Why not get something like Sluggo? I use it and I think I would have much more damage if I didn't use it.

For example, I was working on a tilled area yesterday. I go in for about an hour to eat Supper. When I come back, there is a slug on the dirt!

So I threw it in the ditch, and got some sluggo and spread it everywhere around the area when I was done.

Maybe they are eating it. I don't try and attract slugs in general....it just brings more slugs. I try to deal with the ones that are there by picking them off and tossing them far away. If I do need to protect seedlings in the spring, I use diatomaceous earth or salt around the plants. They definitely won't eat that. If you want to drown them, I heard that a plate of beer will do it. Some people put out plates of food for them and then toss the plate when it's full of slugs.

Please don't use salt in the garden beds! Too much and you won't be able to grow anything. In long-ago times that was how invading troops destroyed their enemies: salted their fields. No food, no next generation to fight a future war....

I've used "a little" salt early in the season to ward off slugs with no ill effects at all.

But if you keep using it, it will have an effect. Salt will build up in the soil, and eventually your plants will not be as healthy.

Why flirt with ruining your soil when there are other ways to get rid of slugs?

Sluggo costs more than the vegetables are worth. It's over $20/kilo here. I'm trying to find solutions that cost less than the vegetables I am saving are worth.

The main advantages with Sluggo are that it eventually reduces the number of slugs and you don't have to use it heavily, a thin scattering works just fine.

But if you want to use the old sourdought starter or beer, try using a container where it's easier for them to get in than to get out. Maybe a 2-liter soda bottle, buried to the neck, with enough water in it that they drown?

No joke- beer seems to work wonders.

beacivil1

How do you keep the slugs from drinking the beer and moving on? i.e. what are you putting the beer in?

You can use an old butter dish or cream cheese dish, or something of that nature. Semi-bury it into the dirt so the slugs can get into it. Pour your cheapest beer into it and give it 24 hours or so.

Just so you can see a video (this is not me or my video), see the you tube video link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Slugs and beer youtube video

What do you mean," How do you keep the slugs from drinking the beer and moving in?" I sure as heck don't want them moving in. ;-)

I think my slugs are crawling down the sides of the yogurt containers, drinking the liquid, and then crawling out.

I think the trick is to have the bait very fermented (like beer) so the alcohol makes them drunk, and very liquidy so the slugs drown. SO if you use sour dough make sure it is very fermented and mixed with lots of water.

Bob B.

Just make sure the container of beer or whatever is slightly above the surface of the soil. The slugs will get in anyway but if the container is exactly level with the surface, lots of other critters can fall in and drown, like ground beetles, which are beneficial.

I was told that Sluggo and other slug products were toxins to dogs.....that is one reason that i havent tried it...and is definately pricier than a cheapo can of beer...

carol