Managing Slug Pests
Voracious and slimy, slugs can quickly turn fresh new foliage into shredded mush.
Slugs thrive in damp, cool and dark environments. To get rid of them, you need to eliminate that environment or trap them in it.
- Water in the morning so plants take up the moisture and it doesn’t set up on the soil in the cool evening when slugs are most active.
- For plants in shady locations, you need to keep the plants spaced out for air circulation to reduce slug damage. For clumping plants like beebalm or phlox, cut every third stem so air can dry the leaves down low.
- Trim up the plants a bit too so they aren’t tight against the soil surface.
- Slugs follow familiar, marked trails. You can disrupt their patterns. Slugs will not cross crushed egg shells or diatomaceous earth (volcanic ash) sprinkled around plants like a fence. You’ll need to pick off slugs on the inside of the barrier though.
- Flat stones between plants will serve as a slug retreat in the daytime. Pick up the stones and scrape slugs into soapy water.
- Shallow dishes of beer work, too. The slugs climb into the beer bait and drown. Set the beer bait dish into the soil so the rim is at soil level.
- We also have a product called Sluggo that is a bait. They ingest the sluggo (a pelletized iron phosphate – safe for pets, humans and plants) and the sluggo kills the slugs. Sprinkle the bait around the edges of the bed to draw them away from the plants.
You may not eliminate slugs completely from your gardens but you can reduce the numbers!
Your Garden in the Fall
Still-warm soil and relatively cool air temperatures promote healthy root growth in plants that return each year. Check out our Fall gardening tips.
Fall Articles