It Worked!

I had read somewhere to crush up eggshells and scatter them around your precious hostas & iris's so the dreaded SLUGS or SNAILS (UG!) would not munch on your tender emerging shoots.

I had been saving up eggshells - we hubby & self been eating an egg a day, so finally I had a icecream bucket (4 litres) full of rinsed out eggshells. I then put them in the Cusinart and whizzed them around till I had broken up the eggshells, not too fine, glass shard like.

Went out 2 days ago and spread them around my hosta and iris bed. Today went to look and what did I see but a smear of what looked like spit. But I know better, it was a slug or snail who had gone over my eggshells. Zapped him good!!

I am still saving up eggshells, even if I don't need them for the hosta & iris bed then will add them to the compost heap.

That's 1 for gardendragon and 0 for the slugs!!!! :)

Pete2

As I sit here ...in two feet of snow ..atop of the Cascades...oh to even see a slug or a snail...dreams of far away gardens ...yep...have at it over there on the Island of warmth!!!!
Wood_nymph

I tried that too last summer and when I went back to check, the eggshells were gone! I have since learned, birds eat eggshells for the calcium. They must have gotten mine before the slugs came around 'cause they ate the whole hosta.

Deanne, Hopefully that wont happen to me, I am feeding the birds, with lots of seed.

gardendragon...you go for it! Them pesky slimeballs can try a person's patience! We have about 300 chickens ("about"...they won't stand still long enuff for me to get a proper count!) and always have extra egg shells. We sometimes chunck 'em into the gardens, sometimes feed 'em back to the chickens, no matter what we do we always save some for the slugs! (course now, it's a great grimy site when we sling some slugs to the ducks...they actually EAT them! 'Tis a site, and sound, to see/hear a duck mucking down a slug..!) But get this...we also found out along the way, if you run out of eggshells the local feed store sells 50# bags of crushed oyster shells for about $6...and they work just as well. Ahh yes...take that(!) you varmints!

The man at walmart told me slugs and snails like beer.I was told to put the cans in the yard with some inside.they can get in then cant get out.Maybe they get drunk!Does this really work?
lilbud

A few other slug tips.

Save the hair off your dawg or cat or your own hair brush.
Some slugs will try to eat it and it gets stuck in their digetive systems.

#1 help is to clean up, get rid of any garden debris.

They will hide under 3 oak leaves during he day.

Make or by toad hotels.

Trap with boards or damp newspaper, pick them off in the AM.

Beer traps work on a few, but some dogs like to beer too.
Don't want beer? use a little yeast and water.

If you use slug baits, make sure it's the type that your dog can't get into, they like this stuff for some reason.
and it can kill them if they get too much.

Cedar shavings also works, esp nice in the greenhouse.

lilbudgc, For me beer never worked with slugs, those slimy devils never seem to go near the beer, waste of good beer. I also I heard it can be dangerous to the birds, they drink it and get drunk, fall out of the trees!!??

Slug bait is VERY, VERY dangerous to cats & dogs.

Eggshells are harmless to all animals and good for the soil.

Ducks love slugs, put some ducks on the property and you will have no more slugs. If the ducks get out of hand, eat them, there are many good recipes.

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Texia: LMAF!!! Too funny & true!!! I hope to grow some Hosta this year & will try anything to keep those yucky things out of them!! Julie

Try it again Deanne, but put the shells out just before dark. The slimey ones work the night shift, birds work days.

If the egg shells don't work, go
to your farm store and get crushed
shell. It is sold for chickens, that may stop them. But beer does
work for me. You can buy the slug
traps with lids that you put in ground, so birds and pet can't get into them. Lee Valley Tools has the traps for $6.50 ( 1-800-871-8158)

Honeybee

Here's a neat little thing I just found in Birds & Blooms - a homemade slug trap. You will need:

2 liter soda bottle
staples
slug bait (purchased from a garden center)

Cut the top third of the bottle off the empty bottle. Drop a spoonful of slug bait into the bottom of the bottle. Push the cut off top portion into the body, with the spount on the inside. Put threeor four staples where the edges meet to secure the parts together. Viola.

The design of this keeps the poisonous bait away from kids and pets. The slugs can climb in, but have a terrible time getting out, and usually perish from the bait during the effort. Use for about a month, then replace with a new one.

This was developed by a Helmut Brodka of Renton, Washington. :)

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