A Better Slug and Snail Trap than Beer

[@RobertSeviour1]

This really sets the standards for a tutorial video: interesting; accurate; concise and NO MUSIC. Thank you, I will implement your suggestions in the morning.

[@wutdafeezi]

It really doesn’t. Didn’t even show the results of how many slugs were caught. Fake plants in background. I could go on but it’d be rather dreary and boring for me to list

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

@@wutdafeezi Complaining that a video on killing slugs wasn't entertaining enough. They aren't fake plants, it's a chroma keyed backdrop. Would you rather see the white or magnolia wall he'd most likely be in front of, if he didn't add a backdrop? Or do you actually think these are artificial plants? “I could go on, but it’d be rather dreary and boring for me to list”. Trust me, it's not just you who'd find it “rather dreary and boring”.

[@kackmalwieder]

NO MUSIC!!! Yeah!!! I thought I am the only one who gets annoyed by bloody background music. Thanks.

[@Grow_a_Little]

@@wutdafeezi It's good to give constructive criticism so that he can improve! :) There's no doubt that he reads the comments. So if there's something you don't like about his video, tell him! :)

[@Grow_a_Little]

@@kackmalwieder Wait why's music bad? I thought people liked background music? Is it cos it's distracting? Just curious

[@simonpreece6916]

Thank you - this works a treat. Our rabbit hutch was getting overrun to the point that my daughter hated going to feed her bunny. 2 nights with one of these in it and bam! Slug free! Thanks from both of us PS love your style - informative straight to the point and no junk 😊 never change!

[@kenberian4863]

Robert Pavlis has been my go-to source for gardening info since I first heard him over a year ago. After checking out countless written, video, and podcast sources online, IMO he's far-and-away the most trustworthy - just the best. And this video is my favorite one from him yet.

[@melaniemckenzie9282]

I used flour sugar and yeast..learnt it from an lady in cape town south africa

[@VASI_LIKI]

What is ur recipe?

[@EuropeanOnion]

Without the water?

[@melaniemckenzie9282]

One teaspoon flour one teaspoon yeast one teaspoon sugar. To one liter of water

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

Use the leftover yeast from brewing, or make a yeast starter with bread yeasts. Pint glass of room temp water, tablespoon of sugar, and some dried yeast. Cover with tinfoil, and the yeast will start working on the sugar.

[@royleon3525]

We have had a massive invasion of slugs this year, throughout the land. I have a small garden about 80 Sq meters. With a dozen half liter plastic bottles with a few cm’s of beer at the bottom and laid on its side, I have caught literally 700 BIG slugs these past 8 weeks.The rate is slowing down now, just 2 or 3 per night plus some tiny baby ones. I would prefer to drink beer but the cost of buying new plants compensates for the cost of the beer.

[@errolcollins7647]

Slugs are attracted to the yeast, i have tried yeast mix in water and it attracts slugs and snails. I find the beer traps very effective and have used it many times in controlling slugs and snails.

[@bullobca]

Another excuse to buy ice cream. That's all I needed to hear! Thanks, sounds promising!

[@timmyrushton9203]

same here! :)

[@sarahfields288]

Lol I read this before he got to the method and my first thought was "I'm not sharing my Ice cream with the slugs" 😅

[@shirleyporter9025]

I used to put a large teaspoon of bread yeast, any sort, into a plastic ice cream tub and add a tablespoon of sugar into the mixture using warm water.....just as though you are going to make bread. Do this at dusk and you will watch the blighters turn around and head for the trap. Set the trap at soil level.

[@sandydennis7948]

I use the early morning coffee time search. It does use cheap beer but I have made swimming pools for my snails. In the early Spring I probably collected a couple hundred and put them in the snail pool. Right now, I am not finding many but today I found five mating pairs.

[@MyFocusVaries]

I cut notches out of the top of the container before replacing the lid. Thanks for the recipe.

