Organic Gardening Essentials 3 (The Organic Gardening Academy.) by Geoff Norman

Author:Geoff Norman [Norman, Geoff]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-10-29T13:30:00+00:00

How to Trap Slugs

Over the last several lessons you've learned about a variety of sprays you can use to kill and repel pests. Not every pest is susceptible to these sprays, however, which is why you'll need to turn to other methods. This includes trapping your pests. Read on...

Trapping Your Garden Pests

Slugs are just one type of pest that aren't affected all that much by some of your sprays, especially since they're rarely around when you're spraying. These slimy little creatures hide in a cool, moist place during the day and then come out at night to chew your plants to bits.

Fortunately, you can control your slug (and snail) problems a variety of ways, including using traps. I'll talk about those traps in just a moment. But first, let's look at ways to make your garden a little less hospitable to slugs and snails:

 Weed your garden. The more weeds you have, the more cool places you've made where slugs and snails can hide.

 Prune any shrubs with low branches that create an "umbrella" near the ground for slugs to hide.

 If you have a slug or snail problem, remove decaying mulch from your garden. Things like moist, decaying leaves are very attractive homes for slugs and snails.

 TIP: The slug's eggs look like white BB's encased in a jelly like substance. If you find these eggs, destroy them! Typically you'll find them in cool, moist places.

Now here's what you can do to help control your slug or snail problem:

 Hand pick them. I know, picking up these slimy little critters by hand probably isn't high on your list of favorite things to do. Just put on some gloves, where some shoes that you don't mind getting slimed (in case you step on one) and grab a flashlight.

Then go out a few hours after it has gotten dark and search for these slugs. Be sure to push back the plant leaves and shrub branches so you can get a good look.

You can also look for them very early in the morning. Some people carry a salt shaker and kill the slugs by sprinkling them with salt.

 Keep slug sticks handy. These are sharp sticks that you can use to kill slugs. If you have a big slug population, you're bound to run into them (even during the day) when you're tending to your garden. You may want to look under rocks, pots and other hiding places.

 Create a beer trap. This is easy to create using the lid of a jar (such as a peanut butter jar). Dig a small hole near where you have a slug problem and drop your lid into this hold. The top of the lid should be even with the soil level, so that a slug can just walk into your trap and fall in.

Then fill the lid with stale beer, which slugs find attractive. The slugs will walk right into your trap and drown.

That's it for Slugs, YUK!

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