How to Stop Slugs Eating Your Plants (100% Organic)

Slimy slimesters and slippery thieves, stealing our seedlings and snaffling our salads! Finally, the time has come to give slugs the boot and protect our precious crops using only natural, wildlife-friendly methods.
Gardeners and slugs can live together in relative harmony! Find out how in this week's episode as Ben debunks the myths and the tales of slippery slugs and slimy snails...
If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which is available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
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[@olgacvetkova114]

Snails and slugs are thriving in rainy and cool Northern Ireland, so gardening is a bit of a challenge for those who don't keep chickens roaming around and don't want to use chemicals! Thanks a lot for sharing your tips and tricks!😉🌱🌿🥦🍎🌶

[@JourneytoSustainableLiving]

eggshells are also a really good way to prevent slugs from targeting certain plants! I also tried washing my dishes with eggshell powder for the first time while I was making my YT video and I was SHOCKED at the results! 😮

[@aliceteixeira9430]

Great video! I tried all sorts of things but beer seems to work best. I also discovered that marigolds are their favorite plant to eat. I planted a variety of flowers in a group and the marigolds were eaten down to nubs almost overnight. They also nibbled on the sunflowers but didn't touch the calendulas. They started a bit on the nasturtiums once they finished the marigolds, but not too much. Next I'm going to plant decoy seedlings of them, much like Uschiaala did with mustard. By the way, they will also hide under cardboard.

[@GrowVeg]

Marigolds eaten to a stump is something I'm also very familiar with Alice!

[@RealDarkBlade]

I tried to be the bigger man...but after so many destroyed seedlings, I am firmly in the "death to the slugs" camp

[@killlion]

Waiting for some vegan activists to accuse you of slug genocide....

[@plushypuppy2024]

me too!!!...how about cat litter?, that's the only thing that works for me, but then you must hide the corpses from the birds so they don't meet the same fate.

[@CervineSkol]

i had a huge tray of healthy coriander and bell pepper seedlings, all eaten the next day :( actually so sad

[@Snowdonia_Hideaway]

I give them their first flying lesson free! On the end of my trowel, flicked over the other side of the stream.

[@dinmavric5504]

@@Snowdonia_Hideaway I haven't found anything to work better than the scissor method. I don't like cutting the big slugs, but the small ones I don't care about, they do much more damage to plants than bigger ones because I can hardly see them. Worms take care of their remains overnight. The bigger ones I just chuck far away, this method, cutting them or chucking them far away has by far worked the greatest. Slug pellets don't work (and I've tried it many times). These beer methods are pointless in my opinion. Looking for them manually and chucking them is far more efficient.

[@sandracarli1110]

I particularly liked the trick of using them for compost.

[@j.evoness]

I use a bit of left over starter dough, in a partial buried halved plastic bottle with the top half inverted insude and top up left over flour. Also after a slug hunt if needed make a slug island in the bucket of water with fresh greens for them in the middle to munch on, any who hopefully have nematodes pass on to rest be the eat greens and drown. Then use the water on plants in early morning so slug nematodes go on to protect the beds.

[@GrowVeg]

Brilliant idea, thanks so much for sharing.

[@TheBushdoctor68]

Great video! It addresses just about every problem I have with slugs. :) I've been fighting these little bastards for years now, but losing on every front. I usually start during the spring months, going outside in the evenings with a torch and some beer in a container, and I catch huge amounts that way. So much so that I've started taking notes and last year it added up to 980 total. :) I'm using beer traps, organic pellets, copper strips, egg shells, I try to attract frogs and hedgehogs, but nothing seems sufficient. It takes just a single slug to chew through a dozen seedling in a single night, wiping out pretty much anything that I plant or sow. When there's nothing left, they even move on to plants that don't usually attract that many, like onions and garlic. I once picked over 20 slugs from a single potato plant that dared to stick a branch out of the container that I was guarding for weeks. When it touched the ground, an organized invasion broke lose. I swear, these slugs have secret meetings or something. :) I haven't been able to harvest anything decent in the past years. I've sown and planted huge amounts of flowers and veggies and nothing really makes it. The annual invasion is just too much. The only things that thrive in my garden are the plants that they don't like. Perennials, blackberries, strawberries, rhubarb, and that's about it. So, this year I'm going to throw in the towel. No more veggies for me, I'm going to switch to propagating perennials instead, with species that slugs don't like. :)

