beer traps for slug.

[Derbydal]

hi does anyone have any photos of home made slug traps that i could copy please ?
atb Dal

[Stan79]

I just dug a small hole in the ground, popped a yoghurt pot into it, filled it to 3/4 with beer and loosely laid a square of wood over the top. Definitely doesn't need to be fancy.

I've also made a big trap before with a 4 pint plastic milk bottle - just cut the top off.

[Cadalot]

Derbydal Take a look at Alans Allotment: Pop Bottle Slug Traps

[KevinM67]

Do beer traps actually work ? - and if they do, how many would you need in a 3m x 1m bed ?

Thanks ..... Kevin

[jonahjonah]

Do beer traps actually work ? - and if they do, how many would you need in a 3m x 1m bed ?

Thanks ..... Kevin

I don't have firsthand experience of the traps, but I'm preparing to try some. From what I've read, some slugs have a taste and move on whereas others are actually trapped. People seem to trap on the order of 5 to 20 slugs per trap and find that they only work over a short distance. One website recommended one trap every square metre (so 3 for a bed your size). The general feeling seemed to be that they catch some slugs but are less effective than methods like nematodes or pointy stick/torch in the dark.

I've also seen sugar/water/yeast listed as an alternative to using beer.

I'll be trying with the cheapest beer I can find. Container protruding a couple of cm above the surface of the ground, container mostly covered. Fewer slugs is a better number of slugs and I don't fancy a midnight walk back and forth to the allotment.

[KevinM67]

Cheers JJ.

Pretty much what I thought - however, like yourself I may try them out near some of the more susceptible plants.

And the last thing I would ever do, would be out with a torch in the middle of the night.

[4Shoes]

Do beer traps actually work ? - and if they do, how many would you need in a 3m x 1m bed ?

Thanks ..... Kevin

Had a good catch last year.

I use the "slops" from the beer fermentation bucket.

[Derbydal]

Had a good catch last year.

I use the "slops" from the beer fermentation bucket.

thats was one of the reasons I asked about them ! when I get a minute I shall be racking my plum and greengage wine off and was thinking of using the lees and being a tight type I thought i'd save on slugpellets ! thanks for the replys and Alan great video atb Dal.

[Stan79]

Yep - i 'caught' loads in my two traps last year... disgusting, foul smelly mess within a very short space of time! The good thing is that you need to take two cans of beer with you when gardening to top up the traps... but sometimes i get a bit thirsty!!!

[jonahjonah]

I set my traps out a week and a half ago. I mostly used the lined cardboard boxes that liquids are sometimes sold in (like custard) with one of the top corners snipped off. Buried them so that there was about an inch of box above the ground and poured in about an inch or two of beer. Some have caught several (3-10) slugs. The plants and seedlings in the vicinity are basically unmunched. It hasn't been a huge cull, but it seems to be working well enough so far.

[ESBkevin]

Beer traps work but in conjuction with all the other preventative methods you can employ. No one single anti slug method works 100%. Beer traps, good eyes (early morning/after a rain shower), nematodes etc. all required.

[cuffbertt]

I haven't tried beer traps but I'm thinking of giving it a go this year. Last year I just used a torch and an old pair of kitchen tongs and went out after sunset and collected as many as I could find. Bagged them up and chucked them in the bin (didn't tie the bag the first night and then all tried to escape! Might be a lot of effort if you have to go to an allotment, but for my garden it was five minutes in the dark two or three times a week. Must have looked mad to the neighbours if they looked out the window though! Last year I rounded up about 140 slugs over a few months, which was satisfying after they munched through all my marigolds