Hello! I have a vegetable garden, but slugs always get in and eat my plants! I am an organic gardener, so I would rather not use any chemicals. And I don't really want to kill the slugs. I've tried putting egg shells around my garden, but the slugs still get in. I put copper tape around my garden ( I have a raised bed) but the slugs just climbed some grass to get into my garden. Does anyone have any ideas of how to keep the slugs out? Thank you! ~tgplp :)
You may, however, have to resort to killing them. The most humane way is to set out dishes of beer, so that they drown happy.
slugs clean up your unhealthy plants, specially if the leaves are lying around on the ground level. if you tidy up, then less for them to eat (population control). without killing them, they will keep reproducing. they have white pearl looking eggs, looking like white caviar, which also need to be killed. when you see huge ones, like king, and queens, they will increase the slug population by hundreds! they seem to have reproduction period of every few months. personally i kill them one by one, save them in a container which will be brought to my compost.
I would suggest, that if you can stand to spare the beer then beer traps worked a treat for me. At least you know they died happy?! ;)
I live on the wet coast and have had a huge problem with slugs but, have come to a compromise, not a defeat, with them. Most slugs would cross a busy road to get to a petunia or marigold so I put those in pots and protect them with copper wire and a natural battery. Copper wire is readily available in hardware store, so run 2 strands around the base of a pot or barrel about 1/2 " apart. Make a battery out of a disposable plastic cup(ie. yogurt) fill it 2/3 full of vinegar, tape over the top of the cup with any tape to make it watertight. Through the tape, puncture a galvinized nail that reachs nearly to the bottom and on the opposite side of the container make another hole and place ,deeply, into the cup one of the copper wires. The other copper wire needs to be attached to the nail by several twists. This will produce about 1.1 Volts DC, a common battery. The slugs won't cross both wires. The vinegar likely will evaporate slowly and needs to be topped up, and the galvanized nail will eventually corrode away. This is all pet and basically enviromentally friendly. The actual truth tho is that the slugs live subterrainium and will pop up anywhere in a garden that they can reach from underneath. I use the beer traps all over my open garden beds.
