I don't eat many eggs. I need to dump some wood ashes around a few areas. All this rain is making a mess.

We don't use many eggs either, would never have enough if the slugs return like last summer with all the rain we had.

BUT this will work as well also. It's BEER.

Those horribly ugly things just can't stay away from a bowl of beer.

Just get some very shallow bowls and fill them with the cheapest beer you can find.
Put the bowls out around where the slugs are and walk away. Next morning you will have slugs drowned in the beer.
Toss out the dead slugs and add more beer to the containers or just toss both the beer and slugs and refill the shallow bowls.

Keep doing this every morning until you have a couple of days in a row of no slugs in the bowls.

One other thing, if the beer gets diluted by rain or from sprinklers or watering, you need to replace the beer.

Been doing this for 29 years, whenever there has been a slug problem, never used a chemical on them and the beer works every time.

Fran

Don't eat enough eggs...

Have a wood stove but the springs are so wet...

Don't drink and find buying the stuff so expensive...

In the spring I dilute some amonia - one part amonia to 10 parts water - and water the worse affected areas of the gardens. This will 'kill' any eggs it reaches under the soil. I use the same mix in a spray bottle all year.

I also put broken terra cotta pot pieces here and there in the gardens for toads to move in and help out.

Another thing is to put boards out - they don't have to be big - and check under them for slugs and dispose as you see fit.

You can walk around with a jar with water and salt in it in the evenings when they are out and about, and watch those ugly slimeballs die as you place them in the jar.

Keep some bird feeders around. Birds prefer slugs for breakfast, especially Robins.

If you live by the coast as I do you can mulch the gardens in the fall with seaweed. The minimal salt content in the seaweed is enough to kill them but not your plants and if you don't like the look of it in the spring, throw it in the compost.

Of course there's the slug bait/pellets, but then you are talking money...

Can you tell I've been at this for a while???

Oh, come on! At least give them some good beer!

Martha

Wish it was that easy w/ the rabbits!!!!!!!!!!

Annette

Slugs are a problem for me only in spring, right when I'm planting out my babies and the soil is still moist. Our summers are usually too dry for slugs to be around.

We don't eat enough eggs, but I do crush any shells I use and throw them into my beds. Tiffy has been telling me about her ammonia for years but I have trouble dumping that foul-smelling chemical into my organic soil. Makes me cringe. Beer gets pricey to place in all my beds every day and I don't want to smell stale beer in my gardens either. I want to smell flowers, fresh clean dirt, not ammonia or stale beer. And I like beer a lot, probably resent sharing with those slimy boogers. Boards work but take lots of time and boards to go around and squish every individual slug every morning and night. Won't use most chemical pesticides, either, that might harm my armies of worms and other good bugs.

I've been happy with iron phosphate. I try to apply it 2 or 3 times before planting out in spring and have had truly impressive results with it. It's sold under many brand names (Sluggo, Escar-go, Slug Magic....), isn't toxic to worms, doesn't stink. It breaks down in the soil to iron. Lasts 3 weeks even if it rains. Works well even when applied very sparingly and one package treats all my beds for the year.

I applied it a few days ago in my front bed. It's supposed to be a beautiful day today so I hope to treat the rest today.

Karen

I've read that copper repels them too (gives them a shock) ... just in case you happen to have a supply of scrap copper wire/flashing/pennies, some people will surround their beds with copper boundary.
Thanks for the tip about eggshells --we eat lots of eggs. Instead of just putting them in compost I will start saving them by themselves.

Sluggo is my choice for a weapon of mass destruction. I have tried the oil soap/ammonia solution, the beer traps, the eggs shells, and even offering a reward for their capture. When I read that even organic gardeners are using Iron Phosphate products, I figure it's ok. I haven't read anything negative about it's use.... and I looked! I want my garden safe, I am trying to attract hummers and butterflies. I also need it safe for my pets.

Last fall, I decided to save as many egg shells as possible. My husband loved that idea because I was constantly making oatmeal cookies and other baked goods. Now that he is in the Boston Marathon, I've had to stop with the baking (he could use the extra pounds but wants to be as light as possible for the run...), so I am eating eggs everyday (which I love), and also saving the shells.

The beer has always worked for me, and I even find earwigs in the beer, but I am combining both this spring.

Carrie

slugs do exist anywhere where is organic vegetation to rot such as biodegradable mulch where from last year leaves or bought in the bag. My best advice is to learn to leave with it and have garden lush and full so everyone is happy, including slugs ;)
Re: babies that you plant out now- best way to prevent slugs from appearing this early in the spring is to keep sprinkling iron phosphate very late fall, as long as soil is warm it still works fine. Remove all debris around your new babies and let soil be dry and clean.
Re: beer- it is actually yeast that attracts slugs so buying a cheap yeast package goes a long way creating nice smelly brew- little water, sugar and yeast will go a long way to attract slugs.

great idea - never thought about the yeast - thanks for that great tip!

Carrie

Even though I have an area that stays went most of the summer, I have never seed a frog in the yard. Maybe I should move some in.

I can't get rid of the frogs. we get tons of them and some get stuck in the window wells to my basement. We constantanly have to resue them and take them to the pond across the street. I guess that is why I do not have slugs.

I do have bunnies, one was checking my containers out last night. Time to spread the blood meal and bone meal and everything else to scare them away!

I really hate bunnies!!!!
Karen

me, too, karen - I mean they are so cute but so destructive.

I set a have a heart trap and caught a raccoon instead, who destroyed the $60.00 trap by trying to get out! Now, I am thinking of putting a bowl of rabbit food in the woods - before night - and see if they will eat that instead. They come out about 5 in the evening and then early dawn - I think they are afraid to go out at night now because of the other wild animals - too smart, those bunnies!!