[@waltdistel716]

great tip! I bake bread daily and this year the slugs have been particularly bad. I will give it a try. but as a mushroom grower the one thing that I know will attract slugs from miles off is mushrooms. specifically oyster and lion's mane mushrooms but probably most other cultivated wood lovers as well. they probably didn't test for this in the study but I bet it's even more effective than bread dough. they'll even invade my house while I'm drying them (I've never seen a slug in my house before I started growing mushrooms and I make bread dough daily).

[@janenewley1014]

Yes…we have a trail camera set up…and inadvertently have caught fungi growing, slugs arriving to eat them…and then hedgehogs to eat the slugs!

[@redmonkey3556]

I will be trying this out tonight, beer is expensive and I prefer to drink it, this recepie should be much cheaper.

[@survivalist0723]

Also bearyeast tablets -that some people take for their health- work, I have found out (already some 30 years ago)...

[@survivalist0723]

Now YT seems to have put a correction line? I consumed bearyeast tablets myself. But I do not make any health claims nor give any medical advice here, of course. I just said that some people take them; nothing more nor less.

[@lksf9820]

@redmonkey3556 did it work though?

[@nommindymple6241]

Oooh. Another use for your sourdough starter.

[@soniaspf9705]

Guess it works with discard too.

[@mariapflucker4108]

will try with sourdough discard i have too much lol

[@garthwunsch7320]

That was my first thought too. Maria, my starter seldom exceeds a half cup. Some books say you need a lot - not so. Too expensive and wasteful.

[@AntonGully]

I was told that a mix of water, marmite and sugar would work in my beer traps. Anything has to be better than wasting beer so I bought a jar of Marmite - turns out I like Marmite, and I've been avoiding it for over fifty years. Who knows what else I'm into? Anyway, I laid out half a dozen slug traps, stuffing them into nooks and crannies about the garden so my dog wouldn't get at them. Next morning, well it turns out he's pretty good at getting into nooks and crannies. Two slug traps licked clean, then chewed into shards. Okay, so I made sure the rest where in places he definitely couldn't get to (and apparently the slugs can't get to them either judging by the success rate) plus a couple in my greenhouse just in case. My greenhouse doesn't have a window or a roof vent so I leave the door open when it's hot, with a magnetic fly screen stretched across the gap to keep insects out. You can see where this is going. Come out one afternoon and best as I can figure it out, he must have crawled under the screen to get into the green house, emptied one of the slug traps, then panicked when he saw me coming into the garden and bolted out because I found him in the middle of the grass, cocooned in the fly screen with a heavily chewed slug trap in his mouth.

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

marmite was also tested and was not quite as good as the bread dough.

[@j.ksmith7432]

Erm, dead or alive?!

[@ImaaniMoz]

😂​@@j.ksmith7432

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

@@Gardenfundamentals1 Did they try yeast from brewing? I assume it's just regular items people may have about the kitchen. But if gardeners grow a decent amount of fruit, and make wine from that fruit. Then filling a few slug traps with the leftover yeast would a good way of reusing it. Otherwise, it's most likely going down the drain. Plus, some people just brew their own wine etc at home. Have 15ltrs of black currant & rhubarb wine clearing under the stairs. The yeast from that and other fruit wines have been used on my plots.

[@I-have-a-brain_and-use-it]

Been using Vegemite ( similar to Marmite ) for over 50 years and it works a treat Animals like dogs are attracted to it because of the high salt content slugs & snails want the yeast It is probably not as effective as fresh yeast because Vegemite is made from brewers waste which has a high yeast content In Australia we need to be careful because we have the most wonderful slug & snail catcher ever . Blue Tongue Lizards When the slug & snail population gets a bit too big for comfort I use a vegemite trap because it is not fatal to blue tongues and right now I have one about 18" and another just over 2' Apparently they live as pets for 20 years or more and in the wild near double that Old clay water or sewer pipes on a pile of rocks where they get morning sun is blue tongue heaven but it has to be dry and above ground because black snakes will inhabit any hole that is wet waiting for frogs to hop past . One of them is tame enough to be handled and takes cat food from off my hand So between the chooks & the lizards I probably only have to use traps during winter when the lizards hibernate The contents of the trap go into the compost . Yeast apparently kicks comosting along quite a bit . One teaspoon of Vegemite to 1 cup of boiling water in a trap similar to the ice cream one shown and placed in the shade , lasts about 3 to 5 days before it dries out .

