Any tips for keeping slugs at bay?

They are slightly acidic, but azaleas and camellias like being in acid soil. However, if you're growing plants that prefer more neutral soil, you'd have to add a lot of coffee grounds to make a significant change in the soil pH, so I don't think there are too many plants that it would hurt to do that.

azeleas and camellias like the acidic soil.....so coffee grounds are good for them. :o)
I tried sluggo and there are no snails in the back yard, but they are still in my pots in the front yard...I'm considering my sons pellet gun! LOL! fil it with sluggo and shoot the B@#$@$#$'s :o) lol!

Scissors work well.

lol!

Hmmm…I’ve been wondering what people do with the slugs they collect. I just flush them down the toilet ;-). We did end up with both frogs and tadpoles, but unfortunately, no toads. The frogs seem to be sticking around so far, and are croaking right now. I am really hoping the neighbors won’t complain because they are quite loud!

sunny..... I'll have to make sure to take some of those LOUD Froggies off your hands :o) ...Just as soon as I can drive again :o) LOL!

Sunnyg -- What a cute frog! Some day I'm going to have to have a pond so those little guys will be happy at my house. :)

Funny story about frogs. My husband and I went on a vacation in northern Wisconsin. We're both used to a fairly suburban setting, so the quiet condo we stayed in was a real change of pace for us. First of all, it was very dark! There wasn't a streetlight or yard light nearby anywhere. Second of all...our condo butted up to the edge of a forest and a large swampy pond. It was gorgeous. We loved the peace and serenity by day, but then at night...the frogs started singing.

And man, could those frogs sing. They were LOUD. But we figured we'd fling the French doors open wide and let nature's song sing us off to sleep. So we laid there in the pitch dark, listening to frog music. It was a little strange to us, but still we snuggled up and listened to them in the blackness. Then all of the sudden the deafening frog chorus just...stopped. Totally stopped. There wasn't a twitch or a peep or a sound. I swallowed hard, and next to me I felt my husband's body stiffen. Then I heard his voice, normally loud and boisterous, say very quietly:

"Why did the little froggies stop singing?"

I answered, "I dunno, but it's freaking me out!"

We flipped on all the lights, closed the French doors, dug a fan out of the closet and turned it on high, and watched TV until we could forget our images of flying saucers or swamp monsters scaring the frogs outside our condo.

We've since moved to the country and we're used to the frog chorus and the dark nights now. But every now and then we'll look at each other, smile, and whimper, "Why did the little froggies stop singing?" It's a family joke now.

So enjoy those singing froggies! And I hope your neighbors enjoy them too. :)

I love the singing froggies, mine are probably a different type than yours are, but all winter long they sing me to sleep! (and I don't even live in the country) I wish they would stay all year but unfortunately they're only around in the winter.

roflmao! Love the froggie story....

My DH and I were laying in bed one night and heard a loud THUMP! we both looked at each other....I looked at him, waiting for him to be the MAN and go inspect the sound...he stared at my and gave me the look of ....'go see what that was!' we laid there for a few minutes...then he said to me "THEY'RE HERE" and I said...'who?' and he said THEM.... the aliens.... :o)
Neither of us ever did get out of bed to 'inspect' the noise...still dont know what it was....but every now and then...laying in bed, we will hear the tiniest noise and DH will look at me and say "THEY'RE BACK!" Lol!
He still wont admit that he was too scared to get up and go see what the thump was! LOL!

We definitely have tadpoles for you, Anjl. Whew, I’m so glad you’re still interested in them since we’ve been a bit more successful with the whole frog thing than originally anticipated. LOL. Maybe the frogs will warn you about mysterious things that go “thump” in the night, like in Kayly’s story ;-).

I love your story Kayly. That is too funny! I am really enjoying the singing froggies. The first night here they were all silent, except for one frog that would croak sporadically. Each croak was so exciting…and shockingly loud. When we heard those first “ribbits,” we just burst out laughing. We live in a townhouse complex, so I’m pretty sure our neighbors are quite aware of the frogs at this point.

