A terrestrial malacologist colleague of mine told me that this does indeed work. What draws them to the beer is its yeasty odor, and that suggests to me they may well also be attracted to moistened bread, if you'd prefer to try that as a lure. (Of course, you'd still have to find a way to dispose of them once you had collected up the bread.)

("Malacology" is the study of mollusks and a terrestrial malacologist studies the snails and slugs that spend their time on land and are not "aquatic" like the majority of the world's snails & slugs. There are only a handfull of such scientists in the world.)

Sluggo is a brand of iron phosphate granules that attract and kill slugs and snails without being poisonous or dangerous to humans or pets. I bought some at the garden center and it works really well. It eventually biodegrades back into the soil.

(Our former neighbor's puppy was killed by poisonous slug bait -- please don't use that kind.)

If you prefer to use beer, get the cheapest you can find. Pour it into something wide and shallow, like a pie pan, so it's easy for the slugs to crawl in, and leave it out overnight near where you have seen them. In the morning you can bring a trash container out and pour the drowned slugs into it.

Good luck.

Does the Sluggo kill them then and there, or will they crawl off and die? Just wondering if I should be watching out for fat dead slugs under the roses! lol!

Hi !Jennifer, sluggo is I hear is a good brand I buy a safe kind from wal mart called worry free made by lily miller, don't apply it while the ground is still wet just after watering wait till the next day or it will get moldy but it works good.
If you would like to try a natural I have something that works I have tried beer it does not work I've tried cheap beer expensive beer my slugs are not drinkers!

What does work and I still use unless I haven't been in the cooking mood is egg shells every time you use eggs rinse the shells and place them somwhere they can dry when you have enough for a quart baggie smash them until they are like a powder like, I use my feet then hammer a rubber malit would plobably be great! and sprinkle it on the soil around plants it cuts them like glass, works as good as bait lasts a long time to unless you dig where you place it and the calcium is good for the soil however calcium does not move around in the soil so can only be availavble at the roots so when you cultivate the soil it will be enriched. :)

SuzyQ

I read that they are very much repelled by coffee grounds, as opposed to our friend, the earthworm.

The beer does work good if you use a shallow pan as advised above.
They slither in and drown, then you just slosh them into the garbage.
The pet safe stuff works too but I don't know if they crawl off or croak on the spot.
The local garden guru suggests cutting them in half.
My Grandmother used to give us salt shakers to go hunt them down.
Lots of ways to get rid of them, so take your pick.

There are slugs then there are slugs.

I've been plagued by "slugs" in one part of my garden but they're not the creeping kind like the ones on this thread. They're the larvae of the sawfly which makes eaten spots on the leaf. First the spot is greyish and then it falls out.

They are a problem since you rarely ever see one. Still not sure how to combat them but ktopp knows how as she identified my leaves with the spots on them. This slug is tiny that's why they are hard to see and most likely are not still on the leaves that they have decimated. You have to look on the rest of the plant to find them. But I still can't do that.

I put the Ortho® Bug-Geta down last night. This is in the morning. Crushed egg shells work also.
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Another vote for Sluggo. I've used it for years and have never noticed any dead slugs. Before I tried it, slug damage was extensive in my garden.

The only Ortho slug product I ever saw (I don't know if it was Bug-Geta or not) was toxic to animals (and I assume good "bugs," too).

Jennifer, Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen you post. Can't help with slugs, they're so gross. They're out there but I'm not!

Carla

I have been using the Ortho for 3 yrs and have never seen any sign of a negative effect on anything but slugs. For some reason none of the birds, chipmunks etc. are attracted to it. Believe me I have watched. I wasn't able to get sluggo in my area. I also use the product from Gardens alive but ran out.

Hey Jennifer:

I did use Sluggo once but you have to re apply it often. Seemed like a pain for the cost.

We have three cats that are into positively anything so I have to use any chemicals if I can help it. So last year I went out and bought a whole bunch of plastic ashtrays from the dollar store. This is for my hosta beds. Once a week I fill up the ashtrays that are hidden behind the hostas with whatever the single cheapest beer is at the grocery. At that time I might rinse out the slug carcasses or I might not. It is just as effective to pour beer in with or without dead slugs (or what's left of them) in the ashtray.

I do rinse them out as needed with the hose and then put them back in place. It works great. Furthermore I like the looks on my neighbors faces when I walk around the front yard at 6 a.m. Saturday morning carrying a six pack:)

Kate

I don't know about the need to apply Sluggo often . . . I'm a terribly lazy gardener (I'm not proud of it!), and I apply Sluggo once per season. I think when I first started using it I had to apply it more oftenÂmaybe three times. But Sluggo appears to have decimated my slug population.

I have another brand that is also toxic only to slugs. I can't remember the name, and it's outside in my shed. (See what I mean? Lazy!) :-)

Beer in a shallow dish works well. The only problem is when I entertain, the guests often drink from the dishes. Once they stumble into the rose bed, its a lot easier than going to the fridge. They think the slugs are escargot.

Hilarious, harryshoe! :)

then you reply: Do you SEE any garlic butter for escargot around here??? Well then the beer isn't for you either!