"Don't slugs only eat seedlings?" No, they (and snails) will eat almost anything if there are enough of them and they are hungry enough. I find them eating shrubs, perennials, bulbs (especially the flowers) vegetables, herbs, clematis shoots and flowers, root crops (in the ground), fruit and the corpses of each other. Almost the only things they don't appear to like are ferns and tree trunks. I think people are coming at this question from different experiences. There are those who get the odd slug or snail and use egg shells etc and there are those who can gather 100s in a short hunting trip round the garden. For us egg shells, beer traps, coffee grounds, copper tape, sharp sand and all the other home grown solutions barely touch the surface of the problem. In my experience the only really effective ways to stop slugs and snails are search and destroy (ie kill, not just throw away because they'll be back) and slug bait. Here is a link that might be useful: Another slug and snail thread

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

Yeah, slugs in my back yard are horrible because we have a lot of shade we can do nothing about and live at the bottom of three hills. I mulched with pine needles this last fall and it seems to have helped some. I do buy Sluggo, but I can't afford to buy more than one bag, and I always run out by late spring, but it does slow them down. I have yet to try the diato. earth from the pool store, but I will be soon. Also, I have used Epsom salt and lime powder with good results, but you do have to keep reapplying. And not all plants want too much lime. Then there are the three or four nights of what I call my yearly "slug-fest", when I break my back plucking them. I think they are one of the gardener's biggest banes, especially if one doesn't want to use poisonous stuff. Anyway, I'm glad they dislike pepper. I will try that too..

I've done both, spray on the soil and the leaves, I tried some Sevin dust and it made a big ugly mess of my pretty leaves, so no more Sevin. I did get some diatomaceous earth and figured that would do some good on the soil. I picked up a few pots and checked beneath them, sure enough found a few many-legged 1 inch long things not earwigs, and I dusted them good--no more of those messing critters entering the drain holes of my pots. Plus, today I ordered the copper slug/snail tapes, put that on each pot perimeter and once should reduce their presence all season. I ordered 5 boxes/rolls of it, seeing as how I have all my hosta in pots. I do not really like to pick squishy critters. But I think I could deal with the slugs and cutworms using an ammonia soaked q-tip. If I think there are any sawfly larva, judging by the silvery threads on the surface of the soil in the pots, even when there is no leaf damage, I grab the pot and briefly dunk it into a 10% household ammonia solution. I even have a hard time breathing that stuff, let's hope they do too. Plus, there is always the option for using soapy water as a bath for the hosta, even if it isn't Saturday night. Extreme problems call for extreme solutions, pun intended.