Ecrane, I’m very curious about your hot tub frogs. I’ve been trying to figure out what we’ve ended up with, and I think that at least some of them are Pacific Tree Frogs (no webbed feet, black stripe through eye, a lot of variation in color…and loud). They are tiny and really cute. They may not be eating the slugs, but I am quite smitten anyhow :-).

oneanjl - Don't you just love it when the "big strong man" in your family goes all chicken? lol My husband does the same thing with noises in the house.

Me: What was that?

Him: Um...I don't know...

Me: Are you going to go check it out?

Him: Why?

Me: What if someone's in the house?

Him: If someone's in the house, I don't want to be checking anything out!

Me: *sigh* I'll go see what it is...

Silly scaredy men! ;)

Years ago, I live in a big house all by myself... I went and adopted an australian shephard to 'protect me'. soon after, my brother moved in with me too. one night, I'm laying in bed and hear a really loud BOOM! I ran out to see what happened....my brother and the dog were outside. As I got to the door...my brother and the dog are fighting to get INSIDE the door at the same time LOL! they both ran for cover! I had to go investigate... some kids blew up firecrackers under a metal trash can ....but my entire family chided my 'PROTECTORS' about their cowardliness forever! LOL!

My husband is a really sound sleeper. So whenever something goes bump in the night louf enough to wake him or the phone rings or something he always says to me "What was that?!?!?" or "Who is calling??!?!?" As if I would have ANY more info than him. I usually say - just an axe murdered - shall I go take care of it?

It's funny how we got from slugs to toads and frogs to things that go bump in the night! lol

well...frogs and toads go bump in the night and get the slugs! LOL!

Read from top to bottom about the slugs, I can tell from this post that the slugs and snails really dont just pick on me, they have loads of friends out there and are world wide from all accounts, here was me thinking it was MY garden they liked best, Ive tried and tested everyones suggestions apart from the chemicals, and they DO NOT WORK, the toads and frogs are the best destroyers around, they dont need a pond, just a dark dank area to hide, mine bury themselves underground in warm weather, they even pop out of drain pipes if we get really heavy rainfall, they only other solution is I go out at night with a flash light armed with rubber washing up gloves and a bucket of boiling water, pick off all the slugs and snails I can find (I can find well over 150 easy in a night) I drop them into the boiling water and hey presto, they are as dead as a door nail, for extra security you can always add salt or bleach to the water to make the kill clean and quick, but to be honest, I dont care any more how clean the kill is, so long as they die, then you flush them down a drain in the morning, by then they are truly dead, for the copper, you need to have a rough edge for it to work, this is so that the slime exuded from these creatures comes into contact with 2/3 parts of the copper, this gives off an electric shock to stop the snails/slugs continue further over the copper, they dont die, just get a shock, the other thing about these creatures is, they lay the eggs in the soil, when you garden, you may come across what looks like a bunch of small white pearls in a clump, that is eggs from the slugs/snails, uncover them and watch the birds go mad for them, slugs and snails have male/female productive organs and can lay eggs from both male and females, so no wonder we are over run with them, hedgehogs are another good animal that feasts on the snails and slugs so if you have them around, they will help you out, the damp wet winter we have had this year is ideal breading ground for them to come in the thousands, so I am already getting ready to go snail/slug hunting as I have the tiny tips of my Hostas already peeping through the soil, and I just know my veg patch will be on their food list in a few weeks time, so the person who invents a slug/snail trap that actually works will be a millionaire in the first season, I had a good laugh at you Ecrane, trying to visualise what kind of swim wear these hot tub snails and slugs you have would be sporting for this season, considering my 8 year old grand daughter has informed me that pink is so last year Granny, so I guess for her, Barbie has taken a back seat already. good luck all you snail/slug gardeners, happy gardening and keep up the good work with all your frog farming, who knows at this rate we might read that snails/slugs are now an endangered species, hip, hip, hooooooorah. WeeNel.

Your are right. You don't need the pond. I have been on the prowl for native Texas frogs and tadpoles at all the pet stores with no luck.
I laid the plastic liner down in the preformed pond I have in the ground now.(It is cracked, no wonder my sister Gave it to me!) It started raining so I gave it up for the day. The next day I went to move the plastic around and disturbed 3 frogs(toads)!
It is holding water and pea gravel now with out leaks.
It went from a small frog pond to a three tier water fall with a pond. It is being made with things I have on hand,(most expensive so far was the pump) and will be very unusual to say the least, but I am getting excited. Maybe the saying "build it and they will come" will apply here.

