June 17th, 2010 by admin

photo credit Cheryl DeWolfe

Is there anything more heartbreaking than the sight of seedlings, stripped of their leaves overnight by slugs?

In the Wright Encyclopedia of Gardening (1933), Walter P. Wright has this to say about slugs and snails,

Gardeners are not yet satisfied of the useful part played by the slug in the economy of Nature.  Knowing it as a voracious feeder on young plants, they have classified it as an enemy that must be rigorously repressed. But the slug takes a good deal of subduing. Nocturnal in habits, clever at finding hiding-places, it often ends triumphant.

Not exactly fighting words. Mrs Jane Loudon, in Gardening for Ladies (1869) was more blunt, calling slugs and snails “the terror of all gardeners.” She continues, “the destruction they effect in some seasons in small gardens is almost beyond the bounds of credulity.”

Mrs. Loudon suggests that ladies encourage birds to the garden, as they “live almost entirely on insects and destroy great numbers every year,” but I’m not convinced that will do much to combat slugs — especially here on the “Wet Coast!”

Wright suggests using alum, burnt lime, or lime-water:

[put] a lump of fresh lime as big as a coco-nut in a pail of water, straining off the liquid a few hours afterwards, and watering with it at night , 2 or 3 nights in succession.

Modern gardeners would not be advised to do this, however, as lime is best added to the garden after the growing season.

Wright has a few more tricks up his sleeve, though. He also suggests using “fresh brewer’s grains,”  bran “damped with vinegar” or orange peel as bait then checking after dark — and presumably killing any slugs that take the bait. He also recommends the “V.T.H. slug trap, obtainable from large seedsmen.”

A quick web search turns up commercial products (both organic and chemical, the latter not recommended for use in food gardens), copper barriers,  loose eggshells, coffee grounds, and various traps; the Weekend Gardener has a great round-up of methods. Another article, on PlanTea, suggests that brewed coffee, rather than grounds, is more effective as it is the caffeine that repels the slug.

Ultimately though, almost every site recommends the same best practice: hand-picking. While not for the squeamish, it is certainly the most practical. Good luck!

pest control, slugs, snails