Our summer has been rather wet so slugs have been more of a problem. Slugs do help to decompose organic matter in the soil so I don’t mind a few but if they destroy plants or vegetables they have to move to another garden! You don’t need toxic chemicals to rid your garden of slugs. There are many natural methods that work!
One of the easiest ways to keep slugs away from your plants is to have a tidy yard and garden. If they don’t have dead vegetation or places to hide they are less likely to stay around.
Here are several methods to try in your yard and gardens
Barriers. Slugs are soft-bodied and do not like to get scratched. Surround susceptible plants with rinsed, crushed eggshells – slugs will not crawl over them, and they are good for the soil.
I have used soot or ashes. They add nutrients to the soil so they also have a positive benefit to the garden area.
You could also use Diatomaceous Earth, also known as DE, which is ground up marine fossils. This can usually be found in available at good garden centers, online or in gardening catalogs. This will need to be replaced after heavy rains.
In the most popular area for slugs in my yard, the front garden, I use 4 inch copper strips placed in a ring around the base of the plant. The slugs get a “shock” from the copper.
Trapping is another method of slug control. The old tried and true beer trap is somewhat effective: place beer in a shallow dish and bury at soil level where slugs are active. Personally I don’t like this method, I find the pan gets spilled to easy. But I have friends who think this is the best slug control.
Another trap is to leave the rind of 1/2 a grapefruit, orange, or small melon out in a moist spot overnight. The slugs will hide under the rind during the day so you can pick up the rind and dispose of all the slugs underneath. If you have any groundhog or small rodent problems do not use this method.
You can also lay down small wooden boards, which the slugs will hide under. This has worked well for me. I use a few baords as walkways and just check under the boards occasionally.
Toads, snakes and certain birds love to eat slugs. Having these creatures in you yard will greatly reduce your slug population. I place toad houses in my gardens to encourage these friendly creatures to live in my garden. They add fun and laughter to your garden.
With a little care you do not need to use chemicals in your gardens. Chemicals harm good insects and birds so I try to avoid using them.
Tags: organic pest control, control slugs naturally, chemical free gardening
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