WeeNel, what do you mean that you have to have a rough edge on the copper for it to work?

I did just buy some copper and I intend to fashion some rings and try this out...might as well give it a shot. I will also capture a slug and see what it's reaction is to the copper placed in it's path.

I found some slug eggs once and I was overjoyed to have gotten rid of a whole bunch of them early on .


Also, I keep hearing that you can buy generic Sluggo/Escargot at Home Depot or Walmart, but I'm not seeing it there. Anyone else have trouble with that?

I think what WeeNel might mean is that there has to be bare copper exposed...something that's copper but really old/aged or with something coated on it won't work, the snail needs to be exposed to bare copper in order for it to work.

I was wondering if copper wouldn't work once it gets that patina? But according to the company that makes those slug rings, it does...of course, they would hardly tell you it stops working now, would they, lol. And of course, I want it to get a patina so that they don't stand out so much. Hmmm.

I know the people hear who can afford to buy the copper for slug murders, usually either cut it along the edges with a zig-zag type cut, or take a hacksaw blade to it to roughen it up a bit, I am not sure about the patina, but if it was a problem, then fill a bucket with a large bottle of coca-cola and drop the copper into it, that will soon bring it up like new again, if you drop an old copper coin into this stuff, it comes out like it had just left the mint, so makes you wonder what it does to our inners and kids teeth eh. maybe we should drop the slugs into this too and see if it will kill them of, I'm off to the store for a large bottle of the stuff, ha, ha, ha. good luck. WeeNel.

OK, I'd never heard of needing to cut zig zags or rough edges in it. I don't think you need to go to all that trouble, although it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to do it. The reason copper deters slugs is that when they crawl on it, their slimy bodies react with the copper and it gives them an electric shock, it has nothing to do with whether there's sharp edges. If the slug comes in contact with copper, the reaction will occur. But if there's a coating over the copper then that can prevent the reaction from happening.

I bet dropping the slugs in the soda would work too, at the very least they'd drown! LOL

Slugs are a major problem for me and I have found that I need to use multiple tools
to combat them. My first attack is egg shells. I get them from a local baker, put them in a bag, stomp on them, and work them into the soil. Slugs do not like soil that is rich in calcium. I also, put a large band of eggs shells around the border of the garden beds. Next I use Escargo from Gardens Alive. Melon and grapefuit rinds are used as traps. Just lift them up and salt the slugs that have made this their hiding place.

Containing these creatures takes time and effort, but if you keep up with it you will
decrease their popluation.

Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQeGSPH4wrQ&feature=related

This guy ran two parallel wires with a 24v transformer powering them.

I already have an electric fence around my strawberries to keep the dogs from
digging in the bed. (They watch us garden and then try it themselves.)

If I staple two parallel wires around the landscape timbers and ground one and
connect the other to the fence I will get pretty much the same thing.

I've already been thinking about a solar powered slug fence circuit. Maybe something that
could be made by modifying a solar walkway lamp.

I'm really not sure why they cut the copper zig-zag or rough the edges either Ecrane, I think the story was that the slugs slithered over 2 parts of the copper with a gap in the middle and as they did, the slime caused an even nastier shock to their bodies, rather like us holding 2 pieces of live electrical wires together and then they touch. but I will have to try find out if this is correct, I never use it as the copper here costs a small fortune, the price of copper and lead here is so high right now, people have returned from vacation and found their homes have been stripped of all the copper and lead from roofs pipes etc and there furnishings are left in place, so that gives the idea as to how expensive these metals have got here, apparently there is a world shortage just now, but that's on the TV news, and we all know how accurate that can be eh. Good luck everyone with the snail/slug kill anyway. WeeNel.

wow! I like the idea of electrocuting the $%$#@@! lol!

I think I actually did see an electronic slug barrier someplace recently.

