How to deal with slugs

[bigt1888]

i went out into the back garden tonight to pick some lettuce for a side salad and it had slugs all over it...

how do i deal with them!!!!

[Two_Sheds]

Go out with a torch and a bucket of salty water (and tweezers or rubber gloves if you're squeamish).

Repeat as necessary: I often get over 100 a night

I usually use a pinch of salt per slug, but it does kill the lawn

[binley100]

Use a headtorch if you have one , it leaves bith hands free to deal with the slimy little horrors

[bigt1888]

so is it safe to just get rid if them and eat the lettuce afterwards......washed of course?

[binley100]

Yup .......... Just give it a good wash to make sure theres none lurking in a wrinkle somewhere..

[bigt1888]

thanks guys!!!

I love this place!!!!!!!

[Paulottie]

One thing I learnt quickly with GYO is to cut the best out of the remaining veg when all the best has been sold ,bartered and proudly presented to friends and family....just eat round those slug holes.....Streuth man course it's alright to wash the lettuce...I usually use salted water.

....however the trick is to stop them lace-working the lettuce in the first place....for that you'll notice that although there are quite a few varieties of slug out there...most often they eat mainly decaying stuff and some like the tigery looking big ugly mothers eat other slugs but three are a pain... the little grey black keel slugs that live in the soil, the slightly fatter oyster coloured ones and the big orange things.

Keep your plot detritus free (always) and place out a dustbin lid or similar near the crop...that where you'll now find slimy things hiding during the day.

The torchlight raid like TS suggests is good policy but be selective....I personally don't put salt on any part of the garden except perhaps the path or asparagus bed....I prefer to have a killing jar of brine and some of those three pronged screw picker upper from behind things things...know what I mean?

[Munch]

This year I used oyster shell/grit that I have for the chooks. I sprinkle it around the plants, slugs hate crawling over it.
I have also saved all our eggs shells in a large bucket and have crushed them down, I will use that next year aroung my vulnerable plants, its even more sharp therefore even more succsessful (I hope!)

[Flummery]

Get chickens - they'll eat them for you (oh, we ate the lettuce by mistake too. A bit. Whoops !)

[ginger ninger]

Get a death bucket

Small child's bucket half filled with salt, pop slugs in the bucket, shake...da dar ready salted slugs...

...clean out regular or you'll end up with a bucket of snot . Also works with snails

[bearded bloke]

Nah,pump action air gun (no pellet needed) will put thier brains through thier bums & the blackbirds/hedgehogs/frogs/toads get a safe pretenderised meal

[arpoet]

save all yer egg shells over winter, dry them and crush them and sprinkle round the young plants in spring and summer. Mind you, i always have a long sharp stick and spear any i see. works with snails too as the dont like it up em!
Roger

[Strawberry delight]

This is meant to work,havent tried it though...

Sprinkle porridge oats around your plants and when the slug/snail has a drink it will bloat and the slug/snail will die.

Havent tried it...yet

dont use expensive ones though!

[oldie]

I use bran, bought from a local animal feed shop. £5 for a bag the same size as a 75lt bag of compost but very light. Has lasted 3 years. Has worked very well for me.

[SarahStrawberry]

Hi

With slugs we don't do anything nearly as technical. Dad goes round our polytunnel in the morning and scoops them onto a trowel, then, opens the polytunnel door and quite simply flings them as far as he can! - lol Although I think we are quite lucky and don't seem to have too many. I quite like snails so I move them gently to another part of the garden, sometimes they look up at you and I feel guilty about hurting them.