Eeeeeeewwwww.....I am battling the little snot wads too.....yesterday when I was moving and dividing more daylilies....every sing leaf had at least one hiding down in the bottom.......I plucked them out with my gloved hands and threw them down on the ground and went squish squish with BIG SHOES. This method is very immediate and gives great satisfaction. haha

Its a bad year for them!

Sierra

You have my sympathy. I have fewer this year than I have had in years. I thought it was because last summer was so dry, but a friend down the road has them worse than ever. So maybe it's because last year I bought and put out slug bait. I have been known to be out in my robe early morning or late evening, cutting them with scissors (faster than picking them up and dropping them in something). So I'm not much help, but wanted to empathize with you.

I know exactly how you feel, northspruce. I have been playing 'nice guy' all summer with the ammonia and iron phosphate. I have not won one battle and definitely going to lose the war. I'm ready to bring in the big guns and get them under control before late fall. By that time they will have made so many eggs, next spring I will be 'slipp'in and a-slid'in around my gardens.
If you find something that actually will quickly reduce the slug population, let me know. I agree....forget the beer. IME, drunk slugs eat more than sober slugs.
Jan

Yeah I was thinking of the eggs too Jan. My garden looks pretty holey and it's not gonna get better this year, now I'm thinking of my perennials surviving and the number of eggs that are no doubt being produced. Drunk slugs probably produce more offspring too - if they're anything like people - OMG that was awful sorry... haha

I'm gonna head down to Toxic Chemicals "R" Us and see what they have to nuke em. Whatever it is, it's probably sold out everywhere, given the slug complaints I have heard from other locals this year.

Northspruce, please, please, please don't use malathion on the beasties. Or any of the toxic chemicals that are still available for slug control. I totally empathize with your frustration with these creatures. One year, I had (no exaggeration) thousands and thousands of them (I was living in denial about having slugs, and I had unknowingly let the population built up until it exploded). One night, I picked over 100 slugs off of one clump of Campanula 'Blue Clips' alone! Once I discovered the problem, I was out every night for weeks hand-picking them and dropping them into boiling water. I'm surprised my neighbours didn't call the police--they must have gotten used to seeing someone crawl around my yard at midnight with a flashlight. It wasn't exactly "Slug-hunting", since I didn't have to look hard to find any!

Toxic chemicals may do the job (not malathion, but Metaldehyde). Unfortunately, birds come along and then eat the dead (and now deadly) slugs. I know my mom's former neighbour hated birds because they woke her up in the morning, but most gardeners would do anything to avoid harming our avian friends. Other creatures can be also be inadvertently harmed by Methaldehyde, which may not be as effective as we think--please read the information on the link provided.

The iron phosphate slug bait does work. That's what I used to bring my slug population down; as well as nightly hand-picking (which I've since replaced with the occasional patrol during which I use ammonia/water in a spray bottle...just as satisfying to watch the horrid nasties bubble and turn white, and your aim doesn't have to be as good as with long tweezers. You didn't think I touched them with my fingers...eewwwww]). Leaving boards and the shells of grapefruit (and then "harvesting" the slugs early in the morning) also work without potentially harming other creatures.

I totally understand your desire to get rid of all the slugs now, but please reconsider the use of toxic chemicals. Please.

Doris

Here is a link that might be useful: Slug control info

I know the Safers Slug bait works really well. Plus it is safe for animals and birds which is important. I believe you have to reapply it after heavy rains and every two weeks. It has been awhile since I had to use. Not that many slugs in my neck of the woods. I've seen maybe 10 this year and they were only babies. :)

Syreeta

Thanks everyone for the opinions. Doris, I understand your plea but you obviously don't live in Winnipeg. The City douses us regularly with malathion to control mosquitoes, and there really isn't that much of a Disney-like wildlife gathering in my backyard. All I see are house sparrows. Anyway, I don't think malathion is meant for slugs so don't worry.

I am willing to try Safer's although I have found their products in the past, while they do make me feel like a good person, don't work all that well. I will faithfully try their slug bait before I make such comments about it.

Jan, have you been using ammonia and iron phosphate with no results? I have no desire to stir up the old organic vs. chemical fight, I just have never dealt with slugs 3 deep before. I am open to all suggestions. I will try the Safers first. But I would like to know what other options there are.