[@richardr5878]

Good recipe and like the sour dough recommendations. I use old or part drank bees in Gatorade bottles. Drill or cut holes in the sides under the swell so it works like an umbrella for ran and garden irrigation.

[@lexluong8155]

They also love yohurt and ice cream. I use old cream as well add some water then they come for drink and swim.

[@rb9580]

I've been using excess sourdough starter for this for years! I just put it in plant pot saucers and lay them in my veg patch. At the start of the season, I'll be collecting 18-20 slugs per saucer each night then after a couple of weeks, the numbers decline. Some of my slugs are big, though, so I'm not sure they would pass through the holes in these tubs in the video!

[@kackmalwieder]

sourdough starter is even cheaper. Thanks

[@MrDanrn999]

Thank you, for making this video.

[@Nuts-Bolts]

I have thought about this before. I think dough mixture show better results because whilst the yeast work on the carbohydrate in flour to produce ethanol, bacteria such as clostridium acetobutylicum start to multiply and break down the protein in the flour to producing butyl alcohol. So a bit of dirt in the trap help to inoculate the mixture with bacteria to get it going faster. The latter, which is sometimes called butanol, has been easy to identify in these mixtures. This mixture is also the best for wasp traps. With wasps, the best trap is where they can fly in but not be able to find their way out again. Stops them going back to the nest and telling all their mates, where they have found food and before you know it there are loads of wasps.

[@test-bt5zz]

BEER and yeast traps work great 👍

[@chrislynottcomedy]

Thanks Robert..Sounds like it'll work great for my wee greenhouse :)

[@joepmeloen3373]

I keep parrots..they spill alot of seed so i have a large and high plastic container under the feeding trays to keep it of the floor. While raining some water collected in that container..lets say 15cm. After a day or 2-3..100+ slugs and about 15 mice were in there.

[@drakeweddner]

Wow I can't believe this was posted just before I went looking

[@mydailystitches]

Wonder if I could lure snails with that mixture as well. I have lots of small snails that munch on my fig trees and other plants.

[@scallywags12]

I have use brewers yeast and water. It works too.

[@lksf9820]

Lots of people thinking there is yeast in beer, there isn't. It was used to make it, but was then killed off so it no longer exists. If it was still in there the beer would be still fermenting, but it's not. I've tried yeast, flour, water and a bit of sugar, it didn't attract a single slug - beer did though. I'll try again with your recipe which has no sugar and report back.

[@SandyKH]

I'll give this a shot. Thanks so much.

[@darrisnelson5223]

I can’t wait to try this! Thank you❤

[@fugueine]

Well presented, sir. Thank you for sharing.

[@heatherbaugh80]

My husband makes sourdough bread I’ll use some of his starter mix as a trial

[@timmyrushton9203]

thanks for another great, informative video. i like the way you explain things. :) this season, i tried a soy sauce and vegetable oil trap for earwigs behind my dahlias...it didn't catch many earwigs, but it did catch a surprising number of slugs! i've not had too much trouble with slugs since setting the traps, just some nibbles here and there.

[@maijamansnerus239]

Thank you! im going to test this one !

[@justsayin5609]

You showed a picture of a snail, and someone commented they caught them also. Question: do snails actually leave their shells to go into the little holes?

[@naz8422]

My 2 biggest pests: slugs and earwigs. Thank u

[@christinehoughton8591]

Excellent information, going to do this. Thank you.

[@ghidfg]

broo my tomato and pepper plants are popping off! (coming along nicely)

[@honeybadgerisme]

❤don't forget to put the "remains" in your compost or straight onto the root zones with some rinse water. 🎉

[@GoatGoggles]

If it's a yeast reaction they are attracted to, maybe "Marmite" would do something. Might be interesting? It's a yeast extract we spread on toast for breakfast :) like a black tar.

