i put out cheep beer in pie pans, slugs fall in and drown with a smile on their face.......change beer daily.

Sluggo & some other anti slug products are iron phospate (I think). They are non toxic, break down into plant available minerals & were very effective for me last year. I caught alot with beer. I got them all with Sluggo.
I expect the box I bought to last at least a few years.

Last year I put down crushed egg shells! The slugs cut themselves on them. I had very little problem with slugs last year. Last week there was an article in the K.C Star about using egg shells. I have put them down again this year. I just saved egg shells for about a month in a zip lock bag. When they have dried out good they crush up easily and I just sprinkle them around the Hosta.

I'm giving Murphy's Oil Soap a try early this year. Last year I didn't start until the damage was already done. It did keep it from getting any worse, though. If I didn't have to worry about dogs, cats and birds, I'd use something like Sluggo to wipe them out and get the slug population under control. I think the trick is to get them early.

Some slug baits are toxic insecticides.
The product I got is called Escar-Go. The active ingredient is iron phosphate which is poisonous only to slugs & snails. There are other similar products. I think Sluggo is one but I could be mistaken. I've done the beer, eggshells, salt, etc & they all provide some control. This worked better. Last year was pretty dry, it'll be interesting to see how it does if this year has a more typical rainfall.

I have used cheap beer in a shallow cup (usually recycled cottage cheese containers that have been cut to an inch in depth). I have cut my slug problem tremendously! I read a posting about Murphys Oil soap- anyone want to explain? Do you spray it on the plants?

Thanks for asking Laura, I was just about to do the same. I had never heard of using Murphy's oil soap for slugs??

Have fun in the dirt :)

Carrie.
Slugs love Bran. Surround your plants with a sprinkling of bran. They will eat and eat. Put a teaspoonfull of bran in your mouth and see the effect it has.Your mouth will become as dry as the desert. Bran has the same effect on the slugs, they dry out and cannot move because they cannot produce the slime that they travel on. If they are not taken by a passing bird or frog then on recovery they will find themselves confronted with a tasty meal of Bran.
Deja Vu.
Good luck,
Organicade.

I'm trying coffee grounds. I read an article about how the caffeine in coffee is deadly to slugs. As they crawl over the grounds, they absorb the caffeine through their foot. We've had one of the wettest springs on record, so the slug population is very high. I still don't see any slug damage on my hosta treated with the grounds.

Kevin

ive never tried this.....but recently heard of sprinkling cornmeal around for slugs......they eat it....then it swells up inside of them.....and they are gone....

heard on the garden show that iron phosphate,supose to be the best and get rid of them within a few days,think its powder,but I have trouble here in my area to find it.Since slugs don't cross any sharp line,I been using the dry residue from my stained glass grinder,that I put in a glass and use during hosta season.

Put out loads of bird seed and the birds come and eat the seed...and the slugs! I have GOBS AND GOBS of hostas and, no lie, I increased my bird population and no more slug problems! :)

I get a large bag of crushed shell used for chickens from a fed store and sprinkle a protective circle around the hostas. In larger areas I surround the bed. The slugs will not cross over the crushed shells as it cuts them and it is safe for all critters....One bag has lasted me three seasons and it is very cost effective and does not disappear in the rain...

At garden centers some have a product known as diatomateous earth.......its ground seashells.....put it around the plants and the slugs will cut themselves moving across it.....

Unfortunately, diatomateous earth will cut up any insect, not just slugs.

Put down a board and pick it up in the morning and there will be slugs underneath. But then, I like the beer suggestion... "they die with a smile on their face".

I tried the bird feed suggestion and it works a treat. EXCELLENT idea and its earth friendly too.

Steve the UKtransplant

Sluggo is the only thing that's worked for me. It's expensive but you get about 50 years' worth (especially if you're in a tiny city garden.)

Beer is effective but you are faced with having to dispose of a bowl full of dead slugs in beer every morning. ...I've felt pretty squeamish when that's happened, although I've recently stopped feeling sorry for the slugs (what a way to go! and also you'd think they'd notice the dozens of dead slugs already in the beer - but I guess that's expecting a little much of a slug.)

No one's mentioned going out into the garden with a flashlight and a salt shaker. It's brutal, perhaps, but it really can cut down on the little monsters who escape your other traps.

I have heard that strategically placed tinfoil can help - apparently the slugs are repelled by the electric charge they feel when they try to cross over it. (Someone suggested this for stuff in pots, but I don't see why it couldn't be adapted.) I haven't tried it yet, though, and would be curious to hear of results.

I have success using Aluminum Sulfate. Three tablespoons per gallon of water. Spray Hosta and all around. It's primary purpose is an acidifier. Spray until runoff. It kills the slugs and is also very good for the Hosta. Must repeat about every three weeks.
I believe I got this from an article of Jerry Baker.

Ammonia. Dilute to 20% ammonia / 80% H2O (although I've made it stronger but no need to. Best to spray when the eyes are up and leaves not yet unfurled. I do it whenever I see them. I've got over 400 hostas so I'd go nuts sprinkling (and broke!) anything or laying down eggshells or grounds. The big sprayer carried on my back works great and I can get it done in a couple of hours. Pine needles work well too. They hate crawling on them. I had zero holes last year! Waiting for results of my spraying now....

Westy