants. I pick the slugs off individually and put them in a small jar with beer in it. This is very effective. I don't do it every night, just maybe twice a week when I am getting a lot of slug damage.

2. Beer bait. Put a small amount of old cheep beer in a small shallow bowl or canning jar and push into the ground so the lip is not too far from the soil surface. Leave over night. I like using small shallow canning jars so that in the morning I can put the lids on them until the night time, or until another day. The beer lasts longer this way and you can use it effectively for a long time.

3. Plastic traps. Slugs come out at night and are usually hiding during the day. Put white plastic down flat on the ground. The slugs will use it as a hiding place for the day. Check it every day for a while and pick off the slugs to put in your old beer jar.

4. Onion and garlic traps. These are very effective. I have mostly used this method later in the year when onions and garlic are flowering (or right after. Take a flower stalk of onion or garlic and cut it open in half the long way. Lay each half open side downward on the soil where slugs are giving your headaches. Slugs love these things and the pungent odor will draw them from at least a small distance. Leave them overnight and check in the morning. Pick off slugs and feed them to your old beer.

5. Every now and then, check under you planting pots for slugs. They will find their way there.

6. In shaded, out of the way places in your garden and flower beds provide small plastic "homes" for the slugs to hide in during the day. They will find them. Check them in the spring and every month or so during the day and drop the slugs into your favorite old beer jar.

All of these methods have caught lots of slugs. They are everywhere where I live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.