[@GrowVeg]

So sorry to hear this. Perhaps you could try growing in containers on the patio or similar - away from the slugs?

[@TheBushdoctor68]

@@GrowVeg Ah well, I learned not to care too much, but thanks for the empathy! It does feel good when someone understands the frustration. :) I have to admit that I don't really keep my grass short around my garden beds. Your video refreshed my memory on the importance on that, so I guess I'll stop being lazy with mowing. I did indeed try containers and even stuck copper tape around the edges. That absolutely helped and those plants were actually able to develop a bit.. until they got eaten by a slug that got too hungry and defied the defenses. :) The only method that is almost 100% effective is by installing a mini 'electric fence'. I've seen someone use a 9 volt battery and two exposed copper wires all around his garden bed. Once a slug crawls over the first and then touches the second wire, it cringes and lets itself fall to the ground. If anything, that method is still worth a shot for me. Hope you have a good season! Greetings from Holland. ;)

[@booswalia]

I use the hunt method only my weapon of choice is scissors, unless I'm collecting for the hens but they're getting kind of sick of them. Living in the woods, I get hundreds on any given night. I do find the copper helps if you get the mesh. Expensive though.

[@GrowVeg]

Hunting can be very effective.

[@mikedytham9996]

Coors = any old cheap beer. (what a recommendation!)

[@juliekraft4102]

I often take my salt shaker out and give the slugs a little sprinkle and they melt. Diatomaceous earth is my primary go to though.👍

[@Power_Prawnstar]

Went out at night when it was raining with a spray bottle of salt water, got about 2000 of the little buggers...........They've still eaten all my zucchini seadlings.......you win this round slugs.

[@GrowVeg]

Next round though!

[@franceswatts4001]

Surely encouraging slugs into your compost heap is going to result in compost full of slug eggs which will end up back in your garden?

[@GrowVeg]

The slugs are only likely to munch on the top layers of compost - the well-rotted stuff that you'll spread onto your garden shouldn't really contain them and the slugs will have moved on. More on all this here: www.growveg.com/guides/slugs-in-your-compost/

[@Im-just-Stardust]

Omg when you started singing I lost it hahahah

[@GrowVeg]

Haha - glad to've raised a smile. :-)

[@carolejackson8357]

Snails can find their way back an amazing distance. Something surprising like 500 feet. I forgot where i read it.

[@brunatizianastella9518]

Ciao dall'Italia, io vivo tra Monza e Bergamo uso il metodo della birra e mi trovo molto bene

[@GrowVeg]

È davvero bello sentirlo. Grazie per aver guardato.

[@mudsoilandtears6333]

I’m so glad it’s not just me that hasn’t got the heart to kill the slugs. I always relocate them knowing they will be back to munch more veg!

[@GrowVeg]

Gardeners have too big a hearts!

[@pinkfox5651]

I watched a gardener channel and he said to do circles of lime around your plants. Has anyone else heard of that and if it really works please?

[@GrowVeg]

Not tried this and would be interested to know if it works.

[@rayyg786]

I have an organic slug pellets that doesn't affect toads, birds and hedgehogs but I only use it until the plants are big enough. Nematodes work like crazy, but what Will my toads and birds eat then?!

[@GrowVeg]

Yes, good to work with nature where possible, so everything is kept in balance.

[@degar1996]

We've found crushed up egg shells to be good for keeping slugs away. Apparently they get cut on the sharp edges of they attempt to cross. Crushed sea shells work in much the same way.

