Forget Traps and Salt for Slugs. Experienced Gardeners Sprinkle Something Different for Season-Long Peace
Oh, those pesky slugs! They can really take a toll on our gardens. It’s not just their size that’s a problem — they’re also pretty hungry! They munch on pretty much anything in their path and then move on to other adventures, often leaving a big mess behind. It can feel frustrating, wondering how to deal with these little critters. But don’t fret! There are ways to keep them at bay.
There are actually quite a few ways to control slugs. Before reaching for strong chemicals that will also affect plant growth, test natural methods. Some simply make slugs not even want to come close, because of the smell or taste they don’t like. There are also well-known traps into which they are lured with some kind of treat. Then you carry them very far away from the plot so they don’t have a chance to come back.
What plants do slugs like best?
Slugs are not very picky, so you can risk saying that they will devour almost anything. Therefore, in fact, no crop is safe. But they do have their treats, which they choose first. We suggest which plants to give special protection to:
- As for vegetables, they will be: lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and beets.
- Of fruits, they like gooseberries, currants, strawberries and raspberries best.
- They will also not disdain flowers: sunflowers, petunias, velvets, dahlias, pansies, nasturtiums, lilies and carnations.
- They will also settle for herbs, which are, after all, extremely aromatic and intense in flavor, but they don’t mind that at all. They like to nibble on basil, mint and thyme.
How do you know that slugs are feeding on plants?
Sometimes we are not sure what is destroying our crops, especially at the first stage of feeding. The places where slugs feed can be easily identified. Besides the most obvious one, when you can simply see them with the naked eye. Also pay attention to:
- traces of mucus – slugs, moving, leave a silvery and shiny path behind them, look for it on the plants themselves, but also around them, on the ground or lawn
- eggs – snails lay them in more inaccessible places, under stones, in natural crevices or simply in the mulch – they are small balls with a white color or possibly with a yellow coating
- Bitten plants – their trademark is holes in the leaves, crunched edges, they don’t even spare the stems and shoots, and they also don’t disdain flower petals
Their signs of existence are best to look for in the evening or early morning, that’s when they are most active, because they like shady and moist places, as much as they can avoid going out in the sun, especially very intense.
How to effectively get rid of slugs?
The answer to all the ills of gardeners is quicklime for slugs. This method will not fail you, but it is also quite drastic. Why? Because there is no question of driving them away or deterring them. This time it gets really serious, although the way is proven and gives an almost 100% guarantee of success. Namely, you have to spread quicklime between beds, around plants or in places where you see slugs crawling. This is a highly alkaline product with a pH of 12. Slugs get into such a path and simply get parched. Their skin is so delicate that this in effect kills them. It is estimated that you should use about 4 kg per 100 square meters. It is best to do this a while before the evening, before they start to come out of their hiding places, necessarily on dry days. Repeat the process 2-3 more times with an hour interval.
What else can be scattered between the beds?
Products can be divided into two groups, on the one hand there will be those that make it difficult for slugs to crawl, and on the other, those that create a deterrent barrier. And yes, here we have a product from the kitchen cupboard that normally ends up in the trash. These are eggshells, which only need to be crushed. Wood ash and loose sand will also work . In addition, snails do not like the smell of oak bark, ground coffee, cinnamon and citrus seeds. In addition, you can also make plantings of lavender, rosemary, geranium (here there is also a bitter taste), mugwort, sage (this is one of the plants they dislike more and it is about their very intense smell), mustard, garlic, savory or chamomile.