My bed are all raised beds with rocks used as edging...I know that I could never put a barrier to protect the whole bed, because they'd still get it. Plus, I guess I wouldn't like the look of that. Not only that, but I know that they are already in there. I'd just be keeping them in! I was out poking around in the mulch the other day, looking for signs of life from my hosta and I found three baby slugs, right there. Ugh! Found another more mature one right in the center of a hydgrangea while I was scrutinizing that for signs of life, too. Makes me think it's gonna be a bad year for slugs. I am trying to work up the nerve to try the ammonia solution drench to try to wipe out some of these early ones. Then I'll do Sluggo, and I will try the copper bands too. I think what I bought is 99.9% pure copper, with no coating....I should have enough to make rings for about half my hosta...since they are pretty young, the rings won't need to be very big. I'm looking forward to my "science experiment"!

Ok, folks, I am cautiously optimistic on the effectiveness copper bands. I captured a slug the other day and dropped in the center of a 3 inch high copper ring and watched him try to get out for about 90 minutes. He first did laps around the ring a few times before gathering the nerve to try to climb it. I groaned when I saw him making his way up...however, he turned back after about an inch. That happened a few times, before he finally gave up and buried himself in the soil for a nap. I actually felt bad for torturing him for 90 minutes, so I actually let him go, far away from my plants.

Because he wasn't a big slug, I have concerns that the bigger boys will be able to climb a three inch band. I guess it will depend on how hungry they are Certainly, the one inch tape they sell does not seem adequate, based on my observation this weekend. I plan on using the rings on the handful of slug attractive hosta cultivars in my garden, and I will also have to devise a way to keep the leaves from hitting the ground with those plants.

Thanks for the info, Noreaster! Maybe the slugs will avoid the copper if they have that option. Sounds like the guy you caught was anxious to get out of that ring. Maybe he only attempted to climb it because he had to in order to escape. We shall see! Keep us posted on how your experiments work out.

I hope you haven't abandoned this thread yet. I just joined yesterday and felt compelled to reply to this because (as my user name indicates) killing snails and slugs has become an all consuming obsession of mine (I've even begun writing how this obsession came to be in my blog). Ok, now to the point. There is nothing out there that will kill them ALL and keep them away. All of the baits, in my opinion, are just a waste of time. I think they make people feel like they've accomplished something because they caught and killed a few, but they don't realize that if they caught a few that easily, there are likely hundreds that they never see. Your only option is control. You can spend a lot of money on the "Sluggo" and all of the other crap, but NOTHING works as well as regular old table salt. I sprinkle it around the plants, but more importantly, whenever it rains, I grab my rubber gloves, a container of salt, and head out to the garden and hand pick them, throwing them in the container of salt as I go. I also will toss salt in places where I can't reach. They live for years, breed every month and produce HUNDREDS of offspring.

I know salt is definitely harmful to the slugs and snails, but...isn't it harmful to the plants, too?

Since salt's going to dissolve over time in moist soil and even faster when it rains, I would think by the time you reapply it repeatedly so that it really has an impact on the slugs/snails, there might be a bit too much going into your soil. Unless you use a non-sodium based salt, some of those aren't as bad for the soil but would probably have a similar effect on the slugs.

Just came across this thread and had to get in my 2 cents!

I dont have a major slug problem but when I do I put small pieces of cedar shakes ( any wood will do I just happen to have those) around my hostas with a small amount of slug bait underneath. If you are adverse to using chemicals just put the boards down and pick them up every morning - the slugs will be underneath and you can scrape them into a pail of salty water which will kill them. My mum used to keep a pail at her back door and do this every day - personally since I use bait it doesnt matter but you could also sprinkle salt on them - but not on the ground please!

Another somewhat humerous method - my Dad always ate a grapefruit for breakfast - tmum took the grapefruit halves and turned them upside down in the garden - next morning pick them up - lots of slugs underneath and put in the garbage!

Before I had my raised veggie beds I used old fence boards as walks around the veggies and did the same thing - flip themover, salt the slugs and they are done for!

The ammonia mix thing which was mentioned early on here is to be sprayed all around edges of hard surface areas - not on the ground around the plants - early in the spring .