[@ChrisWijtmans]

vulcanic gravel works too. basically anything sharp or rough. and some rough chicken wire around the grow bed works too.

[@85jacob85]

Hello, just commenting to help the vid👍

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks so much. :-)

[@aalyd7444]

When we moved to our new house, the neglected garden was full of slugs. I promised our children 5 eurocent per slug/ snail and a little bonus after each 10 slugs. We counted them at the kitchen chalk board. To my own surprise it worked perfect. Sometimes they found 40 slugs in 1 round. I’ve never had better slug hunters. :-) The game lasted a few weeks, but was very effective. Now (4 years later) we still have a normal population.

[@GrowVeg]

What a wonderfully inventive way to deal with them!

[@SyKnife]

Entertaining and exercising the kids, plus teaching some math, as well as getting rid of slugs. You are a genius parent.

[@DrownTheRabbitHole]

Five cents?! A bit tight no?!

[@destinycoach5]

​@@DrownTheRabbitHole Lol

[@icke11234]

What did you do to the slugs?

[@gabrielleannacormierart]

This is the best slug control video I’ve seen! I agree that removing them to other areas really does reduce their population in the garden. Some of your tips are new to me and I’ll give them a try. (I usually just collect them and take them for a walk into the woods to settle in a new area.) I especially love the humane and environmentally friendly approach you seem to have to controlling them ❤️ thank you for this!

[@GrowVeg]

They're all creatures that deserve a break!

[@goteamslugs]

Thank you! We love going on walks! =)

[@peterbergel]

The comment about "cheap beer" made me remember a slug remedy we used a few years back. Just mix some flour and yeast with water and stir it up. Smells a lot like beer and seems to attract the slugs just as well. I put the mixture in a plastic cottage cheese container, cut a hole in the top so the slugs could get in, but they never came out. The top slows evaporation down a bit.

[@tesstess3371]

I was just thinking about that. Mix sugar, yeast and water.

[@TiredNana100]

It’s what I use and it actually does work. Hubble was horrified at the prospect of ‘wasting’ good beer 🤣

[@peterbergel]

@@tesstess3371 Well, I used flour instead of sugar, but sugar might work.

[@GrowVeg]

Great idea, thanks for sharing this Peter.

[@minkefin]

I don't drink beer, so even the 'cheap nonsense' would be an extra outlay. But I do have planted fish tanks, and I use a mixture of sugar and yeast in water to generate CO2 in the tank. Once the yeast has exhausted itself and there's no CO2 left, I have a bottleful of sweet, boozy-smelling water that I have been throwing away. Now it looks like I've found a use for it! Waste not want not! Thank you for the tip!

[@catladycatlady7359]

I have been following your channel for years. I love how precisely you give your information without rambling like many others do, and you have a great sense of humor while teaching us. I always look forward to your videos!

[@melindaedgington9925]

I agree. The videos are not long and boring. Perfect for a busy parent.

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks so much guys! :-)

[@destinycoach5]

Yes.... I hate ramblers.... or those who talk all sorts of unrelated nonsense and i especially dislike those ridiculous, insecure channel creators who gotta tell you to LIKE SHARE SUB every few min. Even twice is too much. My record in counting these commercial breaks was 8 in a 1 hr show. And it wasn't just a 5 sec reminder... it would get the guy off track and he start selling his merch and he start talking about other things so the break ended up taking 5 min or becoming the topic. Soooo annoying!!! After multiple complaints about his incessant reminders, as if we are all stupid children... I UNSUBBED!!!

[@steves7271]

so interestingly, I've just found an excellent slug and snail lure, completely by accident. I have a stone mushroom about 8 inches high that bought years ago, and I finally decided to paint it. I went for the traditional red and white toadstool colours and ever since, each night when I go out in the garden, its covered in slugs and snails. I pick them off and relocate them to a nearby field. they all seem to be on or heading for the white spots. I think you could apply the colour scheme to any rock and have the same result.

