Dealing with slugs

Slugs are one of the creatures that are in abundance in any garden environment. They eat away at leaves, stems, flowers and roots in the dead of night leaving nothing but carnage in their wake. Naturally so!

As the temperature begins to rise and you start to see things grow at the allotment and you’ll begin to attract all sorts of creatures looking to survive.

There are some natural slug remedies that you can employ to reduce the amount of damage that they can cause.

Beer – to make a beer trap, just bury a jar or a plastic container and fill it with beer. Come the morning, the beer trap will have become a slug pub, as slugs find beer impossible to resist.

Copper – you can purchase copper strips here, which you can then place around the base of any plant. There’re two reasons why slugs don’t like copper strips. Copper is toxic to slugs and other organisms and copper also gives off a static charge when slugs try to cross it.

Grit/broken egg shell – horticultural grit or broken eggshells laid around the base of the plant will help deter any slugs who want to feast on your plants. This is probably the least full proof method of deterring a slug, as a slug can glide over the sharp surface with the help of its slime. The rough surface will provide a longer, more inconvenient experience for the slug.

Chemical solutions to dealing with slugs

According to the RHS, there are two types of slug pellets available on the market.

Pellets that contain metaldehyde:

• Slug Clear Ultra Pellets
• Bayer Bio Slug and Snail Killer
• Deadfast Slug killer
• Doff Slug Killer Blue Mini Pellets
• Westland Eraza Slug and Snail Killer

And those that contain ferric phosphate:

• Growing Success Advanced Slug Killer
• Bayer Natria Slug and Snail Control
• Bayer Organic Slug Bait
• Vitax Slug Rid
• Doff Super Slug Killer
• Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer

Ferric phosphate based pellets are approved for use by organic growers and are relatively non-toxic to vertebrate animals. I’d also recommend the ferric phosphate option if you’re a little bit particular about what chemicals you use at the allotment.

I hope you find these tips useful and if you know of any other ways to deal with slugs, be sure to leave a comment and let me know!