Get an easy to clean manual grinder (one used for grinding onions, etc.) (Look for at yard sales, second hand stores). Collect slugs (4-5 will do). Put in grinder top with water. Grind up. Put into bowl covered with cheesecloth. Put juice in a 2 litre pop bottle, top with water.
Use dollar store sprayer to spray the ground or poke holes in the cap and sprinkle the complete perimeter of your garden. (Wear rubber gloves to do this, you will not want this smelly solution on your hands). Repeat process after rain. Slugs (and lots of other annoying insects and animals such as flies, mosquitoes, cats and dogs hate the smell and will go elsewhere. It's inexpensive, vey effective (most importantly), and less time-consuming than going to the store for slug bait or emptying the slug traps.
I am a bit ashamed to admit I did enjoy grinding the slugs after what they did to my plants, you may experience this feeling too!
Source: I must have read this somewhere but it was so long ago that I do not know where it was. Probably a Readers Digest Problem Solver Book.
This works on any pest animals. We have squirrels around here like you would not believe because we are heavily treed and everyone has annuals and perennials in their yards all over the place. It's a playground. Not to mention slugs, and bugs. yuck. On a video called Back to Eden, the guy mentioned crows killing his chickens so he shot one and hung it on a pole, they flew away and never came back.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Here are some more tips from the ThriftyFun community on slug control.
By Sue L.
By Jess
By elva
Organic: Barrier methods - sprinkle eggshells or diatomaceous earth around individual plants. The sharp edges deter/kill the slugs.
Lure And Kill Methods: Bury a small margarine container so the rim is level with the soil surface, put an inch of beer in the bottom. Slugs will be attracted by the beer and fall in and drown. Lay thick slabs, (10 - 20 pages), of wet newspaper out in the garden beds at night. In the morning when they've finished munching, they will withdraw to the dark dampness under the paper. Collect by hand or stamp on them in heavy boots, the added satisfaction of revenge! Put a bounty on their heads and send the neighbourhood kids out just after nightfall to collect them for cash.
By Jo Bodey
Ammonia Slug Control
This is for slug control. I mix Sudsy Ammonia with water, half and half (they really won't crawl away from this mixture!), or a little more water and put it in a spray bottle. You can spray this solution right onto the flowers and plants and it doesn't hurt them. That way you get all the baby slugs that the mother has lovingly placed to feed on the tender parts! It works great! Happy slugging! By Betty
Feel free to post your ideas for slug control below.
WE have a sweetgum ball tree and I keep some of the sweetgum balls and put them gently under my hosta plants and other plants the slugs seem to love. They will not crawl across the spiney sweetgum balls as it will cut up their bodys.Over a perid of timethe sweetgum balls dry out and make good mulch in the garden. Works well for me. Hope it works well for you. Connie in Ballwin, Mo
I have tried the beer trick and it really works! But don't forget to empty the bowl daily or it really stinks of dead slugs!
Where do i find the sweet gum balls? Sounds like people have them that want to get rid of them and I am not sure what they look like. Just need some for my hostas.
I love the idea of getting rid of slugs with cucumbers in a pie "tin". My question is can you use the disposable foil tins or do they need to be the real thing?
By G G from Philadelphia, PA