[@GrowVeg]

What an interesting effect there Steve - you're clearly onto something there!

[@uschiuschi3232]

I think it has something to do with the smell of the colour .

[@meemkaplan4315]

Ha! Great idea! I have noticed they do like the Amanita mushrooms...

[@OG_Beckie_Leigh]

@steves7271 Your color theory track for the slugs at my house. I don’t have a garden nor do I intentionally grow anything in my flower bed areas. However, all of the trim on my house is white. I’ve noticed a lot of slugs gathering on the door over the last couple of weeks while it’s been very rainy here. The white also attracts a lot of bugs, especially flies, mosquitoes, “mosquito hawks”, and June bugs.

[@sobiabutt4995]

If white attracts slugs, could any other colour deter them?

[@jamesbatten8659]

Around pots , Vaseline is a great barrier do a strip of it around your pot about 2 to 3 inches wide , the slugs can’t grip to it and fall off and it’s waterproof , or do aa ring of double sided sticky tape with salt stuck on one side they touch it and soon bugger off without killing them .😁❤️🇬🇧👍

[@foodgrowers1531]

Honesty is the best policy... calling Coors what it is -- "cheap nonsense" -- you don't want to waste good beer on bad slugs.

[@lorrihernandez341]

I had a good laugh over that one! 😂

[@stefancook5745]

Yeah, I caught that too, use that cheap US beer...Coors, Colorado kool-aid.

[@lysamerekvart9471]

@@maffmaheed1447 Well, to be honest... Who wouldn't like a nice cold Guinness? If you're deciding to treat your slugs for beer, then respect them and serve them beer, not piss :D

[@Ralf1erudd]

Recently found out they very much like Sainbury's Depot 90. £1 for 4 x 440ml cans.

[@sarahdotcom]

​@@Ralf1erudd I would feel the need to explain to the staff that no, I don't intend to actually drink it!

[@daveedwards7366]

For 2 years now I've used vapour rub, wiping a thin layer about an inch wide around pots and beds, works an absolute treat, it stays on for the whole season, it doesn't leave dead slugs around my garden leaving them for the predators and own label brands are less than a £1 a jar, time and money saving.

[@GrowVeg]

Great tip, thanks for sharing!

[@TheBettyBoopnl]

Wow great tip. How do you smear it round a bed In the ground ?

[@sonnypryvee3471]

On the side of the bed near the bottom rather than the grass I imagine! Im Going to give this a go

[@WolfeTone17-98]

@@TheBettyBoopnl With my tongue.

[@TheBettyBoopnl]

@@WolfeTone17-98 🤣

[@uschiaala]

I've had good success with planting decoy seedlings with my prized seedlings. I kept losing zucchini seedlings and finally out of desperation started planting mustard seeds in a ring around my zucchini (or in a proposed planting spot, a few days ahead of time, and then plant the seedling in the patch of mustard seedlings). The slugs seem to prefer the mustard and spared the zucchini (or zinnias, etc). As the mustard grows I can thin or remove as desired - but it's also a fantastic trap plant for cabbage moths and aphids, so I tend to let some grow to maturity throughout the garden. Anecdotally, pests seem to prefer the mustard plants to other brassicas as well. The bees and especially hover flies love it. I just buy mustard seed from the supermarket spice aisle.

[@lysamerekvart9471]

I've never seen slugs going over my mustard, but since it's growing everywhere in my garden, they might be tackling 90% of it without me noticing! I've not bought seeds in three years now, and have tried doing some mustard condiment with it, that's fabulous! Probably one of the most underestimated plats to me : grows all year long, loved by bees and other pollinators (especially if you grow it during winter and it flowers really early), terrific young leaves in salad, I love the green seeds in salads as well, dried seeds goes into all pickling recipes, slow cook meals, and obviously mustard condiment... Terrific as green manure, and if you let it grow and dry on the spot, perfect hollow stems for all kind of ladybugs and friends to spend the winter... And now you tell me it's good against slugs? All Hail to The Mustard, savior of the garden :D

[@peterbergel]

Do you also eat your mustard greens? I love them in salads. Great spicy taste!

