Slugs hide under things to remain moist, so could have been in hiding & you found them before dinnertime when they move out to nibble all night long.

The Sluggo doesn't kill on contact, but they eat it then dehydrate I think. Soapy water works to keep them in the bucket or you can skewer them. I just want them done with, so take a stick & poke 'em, then tuck here & there hidden away from view to decompose.

I moved some pots this afternoon in the sunshine & found slugs hidden under jugs with no slug damage. There were other jugs with slug damage & no slugs underneath. Maybe, slugs are on the move more than we think!

They're pretty good at hiding especially the tiny gray ones. My dad says those ones have the biggest appetite, but you can barely see them. He's convinced Sluggo doesn't work, so has gone back to using Cory's. I wonder if the slugs become immune to Sluggo or just don't eat it when there are such tasty hosta nearby.

Corrine

Here is a link that might be useful: more slug-coping advice

The most common slugs I have around here are leopard slugs, and they don't eat my plants like the smaller brown garden slugs. They are scavengers and often times I catch them in my cat's food bowl outside eating the cat food. I do get the brown ones and they are a pest, but this year I have seen none of the brown and so far only one of the leopards. I haven't even seen any slime trails except when I found the one leopard. I wonder if our population boom of toads has had anything to do with it? And when we took out our old garage. I think that thing housing complex for many a slug.

Karen

You know you're a gardener when you get excited about catching slugs. LOL
Cher

If you get satisfaction of seeing the slugs you pick destroyed carry a recycled small food jar like relish size and sprinkle salt in it - not much more than to cover the bottom 1/8". Then when you find a slug drop it into the jar and replace the cap. At the end of the night just drop the jar into your recycling bin if you have one. When the glass companys melt down the glass the slugs become no different than the lables - organic slag. (do I dare suggest "slug slag"? Ha!

Les

I go out early in the morning about an hour after sunrise when hunting slugs is the best here in SW WA state. I carry a spary bottle of water mixed with ammonia, 10 to 1 ratio. Spray slugs, which dissolves them. It also creates a protective coating on hostas that seems to deter future slug visits as long as it does not rain. I also spray along the petioles of hostas as I have been seeing slugs eating through the stalks rather than on the leaves of some hostas this year.
TIP: I spray clear water through sprayer after use. If I leave ammonia/water mix in spray mechanism, the metal spring corrodes and quits working over time.

Regarding Sluggo: It works for me, most especially when applied early in the year (Feb, Mar, early April) when there is little else to eat. This way, I kill slugs before they have a chance to lay eggs.

This year, I used oranges and grapefruit rinds to trap slugs early in the year. I just cut fruit in half, ate the fruit, and then placed the empty rind, round side up, on the ground. Every morning, when I turned them up, I found slugs eating the pith. Ridns last a long time with cool evenings, but doesn't work in summer as the rinds rot too quickly.

When I use Cory's, I put it under a heavy board or large piece of flat stone just barely propped up from the ground, which keeps birds and animals from ingesting it. Happy hunting!!

Has anyone tried a systemic product like Bayers? Inch worms were destroting my hardy hibiscus last year and this worked great. It feeds the plant at the same time.Make that DESTROYING,not destroting.

Slim pickins' here! Too dry to even find a slug. It's been that way all year. One of the benefits of a drought,I guess. Phil

I usually just squish them with my fingers as I find them. If I am really mad at them I will break out the salt shaker.

I do not know if systemic insecticides also work on slugs and snails. I applied Bayer Rose and Tree systemic insecticides granules (includes fertilizer), also sprayed Bayer insecticides, all against future nematodes and beetles and to fertilize. I also use Ortho Bug-Geta Plus every 4 weeks or so. So far only little slug/snail damage. I am simply not the guy to forage at night inbetween my hostas for slugs. It seems I have more little snails this year.
Bernd

Franknjim,your comments regarding squishing and salt brought back a memory. I was walking barefooted from my Mom and Dads house to their guest cottage down a brick paved walk at nighe and stepped on a rather large slug which, when thusly squished sprayed all over my other leg. I have been the friend of the salt shaker ever since. If you live in the midwest and don't like slugs, go to the Pacific northwest and look at the slugs there. Some look like pythons.

I am a little reluctant to use ammonia sprayed on my plants, just like I wouldn't sprinkle salt on the ground near my hostas. The ammonia is a killer of good microbes and beneficial bacteria that live in soil as well as slugs. It appears to be a good alternative to salt in a jar though.

I have to leave now. ComEds power has decayed from heavy AC use and my UPS unit has tripped out.

Les

I caught 5 slugs coming up from the lower right hand corner of this bed last night. See no slug damage (the two holes on Orange Marmalade are from hail).

I saw a couple of toads early this morning in back of this bed, I wonder if that's why there's no damage.

Gesila

oh come on folks.. what in the world is an INSECTicide.. going to do to a mollusk ... lol ... there is a reason things are LABELED FOR SPECIFIC USES .... crimminey .. lol

isnt there a FAQ or two about such ... and i bet 50 million poss if you tried the search function ....

buy a one gal spray tank.. fill with 10% vinegar or ammonia.. vinegar is pretty cheap in the pickling aisle of the grocer ...

pump up tank.. insert wand into the hosta.. spray the undersides of all the hosta .. start early.. killing one .... is easier than killing its bazillion babes later in the year... usually.. by the time you see them.. you have way too many ...

water in the morning.. so its drier at night ...

and full fall cleanup gets rid of monster mommas.. and lots of eggs that winter over ...

it really is a year around battle..

ken

ps: take a piece of wood.. say a 2x4 ... water the mulch.. and the wood.. and just lay it in the garden ... check it every other day or two.. and kill them when you find them hiding under it. .

i think mildred seaver used to use lettuce leafs ... to outer ones... lay them around the yard.. and just dip them into sudsy water every day or two ..

pps: please do NOT waste beer ... use it this way .. fill pump tank.. drink beer.. go hunting .. lol ..

i recall another thing ...

MULCH IS EVIL ....

it should .... with hosta.. be ONLY to the edge of the canopy .... so on med to larger ones.. there is a circle of bare earth under the plant ...

it is in this bare spot ... that you put your bait ...

but always remember.... and i will yell.. ITS A LURE ... wrap your head around this part.. why are you luring them to the plants????

once i figured out that nuance ... and with a neighbors wild jungle on the other side of a chainlink fence.. i used to lay all the BAIT at the fence line... .. accomplishing two things.. i was stopping more from coming over from the untended yard ... where i know the little chuckers were hiding by day ... AND!!!!! .. i was luring them AWAY FROM MY PLANTS ... i think that is where i started laying down the boards... to make a comfy norman bates hotel.. to hide and die ...

if you can not outwit a snail that lives in its own slime... you are working hard.. not smart ..

ken

Its simple and cheap just to make a habit of going out at night or early in the morning and poke a stick or nail threw them. If you cann,t keep up with them that way deadline works great as does beer:) Here in the land of slugs (pacific northwest) I have been known to use all three. Just one Banana slug can do alot of damage and if you hit them with salt that slime layer is really hard to get off things.