[@aelbereth6690]

Marmite/ yeast extract also works as a brilliant yeast nutrient - the yeasts gobble it up and expand like mad. So - tepid water, a spoonful of Marmite, a spoonful of dried yeast, a little sugar, enough flour to make a thin paste, and the fermentation will go wild and should attract every slug within a mile radius 😅. This Marmite tip may only apply to Brits, but then Britain (especially Wales) must be the slug capital of the world. Great video by the way.

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

Vegemite is Australians marmite

[@JJLom777]

Thanks, Man!🎉👍😊

[@ImFieldy]

talking about slugs, shows clip of a snail. that got me wondering how the snails fit thru 1/4" holes ? :))

[@michaelcooney7687]

the flotsam looks like lactobacillus perfect for Bokashi system

[@zoenott8132]

Thank you so much!

[@davek7303]

I tried a simple active dough in a container with holes and I tried just bread yeast in sugar water. It kind of worked a couple times but was finding the bread dough attracted critters that stole the dough and the sugar water container just got tipped over & think they drank the concoction. I'm thinking sluggo is the best option.

[@richardspalding3622]

Thanks will try this

[@exe089]

Looks like Beer works better... Greetings from Bavaria :)

[@daveroberts1]

Better beer in Bavaria. What do you recommend, a weissbier, a helles or a Bambergian rauchbier? Please don't use the beer from Schonram or the weissbier from Freilassing, too good!!!

[@mistybatten1829]

Good info thanks!!

[@Taai02]

This is fantastic, Tks!!!

[@arkaisk2]

I tried a mix of water, bread yeast and a little sugar, instead of beer. Not one slug for a month. But I'll try this dough method anyway, and hope it works.

[@fxm5715]

I wouldn't be surprised if you need the byproducts of a more complex fermentation than sugar water. Giving the yeast a grain like wheat, corn, or rice, and all those far more complex carbohydrates to digest probably produces a broad spectrum of interesting molecules to attract the slugs. I'm guessing using only pure sugar produces a relatively narrow spectrum.

[@lksf9820]

@@fxm5715 I tried that recipe too with no success, i'll give your additions a go, thanks. Bran is another one which fails....

[@arkaisk2]

@@fxm5715 👍

[@judywood4530]

I trapped a lot of slugs when I lived in TN by mixing waater, flour, yeast and a bit of sugar. There had to be enough water to make a very sticky dough, about half the flour you would use to make a gread dough - 1 cup water to 1 cup flour. That stuff was amazing - and disgusting to discard.

[@killpop8255]

I did similar but full liquid. Stomach churning if left too long with the stink!

[@CraigsOverijse]

Great tip but the issue with this is the quantity of yeast in a packet is usally about 10g to 15g thats like 2 to 3 tea spoons. Meanwhile the quantity of flour in a cup is usually around 250g simply mixing the yeast into the flour will not guarentee you will get the right amount of yeast in the mix it is in a ratio of approximately 1/25. It is simpler to just put a few table spoons of flour in your pot and then add a pinch of yeast, if you store it in a cold dry place with a peg on the top the yeast will not spoil nor will the flour. Also dried yeast activates best with warm (not too hot) water

[@dmfoneill]

About 20% of my gastropod problems are from shell-barrers. Does this imply that I have to use larger holes to allow passage? Also, this year, here in the Finger Lakes area of New York, I have noticed a great number of shelled snails in trees. Does this imply something about environmental pressures or forecasts?

[@denisdufresne5338]

Instead of buying yeast you can simply make your own by making sourdough (so simple to do and keep it alive). I have not tried it yet but it should do the same effect. In my case it is not a problem since I already make sourdough to make my sourdough bread every week.

