Slugs

I was just perusing around as I haven't been on this site in awhile and couldn't believe someone else had posted about slugs.  I thought I was a bit wacko by writing about snails

Have you seen these snails on youtube.  People apparently keep them as pets!
Giant Snails

I was just perusing around as I haven't been on this site in awhile and couldn't believe someone else had posted about slugs.  I thought I was a bit wacko by writing about snails

Have you seen these snails on youtube.  People apparently keep them as pets!
Giant Snails

Your links are messed up.

OMG! I have the same problem. Only I live on the 5th floor!!! So how are these little buggers getting up there? I see them come out after it's rained on my balcony. gross!

Do you have potted plants on the balcony? They'll hide under ANYTHING. We've got outdoor furniture with cushions and they sometimes hide between the chair seat and the cushion bottom - disgusting little buggers!!!

This morning's major gross out: seeing, in one of my planters, one slug feeding off the carcass of another slug. Eeeeeeewwwwww.

I'm becoming a bit of a slug expert and can actually tell the different species on sight, and know what they eat. Lovely little skill that I never wanted.

This morning's major gross out: seeing, in one of my planters, one slug feeding off the carcass of another slug. Eeeeeeewwwwww.

Eeeeewwwww 

I'm becoming a bit of a slug expert and can actually tell the different species on sight, and know what they eat. Lovely little skill that I never wanted.

What I want to know is, which species of slug will eat only the tops of blades of grass?  Then I wouldn't have to mow!    Instead, I have slugs that will travel 100 miles through grass and climb walls up to windowsills just so they can eat potted flowers.

I accidentally stepped on a huge slug on Saturday.  It stuck to my shoe too and I had to shake it off only to find a big spot of slug guts on it.  I seriously almost threw up.  They are absolutely disgusting.

I think I may have come up with the perfect slug-killing concoction. I'll post the recipe after a bit more testing. (Need to make sure it doesn't hurt my plants/lawn/cats.)

So far, after spraying some slugs last night, it's incredibly effective.

Do you have potted plants on the balcony? They'll hide under ANYTHING. We've got outdoor furniture with cushions and they sometimes hide between the chair seat and the cushion bottom - disgusting little buggers!!!

EEEEeeek! Are you serious?    Yes I have lots of potted plants on my balcony.  So gross!

I think I may have come up with the perfect slug-killing concoction. I'll post the recipe after a bit more testing. (Need to make sure it doesn't hurt my plants/lawn/cats.)

So far, after spraying some slugs last night, it's incredibly effective.

OK, so where's that recipe?

I just stepped on a slug in my sock foot last night when I was putting out the milk bottles.  I didn't even step outside so it must have been on the threshhold.  It stuck to my sock!  I screamed and scraped it off on the doorframe, tore the sock off (yes, the slime was seeping through) and was shuddering on/off for the next 10 minutes.  My husband cleaned up the slug with a tissue and shook his head at my "overreaction".

The recipe that saved my garden (and resulted from far too much reading about what does what to a slug!)

In a medium/large spray bottle mix the following:

about 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of regular table salt
about a cup of cold brewed coffee (I just used what was left in the pot after we'd had it in the morning)
about a tablespoon of all purpose cleaner (I used Wilkinson's version of Lemon Flash)
fill to the top with tap water

shake to mix.

Spray on the little plant-eating bastards!

(I tried one version with lots of salt and a bunch of instant coffee granules. It was way too strong and burnt the top of my lawn. If you have big slugs, you might want to veer towards a bit more salt in the mixture.)

I went out at the end of the day for a few days in a row and paid particular attention to the baby slugs (little white things about an inch long that seem to love crawling around in the grass). This stuff dissolves them and leaves a tiny white mark on your grass where it used to be.

For the bigger ones, you will have to spray them til they're soaked. The end up shriveling a bit, falling over on their side, and dying. My experience has been that these either get picked up by birds (which is why you want to keep the soap level low) and beetles, or they shrivel in the sun to absolutely nothing.

After a few days of vigilant spraying (going out a few times a night, and if it was chilly in the morning, then as well), I now have almost no slugs. I think I've seen one in the past few days, even with the wet weather. Before, I would have seen about 50 babies and 20 adults.

Thank you Jen252!!!

I can easily find and kill 50 large adult slugs in one night, only to find the same number when I go out the next morning.  It's driving me nuts!  As far as you know this concoction won't hurt other animals and birds?  I can't wait to start the spraying...

I know one cat has eaten a sprayed slug (well... half of it, as he usually does) and had no problems. I've seen a few birds pecking around in the grass and I think they've eaten them with no ill consequences. I'd be wary about adding more soap than I do, as I think that's the only ingredient that could possibly hurt other animals. It's just enough to mess with the slug's ability to move. (I'm sure something like Ecover would work similarly and be even safer.)

Adult slugs are tougher to kill -- they need more spray or a bit stronger (a little extra salt or coffee usually did the trick).

Play around with the recipe so it works for what you have. Even when I fried the tips of my lawn, I was using a VERY strong mix (it was a sludge that almost wouldn't spray out). Zapped the big biggers though.

And now... no slugs. My tomatoes, wheatgrass, lawn, and salad greens are all growing wonderfully again!

Alright, I'll start putting together my ammunition and I'll let you know how the slugging goes.

Last night I was out getting the cats in and spotted a rogue slug. Sprayed it and left it in a puddle of the ammo. This morning I came out to find that a second slug had made its way into the puddle and died without even having been sprayed.