SLUGS PREFER BUD!

As you put out your seedlings this month, you may notice some holes in the leaves the next day that weren't there when you planted them.  This is most likely slugs (unless they are like tiny potshot holes and then they are most likely flea beetles which prefer radish leaves to many other plants).  Slugs do like hiding under mulch -- a downside to mulching -- and this week they attended to the basil seedlings in my bed.

What can you do about their nightly depredations short of going down in the dark and catching them in the act (which is how I got bit by a bat one year)?  First, I removed one of their favored daytime hiding places by cutting back to the ground my sorrel and checking under stepping stones in my bed.  Next, I decided to make collars for my basil and parsley until they are big enough to fend for themselves.  I raided our recycling bins and secured some large soda bottles, cut off the tops and bottoms and put them over my seedlings.  So far, the slugs have not found them again.  It would seem slugs find their food mainly by chance since they can only detect food at close range -- typically an inch or two.  If the collars don't work well enough, I may have to resort to 2" of copper tape around the collars.  The copper works wet or dry and when slugs and snails make contact with it, there is a toxic reaction, like an electric shock. If they make it past this barrier, they deserve the meal!

Slugs are also attracted to beer (the chemicals given off in the fermentation process). In 1987, a study at Colorado State University Entomology Professor Whitney found that Kingsbury Malt Beverage, Michelob, and Budweiser attracted slugs far better than other brands.  We've collected unopened bottles of Bud left in our Park and they are on a shelf in the shed for Gardeners' use.  Set your container at about 1" above soil level (you don't want to inadvertently drown ground beetles who help control slugs) and harvest and dispose of the ones who have been attracted to your bait.  Replenish with fresh beer after a rain.

If you don't want to waste beer on the slugs, get a couple flower pots and turn them upside down to provide an easy-to-check hiding place during daytime.  Then harvest the critters and dispose of them.  If you see robins in the Garden, bless them.  They are one of the birds that actually like to eat slugs.  Or if you see that pair of Mallard ducks around, feed your slugs to them!

Some have had good success with cornmeal.  There is disagreement on how it works -- does it desiccate or satiate them?  To try this method, lay a jar on its side near the plants you want to protect and place the cornmeal in the jar to attract the critters and keep the rain/water from the cornmeal.

Visit How To Kill Snails and Slugs - The Definitive Guide for more info on managing your slug population.