[@222mmax]

Do you know how to make dough for fish trap? I saw a video using dough like consistency and one video i saw she had earth worms mixed in it. I would really like to know how to make it and the science behind it if any. Thank you God bless you MARANATHA

[@survivalist0723]

Thank you for this science of attracting snails and slugs! Anyhow this method needs a lot of (mostly plastic) boxes when having a rather big kitchen garden... How do I do it? Making different piles of decaying plant materials in our allotment garden. That attracks them and I collect them underneat the piles, every 2 days or so. Also I put fresh rubarb leaves on the soil; they are decaying slowly and attrackt also the slugs. That is rather simple, but of course the smell of bread dough might be cary much further and might be more attractive than the smell of a pile of decaying plantleaves. Plantleaves are always there, bread dough is not. But I enjoyed your creativity and scientific approach. In these times with much rains (here in Belgium) the (almost daily, for months now) fight against the slugs comes to epic proportions and is tiresome!

[@patkonelectric]

I would suggest adding sugar to keep the yeast last longer.

[@irenekloepfer1586]

How can snails with their large shells get into such a small hole? The heading says slugs and snails, but does it really only apply to slugs?

[@karoshi2]

For snails you'll have to leave the lid off or increase the hole size. Also depending on your location, you may want to control what you're trapping. In my area it's a simple rule of thumb: everything that has a shell or spots can stay. Our snails mostly eat algae and decaying material, while slugs do the damage. Except leopard slugs: they even hunt other slugs, eat their eggs, and dead material. (Plus mushrooms and the top of radishes.) So these you'd want to keep.

[@taizymcc]

Make a little hat to keep the rain off. My problem is snails more than slugs

[@irenekloepfer1586]

@@taizymcc thank you very much.

[@rogerjoesbury9410]

Thank you about the pets advice.

[@nommindymple6241]

Question for another video: is there a plant that attracts ladybugs? Early in the year, I had some mustard seed plants growing. They were covered in Harlequin bugs (aka stink bugs). But, they also had a lot of ladybugs (I'm assuming they were eating the stink bug eggs). Once the mustard went to seed and I cut it down, the ladybugs disappeared. I've heard that ladybugs are attracted to marigolds, but marigolds seem to be the cat's pajamas to the make-up-a-benefit crowd. I figured if anyone knew what, if any, plants attracted ladybugs in actuality, it'd be you.

[@Angie-mm9rn]

Add a teaspoon of sugar to really get the fermentation going

[@WPHWw-km1tk]

Not 'bread dough,! It needs more liquid so that the slug can drown in the liquid instead of passing over it. I use the rinsing water after bread making.

[@Martock1017]

Many slugs are cannibals, so dead slugs are a pretty good bait for other slugs. How you dispose of them is up to you. When I was young, we kept hens, so putting them in the chicken run was one way. A lady who came to our evening classes had an old pair of kitchen scissors for the job. Sounds gruesome, but, as she said, it was a quick death compared with slow poisoning.

[@VASI_LIKI]

First video ... subscribed. Ur good.

[@mssavedin92]

good idea

[@drakeweddner]

If I had to guess they are attracted to a gass produced by decomposing plant material, maybe CO2 maybe something else , if you added some sugar to the bowl after a couple days I bet it would keep fermenting

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

This would be a great use of sourdough discard!

[@RADCOMJ1]

I left some bread dough out and i noticed that the fruit flies were really attracted to it too

[@lukemills9515]

Yeasty boys!

[@RayLittler-x6x]

How about adding nematodes?

[@krielkip]

I left a small plate with a spoonfull wet catfood outside for a stray here, I couldn't believe my eyes when I came out two hours later, there were twelve really big egg-laying snails on the plate!! Alive and well, ofcourse, but since I don't want to kill them I put them in a bucket, took my bike and moved them to a piece of nature (I live in the city and do homesteading) So I found my way to get rid of them.

[@estherscegolsky1972]

theyre attracted to yeast, can be expensive. many here( and me too) ,we collect beer leftovers from pub owners

[@audbod4140]

How do they get in with lid on?

