Gardens are unnatural situations where many of us encourage plants that wouldn't normally grow there, dig up those that want to grow there, make special efforts to encourage daffodils to flourish, mow the lawn to stop anything special growing too high and trim the hedgerows into unnatural straight lines. Slugs and snails positively thrive in these environments, particularly if we are growing salad plants and other tasty treats.
Slugs and snails are very important. They provide food for all sorts of mammals, birds, slow worms, earthworms, insects and they are part of the natural balance. Upset that balance by removing them and we can do a lot of harm. Thrushes in particular thrive on them! Slug blood is green. There is a fascinating article about the reasons why many invertebrates have green blood here.
Slugs can live for about 6 years, but their eggs can lie dormant for years before hatching when conditions are right. Also they can have up to 27, teeth. The actual stuff of nightmares BUT — they do eat decomposing vegetation so are important ecologically. Indeed, some go even further as reported in the early spring of when Dr Ian Bedford, Head of Entomology at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, noticed an unusually high number of slugs in his garden and observed they were not just eating plants but other things too such as dog excrement and dead animals.
After some further research and collaboration with Dr Les Noble, University of Aberdeen, it was discovered that these were Spanish slugs, Arion vulgaris , and this was the first mass observation of this species within the UK. You can purchase copper tape here and surround susceptible plants with a ring of copper. This also works for containers where the copper tape can be placed just inside the upper rim of the pot. Believe it or not, you can make an electric fence for slugs.
Here are plans to make a tiny electric slug fence to place around raised beds and protect the plants from slugs.
It runs on a 9 volt battery and zaps the slugs when they come in contact with the fence. Yes, no list of tips on how to get rid of slugs in the garden is complete without a mention of beer traps. Plastic traps like these or these are baited with beer non-alcoholic works best.
The yeast in the beer attracts slugs who then fall in and drown. In order to prevent a festering pile of slug corpse-infused beer, be sure to empty and re-bait the traps daily. When figuring out how to get rid of slugs in the garden, organic slug baits are a must. However, be smart about this method because not all slug baits are the same. Many traditional slug baits used to control slugs in the garden are poisonous to pets and other wildlife in addition to slugs.
Do not use slug baits that contain methiocarb or metaldehyde as their active ingredient. Instead, turn to organic baits for garden slug control. Look for an active ingredient of iron phosphate. These slug control products are safe for use on even certified organic farms. Sprinkle the bait on the soil surface around affected plants.
The slugs eat the bait and immediately stop feeding. These baits can even be used in the vegetable garden around food crops, unlike traditional slug baits. I respectfully disagree and so do several studies. Doing so keeps the slug population in check and significantly decreases the amount of damage they cause. Have you battled slugs in your garden? For more on controlling pests in the garden, be sure to check out the following articles: Guide to vegetable garden pests Managing four-lined plant bugs Controlling squash vine borers organically Preventing pests in your garden Growing organic apples with fruit bagging.
Pin it! Well, I respectfully disagree with your disagreement about sweet gum balls being a deterrent. They are so plentiful here in Pittsburgh, easy to apply and last all season.
Nothing worked to protect my hostas, annuals and herbs until I started using these jagged miracle balls. Glad to hear you have success with the sweet gum balls, Norma. I use Sluggo in the Pacific Northwest. I try to plant slug resistant plants ie ferns, lambs ears since the slugs keep winning.
Thanks for the article. The light you see in my yard is the flashlight in my hand as I go on nightly slug patrol! Here on Hawaii Island esp on the east side, slugs and those inch African snails may carry the parasite that causes rat lung disease and we must carefully wash all produce to avoid ingestion. The best practice is to pick them up with chop sticks and toss them in a closed container full of very salty water thus minimizing spread of the parasite.
I live in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. And have had the opportunity to have planting space in a pop-up garden across from my apartment building at the Lynwood Community League. So the practise you mention using chopsticks and putting the pest in a ziplock full of salty water is for slugs?
Thank you. I think I got a bit lucky this year. When harvesting parsnips in late March, and then prepping beds in April I found clutches of eggs. Problem is much less thus far.
It would be good to add a picture of what they look like. Slug eggs are tiny, about the size of a coloured plastic pinhead and coloured similar to a plastic milk jug. I put out crumbled corn chips or cookie crumbs on the patio close by the garden. The first night , I picked up 40, second night maybe 20 and down to only 5 a day.
Soon I will be slug free. I thew them in a creek that runs behind my house. Yes they drowned. I love these and will try them. I have also had pretty good success putting a circle of pennies at the base of beans as they sprout.
My early morning chore is to go into the garden to their favorite plants like daffodils and lupine and my new vegetable starts and and chop the slugs with my garden scissors. I also use cheap beer in low bowls. Does not have to be anything fancy. Does anyone have success with spraying ammonia on them.
I have heard it kills them and is actually good for plants. I have a terrible problem in my vegetable garden. They have wiped them out from the veggie garden, as they probe under the surfaces where slugs hide, and LOVE to eat them, unlike my other farm birds. Thanks a million!!! This is what I was looking for. It is not expelled with human feces. This parasite can cause severe intestinal problems.
Most of the cases of this infection in human hosts have been recorded in Central and South America. In both Britain and the United States, yet another parasite in the same genus, Angiostrongylus vasorum , causes lungworm infections in dogs, and a similar species called Aerlurostrongylus abstrusus infests the lungs cats.
Neither dogs nor cats commonly eat snails, but puppies and kittens experiment and can get infected. Cats and dogs can also become infected if they eat other animals that have eaten infected slugs or snails.
A liver fluke called Dicrocoelium can be transmitted from snails to cattle, sheep, and people. These tiny liver worms make a temporary home in snails until they are expelled in slime balls. Ants eat the slime, and people as well as grazing animals get the flukes when they accidentally or intentionally eat uncooked ants. Several thousand people every year contract parasites from contact with garden slugs and snails.
Uncounted hundreds of millions of plants, of course, are devoured by these slimy invaders to the garden. If you would like to learn more about which are the best methods for trapping and killing these slimy animals the read these two articles The Top Three Slug and Snail Traps and Poisons and the Top Three Snail and Slug Repellents and Barriers.
However, there are additional slug and snail control techniques that are worth adopting. Simon Mann is a "handy man" to have around the house. Although he was a trained carpenter he went on to become a VP of a construction company. Any pest or DIY problem you may have, he always seems to come up with the right solution. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
You are right of course, animals only become pests when they want to live in the same space as you. Take care and stay safe.
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