Just need to respond to the above comments. I apologize for not being more clear in my explanation of how I use the salt. First, I only use it when It's raining AND mostly throw the snails in a container of salt to immediately kill them. I will toss them into my shrubs and in the cracks of my long stone wall where I can't reach. There has NEVER been any problem with the soil or any signs of distress on the shrubs, where most of the direct contact takes place. I have "picked" as many as just over 300 snails in a single day...and about a week later the next time it rained, there were still more (not nearly as many, but I hadn't extinguished them completely). I have killed thousands over the last couple of years, and nearly all of them with salt. I had also spent an enormous amount of money first on the "safe" snail/slug killers, then as my frustration grew, on the "toxic-keep-keep-animals-and-children-away" chemicals, and then on anything I could get my hands on. By the end of it, I didn't care if I ruined my soil and killed all vegetation, as long as the snails were dead (clearly, I was psychotically irrational by this point....it was a vendetta!) Now, it sounded like KaylyRed was approaching this level of frustration as well, and I really wanted to offer a solution that would really work, is really cheap and won't kill any birds or pets who wander into the yard. Also, I live in Zone 6a (Connecticut) so I don't know if the salt has less impact in this area???? But I also don't understand how it can be worse to use salt, especially if you use epsom salt, since that's already used as a fertilizer. I'd love to know the answer if somebody knows. (btw, that was a sincere question, not a sarcastic one :-b )
Anyway, speaking for myself and my (believe me) extensive experience in killing snails (I hardly ever see slugs, just snails...hmm....wonder why?) I would much rather have the snails under control even if that means I have to resort to strictly container gardening.
I'm attaching a pic of my driveway where ONE of my stone walls/snail oasis is. I have several other stone walls on my property as well.

Honestly if you're only sprinkling a little salt in the garden and you're only doing it when it's raining, I doubt that salt is killing very many snails. Salt kills the slugs/snails by basically drawing the water out of their bodies and dehydrating them, so they need to come in contact with a good amount of it in order for it to kill them. So a few sprinkles here and there in the garden just aren't going to do that much, particularly if you apply it while it's raining (salt dissolves very quickly in water, and once it's dissolved that dilutes it enough that I doubt if it would kill the snails). If that's how you're applying it though it doesn't surprise me that you haven't damaged your garden, little bits of salt aren't going to hurt anything. But if you do apply salt to your garden in a manner and amount that will actually make a significant impact on the population, you will be adding too much salt to your soil. I think the reason you've seen a difference is all the handpicking you're doing, that will definitely make a dent in the population if you're diligent about it.

As far as the epsom salt, it is magnesium sulfate and table salt is sodium chloride, even though they are both "salts" they are chemically very different. Sodium is not good for plants, but magnesium is fine (I'm sure you could overdo it too if you tried, but it's definitely more beneficial than sodium and plants actually need some of it). That's why I made my comment about non-sodium based salts being a better choice for throwing on garden beds--many of them would have a similar dehydrating effect on slugs but wouldn't hurt the garden as much. However, given the factors of dissolving in moist soil and rain and the amount that the slugs need to come in contact with in order to die, you might be overdosing your soil with any salt you tried. If you're worried about safety, handpicking is a good option, or if you're squeamish and don't like doing that, look for slug products with iron phosphate as the active, it is harmless to people/pets. Or the copper barriers are safe too, but take a bit more effort and expense.

Sluggo.

Scissors.

I chop 'em in half with a garden spade when I find them. Quick and easy. If I don't have a spade handy, I smash them with a rock. I don't mind hunting for slugs after a rain...but I'm not prepared to do nightly stakeouts, which is when I personally feel they are out there doing their evil work. That's where Sluggo and other baits and barriers come in. They do the work you can't do when you're asleep.

My only complaint about Sluggo or Iron Phosphate is that something WAS eating it last year almost as soon as I put it down, and I'm 99% sure that something was chipmunks. They literally took every piece. Before the chippers had a taste for it, it had been working great to keep my hosta in perfect form.

This message was edited May 2, 2008 8:55 PM

well, I discovered last weekend that my teacup french poodle likes escargo :o) lol! shell and all :o)

That's so funny! Guess that's another way to keep the snail population in check! Between her and your gopher hunting wiener dog I bet you don't have too many pests left in your garden! LOL