If you will do a search using 'slug control' you'll find lots of discussions on all your questions.

Damage - yes to fruit if they can reach it. Otherwise they seem to prefer leafy greens.

Beer, coffee grounds, straw and other sharp-edged mulches, Slugg-O baits, copper, etc. etc. are all possible controls.

Dave

Here you go.

Here is a link that might be useful: Slug FAQ and control discussions

Straw mulch offers zero control. Wouldn't worry about damage to mature plants, but they will eat holes in ripe fruit.

We have had summers that produced so many slugs, we could not walk ten feet in sandals without several slugs accumulating under are toes. This works for me. I save all my eggshells throughout the year in a large coffee can periodically crushing them up with a wine bottle until they become sharp little shards that slugs will not crawl over .When slugs start to show up I sprinkle the shells thoroughly in all my plant beds.In addition it will also help if you could keep plant foliage & tomatoes off the soil.

Even though this may be covered in the slug FAQ, as a direct response to the question, "wondering what kind of damage they can/will do to my plants/fruit", yes, they will eat holes into tomatoes, but only just enough to ruin the fruit, then they'll move on... At least it seems that way :P

Last year, my stakes fell over and the plants just sprawled accross the ground, I didn't think too much of it. What I didn't realize is that there are a ton of slugs near my garden and all of the low hanging fruit got holes chewed in them, just as they got ripe.

They're annoying. I just found one in my carrot container, and it had the nerve to lay eggs in it. >

I caught my first slug today, in a lid full of beer!

Thanks for all the input. Dave, before posting I did a search on Slugs but I did it in this forum, so I didn't see the posts that were out there - thanks.

Spray bottle with ammonia. I heard about it last weekend and I love it!

I had a slug problem this year. They don't venture into my raised veggie beds, but they were eating my maragolds at the rate of 1 plant a night. They would eat it down to just stems! I tried the cups of beer. They do like it and I found dead ones in the beer, but they were still eating the plants too. Then some critter (possum, raccoon, ?) decided it wanted the slug tainted beer. I found the beer cups sitting on my sidewalk empty and the dead slugs scattered all around them.

I finally resorted to organic slug killer (Sluggo type product) and that worked great. Within a few days the slugs were gone and I haven't seen them since.

Stir fry. Taste just like chicken.

Does the beer kill them, or just get them hammered?

Now I have another little job every day - getting the slugs out of the trays of beer. Delightful! But they seem alive, very happy in fact...

Beer just gets them hammered, they have to drown in it to do any good. :D

I would have agree with jtcm05 about straw mulch. Maybe I'm not adding enough though... Either way I can't stand the slimy little bugs.

You can take a mason jar and put an apple core, lettuce, etc in it. Then burry the jar in the ground till the lip is at ground level. the slugs will go in after the bait, but they cannot get out. This is very simple and very effective.

SluggoPlus works very well too if you go for the chemicals. Since I have gone 100% organic I don't use chemicals. Putting the mason jars every five feet, or so, around my garden has ended my slug problems.

Tom

I live near the river and have sandy soil that slugs and snails just love. The best thing I've found is spreading out cedar (hardwood) mulch at least once a year at the base of the plants. Slugs don't like the jagged edges of the cedar mulch, and the smell repels other pests as well. After about a year of decomposing, the mulch becomes smoother and the smell has faded, so it is best to spread out some fresh mulch. Yes, it is a $1-2 more a bag, but it also lasts longer than cypress or pine.

Yes, I've done the shallow dishes of beer and it does work. Only problem was my dog would always end up drinking it. Especially after the slugs had drowned. Ewwwwwww