How to Get Rid of Slugs in the Garden

Here I'll show you how to get rid of slugs. If you're wondering what those tiny holes are in your plants, you probably have snails or slugs eating them at night. How do you get rid of the slugs without using poisons? If you have hostas or they are eating your lettuce, you are probably ready to kill these slimy creatures as soon as possible.

You may never see the slug, because they are usually busy at night and hide during the day. I've seen them hiding in thick lettuce leaves during daylight hours though.

Slugs look much like a snail without the outer shell. Some slugs have no shells at all and others have a partial or an internal shell. They are related to snails, but distantly. A slug is a type of mollusk, as are snails.

Because slugs don't have a shell, they produce mucus to help protect themselves. One is a thick mucus and another is a thin mucus. Now you know why they are slimy looking. There bodies are mainly made up of liquid.

There are both male and female slugs. The female lays about 30 eggs at a time in a small hole.

We are having a drought this year and I'm not having a slug problem at all. Slugs like damp moist places to hide.

1. An easy solution is to use beer. The slimy slugs like the taste. They'll climb into the beer at night and drown, because they aren't able to crawl out. Put the open can in the garden or put some in a small dish. The slugs will climb in and drown. The next morning, you'll find the dead slugs in the beer.

2. Crumbled up egg shells will work. The shells will damage their bodies when they move at night. Once the shells are broken down they'll add calcium to your soil, so this will do double duty.

3. Slugs have tender bodies, so they don't like rough surfaces. Spread rough sand around your plants.

4. Put a few tablespoons of cornmeal in a jar and then lay the jar sideways. Place it in the area where the slugs are causing the problem. The slugs will go in the jar and eat the cornmeal and it kills them.

5. This technique isn't quite as easy, because it is sometimes hard to spot the slugs in the daytime, but it works. Add ammonia with about 6 times as much water in a spray bottle. Spray the slugs with the mixture and it will kill them.

6. Spread coffee grounds around the plants or spray your leftover coffee on the slugs themselves.

7 .Leave old lettuce leaves around the plants and then collect them in the morning. The leaves will be covered with slugs. Put the leaves in an airtight bag and throw in the garbage.

10. Leave the rinds from lemons, grapefruit or oranges out at night and they will be covered with slugs in the morning. Dispose of the rinds and get rid of the slugs.

11. Pick the snails while they are out at night and put in a cup of soapy water. This is a labor intensive method. There are easier methods.

12. Place a board on the ground in the area that is infested. Pull up the board in the morning and pickup the slugs. Either place in soapy water to kill them or squish them and then place in a bag in the garbage.

13. Use diatamaceous earth and spread around the area. This can be purchased at almost every store that carries organic gardening supplies.

14. This method will help, but not completely eradicate the slugs. Cut down all bottom leaves to help keep the plants drier. You might try this with another method.

It helps to purchase hostas with thick leaves. The slugs have a harder time eating through them.