Beer? I'd have to buy an entire brewery. Ok, a whole truckful.

Last year I thought I would try handpicking them. A nice, organic alternative, right?

Went out after supper, armed with a large bucket of soapy water and tongs. Counted as I picked 'em and stuck 'em in the bucket. Lost count after 500. And I did this for nearly a full week, and it made no dent in the population.

Major eewww!

They prefer to eat dying leaves (weeds thrown on the compost heap, the aged leaves of the spring flowering bulbs) but when there are so many slugs and snails, then they start eating everything else, too.

Would have to become VERY close friends with several restaurants that do a brisk breakfast trade...

I have heard that you take a smooth sided container (jar) fill it half full of beer and bury it in the garden at ground level. The slugs crawl in to get the beer and drown. I have never tried it but it wouldn't hurt to give it a go. I would also use a jar the had a screw on lid for easy disposal? Yuck!

Try some beer...it does work...

Oh, my husband said...see if a bar has some old stuff they want to get rid of. He called it skunk beer.

I used Marie Calendar's pie tins, ground level, full of beer. The little buggers drink the beer, get drunk and then drown in it! It's true! LOL

I will tell a somewhat funny story about slugs and beer.

I have a good friend that happens to be Menonite. She was having a terrible slug problem so she went and asked the neighbor if she could buy a couple cans of beer. I guess she gave her a strange look and said "Oh we have a case and wont miss a couple" So my friend put some of the beer out and put the rest in the fridge. Well it didn't take long for gossip to spread that the "Amish girl" was asking for beer. A day or so later it got back to her husband who has a wonderful sence of humor, He just told the busy body that Yha we will need to work on that. He then asked his wife and she laughed and said that next time she better try explaining why she needed it. Then over the weekend the inlaws came in from Pa, needless to say there was a family meeting called about why there was "medicine" in the fridge, You see the four year old told grandma to Not get mommys medicine when she was getting some tea. Maybe it is funnier if you know those involved but you can just imagine the drama this caused.

They take work to get rid of (ask me how I know) They love strawberries.

I used one of the baits to finally reduce the population to a level I can live with.

How do you know? You must have experience! And you are right, they do love strawberries and I am hoping that this year I will get more berries than the slugs do. We shall see... within the week as strawberry season is just starting.

Yes, I've resorted to bait too. Sluggo didn't do much. Deadline works well. But they have so many hiding places... it would be easier if I were starting with an empty field but I'm not.

Yes, baits worked well for me. You can also try encircling your plants with lime or wood ashes as mechanical repellents.
I have used salt, which is gross and beer, also.

Another thing I have done is to give them extra places to hide: put a thick board, flat rock or overturned clay flower pot near the victimized plants. During the day check under these hiding places and dispose of slugs.

www.gardeningknowhow.com has ideas for combating slugs.

I think ground egg shells are good for getting rid of them. Take some empty egg shells & toast them in the oven on low heat; then grind them up & sprinkle around where you see them.

from motherearthnews:I rinse out the shells, let them dry and store them in a coffee can. After the can is full, I put them in an old food processor and grind them up. I sprinkle them around my flowers, veggies, etc. Slugs will not crawl across them. Also, the eggshells provide the mineral benefit of calcium for my garden!

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...#ixzz1P1n3mchu