I can relate as well, maybe it's due to two wet summers but slugs are really getting out of control. I can put up with a bit of "plant eating" but I hate seeing the little creatures around. You lift up a garden ornament and there's slugs stuck under it. The worse feeling is trimming leaves or pulling weeds from around plants, and you realize you just touched a slimey slug. Yeah, I know, I'm a wimpy kind of guy.

I am just debating on whether to deal with the problem this year or next year. I was originally thinking I would just buy some slug bait next spring. But then I read that slugs can over winter in various stages (slug eggs, slug adults). If that's true, I guess that means most of those slugs I see will survive the winter and then mate next year?

Glen

Slugs 3 Deep. Isn't that a rock band? Whatever. But remember slugs are not insects so don't expect insecticides to kill them (although some might).

It is probably the lack of an effective insecticide to control slugs that has resulted in a kazillion ways to control slugs. Some of the methods are strange indeed. Some use a 'Catch and Release' program. Bet the neighbor on the other side of the fence appreciates that! My favorite.... feed them bran which reportedly makes them explode! Uh-huh. And I have bridge to sell ya.

On the upside....at least I don't live in the PNW where slugs can be 8 inches long. Yuk

Northspruce....you have mail.
Jan

EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW......yesterday when I was picking lettuce for supper....I went to hand it to DH and I felt this slime on my fingers.....whats this......EEEEWWWWWW.....I was slimed by a huge slug...over an inch long. DH laughed histarically at me.....he said thats what I get for petting a slug.

EEEEEEWWWWW EEEEEEEEWWWWWW EEEEEEEEWWWWW....I was not impressed! So I went slug hunting in the lettuce patch....stomp stompt STOMP!!!

Sierra

Sierra, you almost had free escargot for supper. You just needed the butter and garlic! ;-)

Here's my EEEWWWW story,...once, when petting my dog (a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier...fairly long non-sheeding coat), I felt a lump in her fur. I started investigating, thinking she had developed a cyst of some sort, when I realized I was fingering a slug. EEEEEWWWWWWWW is right!! She, obviously, had picked it up while rolling or laying in the grass. It was totally stuck to her fur, so I had to cut it out. Yuck. Since my dog is 13, and it only happened the one time (so far; knock on wood), I should consider myself lucky.

Doris

Every year I plan to be diligent about slug control and every year it somehow gets away on me. Slugs are devouring certain areas of my yard, mainly my vegetable garden. I just went out and picked my first ripe tomatoes, and found they are riddled with slug holes. It is discouraging.
I have been using the Safer's slug bait, and I think it does work . The problem is it comes in such a small box and it's expensive. I had been concentrating on spreading it under the worst problem areas and that's how I ended up neglecting the garden. I would need a much larger quantity. Of course there's none left in the local store. I have a pet so I won't use the more poisonous stuff.
I even resorted to using the beer in the lettuce patch. I have to admit it was very satisfying to find a bowlful of dead slugs. I wish there was an effective control. I never seem to be able to consistently spray the ammonia solution to any useful degree. I think I have lost the war again.

What about buying a bag of the salt used to soften water (I think it is about $20) and crushing it and using it to kill the slugs. I know the old fashioned salt shaker method works. This might be a little cheaper. Just a thought...

Syreeta

Wouldn't that raise the salinity of the soil? Like in a bad way?

Salt kills slugs, for sure, but northspruce is right that it's not good for the soil (or plants).

I don't know why I didn't think to mention this before (probably because I'm still at the ammonia spray stage of warfare), but Lee Valley Tools sells a copper roll for slug control. It doesn't kill slugs, but it keeps them off your plants. Copper gives slugs an electric shock when they touch it. If you get the copper around your plants before the slugs get into the nooks and crannies of the leaf axils (early spring), then the plants are safe. (If you put it on after the slugs are on the plant, you just encourage them to stay!

The roll is 5 inches wide, but I imagine you could cut that down. It's fairly pricey, but you wouldn't have to replace the copper wire each year. Although it would be a hastle to put the stuff around the whole garden, it could be useful for special plants, or for plants that are the most susceptible to slug damage.

I've also heard that you can get rolls of copper sheeting from metal suppliers, and cut strips yourself. The copper kitchen scrub pads can also be unraveled and the strands placed around the plant. Heck, you could even surround your very special plants with pennies!

I might try the Copper Blocker next year (too late this season...the slugs are already on the plants. Besides, my ammonia spray is ready to go!!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley's Copper Blocker