With all the rain whe have been having, my Hosta, Calla lilly and some of my other plants are on the verge of been eaten to the ground by those nasty slimey pest. This evening around 7 pm I was out Planting a new day lilly and notice about a million of them slithering up to my plants from the grass. I ran for the watering can filled with hot tap water and being careful not to water the plants or their roots I gave those nasty pest a hot bath. It was rather drastic but it was all I could think of at the time. If any one has a better solution i would love to hear it.
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There are two surefire ways to get rid of slugs. Using them both, I mean. First, get regular household ammonia and dilute it with water. Some say nine parts water to one part ammonia, but I go more like nine to four. Add to a spray bottle and keep it handy. See a slug, spray it. It will die right there. Ammonia gets broken down into nitrite and the nitrite gets broken down into nitrate, which is used by the plants. So no worries there.
The other thing you should do, easpeically at the beginning, is to lay down a newpaper folded in half so think and heavy. The bottom should be sprayed with water so it is a moist, inviting haven. In the morning, flip it over and it should be covered with slugs. Spray with your bottle to kill the slugs, then toss the newspaper. Do that for as long as it works. Once you have killed a bunch, you'll see: They stop showing up.
Good luck.
....what happens if you have an infestation of ground beetles, what eats them? This could be an endless cycle.
Egg shells seem to attract wasps....I dont like wasps so dont like the eggshell method. However it does work very well. Another good idea for next year would be to plant white clover near your garden. They attract ground beetles. They eat slugs snails and many other harmful insects. Good luck -david
I also have read that coffee ground, egg shells and mulch under the plants help as the slugs get cut up by the rough surfaces.
I have been going out late evenings and early mornings with a paper cup of hot tap water to pick these slimy creatures off my plants and giving them a hot bath. Its gross but very effective. I have also trim back leaves and tidy up around the base of plants to let more lights down to the roots on the ones the slugs seems to like. I found that the slugs were hiding under leaves and at the base of the plants during the day and as soon as the sun goes dowm they started feasting. Their is definately an improvement in my plants leaves
We do not drink beer theirfore, their is none in the house but we are having a BBQ next weekend and I am sure to have beer left over so I will try that method next.
Thanks to all for your suggestions
I'm having a slug problem too (not as bad as yours, though!!). This is the information I got from a local nursery:
There are two things that are supposed to work quite well. First is Diotomacous Earth. They usually call it Dio or Chemfree something or other. The ingredient on the package is Silicone Dioxide. It's a fine powder you sprinkle around and it actually cuts up the slugs as they crawl over it.
Another option I heard works is putting out a low saucer filled with beer overnight. This is supposed to work wonders.
I think the former would be a low-maintenance solution as you wouldn't have to worry about refilling the saucer or removing the dead bodies...
Got beer? Take a plate (shallow if you have one) and fill it with beer. They are attracted by the sugar of the beer but the alcohol will kill them.
DONT USE SALT!!!
is a product that I have used in the past with some success. You hide these pellets under a flat rock and they seem be attacted to this. You will notice a difference in your leaves after a few days. It has been a bad year for slugs and earwigs with all the damp weather.
Do you have bare patched of brown in your lawn? If so you may have grubs. What I have done is put anything rough around the plants they eat, coffee grounds , egg shells, small pea gravel like in an aquarium, pine mulch. Hope this helps/ Do a search here using word "grubs".