[@johnwheeler1629]

Try white lightening. (Moonshine).

[@thebackyardbrewer5611]

Beer is just liquid bread and its already a liquid so time saved! If you want cheap beer start homebrewing extract beer kits, its really easy and will also give you some liquid refreshments after gardening!

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

Clearly - the science disagrees with you. The bread dough works much better than beer.

[@rosemarielee7775]

Can the dead slugs and dough be disposed of on the compost heap, or is it a bin job?

[@lindagillies2561]

How did you get those wondering snails into the trap?

[@TonyMcCartney]

1/4” drill bit, maybe?

[@michelemarble6799]

Did you put the container in a hole or not?

[@DocSinghTing]

How about adding salt to the water?

[@Fridgepictures]

Natural way is to let opossum into your garden and they will eat every slug, and every snail opossums are very beneficial fir the garden as they eat bugs too, and don’t destroy any plants in your garden. They are nocturnal and quiet. Little vacuum cleaners of the garden.

[@jamesvan2201]

Beer, bread dough, what I'm getting is that slugs love yeast.

[@prubroughton1864]

I am going to try my spare starter 😅😅

[@lilpipskweek6448]

What about snails with shells

[@monicali2608]

Sprinkle some oats out and the slugs eat them and dry out.

[@stoney332]

As far as i know its the yeast that attracts the slugs

[@nz-nz]

I noticed no SUGAR in the bread dough recipe? (as isn’t this is what the yeast eats for the fermentation process??) My problem is snails. Does the same recipe work for them?

[@CyberSERT]

One criticism of using beer or dough is that the attraction is too strong, and you will end up attracting more slugs to your area, so the net benefit is zero or negative. Has anyone tested this scientifically?

[@RockyWaist]

I use wheat in water, the natural yeast does the trick. With these traps you will attract rats & mice - so metal containers are better.

[@irenekloepfer1586]

You wonder why 🎉dough rather than beer. Well, what they both have in common is yeast. So it seems it is the yeast that may be what attracts the critters.

[@janheyvaerts9916]

It is common knowledge that slugs and snails are attracted by yeast. Yeast is in beer and also in bread dough. Even the cheapest beer will do just fine to attract slugs.

[@lksf9820]

There is no yeast in beer.

[@janheyvaerts9916]

@@lksf9820 please delete your reaction to avoid making a fool of yourself. Beer does contain yeast. It is a necessary ingredient for the fermentation.

[@evokestudiosbrighton]

how do you trap snails?

[@carriesmith-th9et]

Yeast

[@trig]

You can get a cream for that.

[@j.ksmith7432]

@@trig 😂😂😂😂 person after my own heart… or, warped soh just like mine!!

[@caewalker9276]

The common link between bread and beer that sticks out is yeast.

[@lksf9820]

There is no yeast in beer.

[@sharperone8237]

Perfect, thank you 😊

[@rzuvff7122]

The lemon juice kill slugs. You can put lemon juice in a sprayer and spray them.

[@edwardpilkington8795]

Am I wrong or did this video show a snail rather than a slug? Does this work for snails too? I have problems with both. If so, wouldn't the holes need to be bigger so the shells can fit too?

[@mikeharrington5593]

It suggests to me that a pinch of dried yeast in the beer trap might combine the effectiveness of both methods. Anyone tried it yet ?

[@elizabethglaser1397]

Do you have a trap for earwigs?

[@janegreen9340]

A garden cane the height of your plant, stuff a plant pot with straw and place the pot upside down on the cane. The wiggies are supposed to like nesting in the straw, I don’t have the problem but my friend swears by this. What you do with your collection of earwigs is up to you! Good luck.

[@niftysparrow7996]

Just get some ducks, no more slugs

[@I-have-a-brain_and-use-it]

So it takes a university professor to work out what we have known in Australia for nearly 100 years Slugs & Snails are attracted to yeast

[@sonnekat]

I tried this overnight. It works! Not looking forward to the clean-up.