[@uschiaala]

@@peterbergel Yes, and the flowers too. I love them.

[@uschiaala]

@@lysamerekvart9471 It's definitely one of my favourite plants! :)

[@GrowVeg]

Mustard is definitely a super plant in so many ways!

[@NMW80]

Y’all best not to be touching slugs with ya bare hands. They can give you parasites and bacteria etc. I use tongs to slug hunt at night or gloves.

[@horta-mansan6972]

In the winter months, when there are no more vegetables in the garden, I let the chickens run loose, then I have less problems with snails in the spring.

[@GrowVeg]

That's a great way of getting a clean sweep - smart move.

[@susanross1651]

I use a garlic wash on my hostas, there’s lots of recipes online, but it’s basically garlic boiled in water then used diluted in a watering can. Slugs really don’t like it. You have to use it more often in rainy weather 👍🏻

[@GrowVeg]

Great idea!

[@callyg7696]

Would wild garlic boiled do the same job? Just an idea so I don't use up my garlic

[@condequinto6484]

How about spraying the boiled garlic water on the plants themselves Will it work?

[@meemkaplan4315]

Unfortunately, the slugs in my part of the NW, USA love to eat the allium family....

[@no-one-no-one]

Slugs eat my garlic like it's chocolate also my onions

[@tapic8502]

I live in a clay soil area and slugs own this place. Planted out marigolds , woke up with 1/2 of them gone, flowers and leaves. Following night, at 11pm, went out with a torch, a plastic tub with hot and very salty water, and metal pegs to pick the slugs up. picked about 500 slugs 😫 Yes I was counting. these are just the ones I found at that particular time! They we’re eating all my plants and flowers. They were on my mint plants, onions/chives, leeks and all. No plant is slug proof at all. I’m sick of them.

[@GrowVeg]

Wow! That's an incredible result from collecting the slugs though - you must have been very determined!

[@tapic8502]

Very much determined. Thanks for this video. I will follow your techniques too since it’s the beginning of the season. I can plant mindfully and do preventative actions. So I don’t suffer as much 😅

[@BigSkirtMcGirt]

I relocate my slugs and snails to my chicken coop. The chickens love it. The slugs and snails not so much...

[@MorusAlba1975]

Couldn't work. Chickens don't eat slugs, only snails.

[@BigSkirtMcGirt]

I only find a slug on rare occasions. 99% are snails. You are probably right about the slugs. I just assumed they were being eaten along with all of the snails. Have a good evening.

[@miraclebeing]

I stopped letting slugs be in my compost pile. I believe their eggs are then transplanted into the garden when you move in the compost which then reinfests your beds with slugs. Homemade beer traps work excellently. As an aside, one year a raccoon broke into the garden and drank all the beer traps! She was after the ripe strawberries and added a drink along with the berries!

[@GrowVeg]

Oh wow - I bet the raccoon had an interesting afternoon after that!

[@CardiffGuru67]

Maybe luck but I layered my ever hospitable cold frame with sandpaper and also my shelves in the greenhouse, it had a huge effect. Most seedlings survived for the first year ever. The more coarse the better. No area was left uncovered and it seemed to survive the rain too. Yes I will relay it this year but think I've got my answer. Planting out to the main garden this year I'm going to create some sandpaper rings and see how that goes.

[@GrowVeg]

Great result Ian. 😀

[@carlchapman4053]

My Grandad did the same and dusted it with talcum powder each week, he said it was the best solution he ever found.

[@lisapiselli2176]

Brilliant idea! Thank you.

[@Mantras-and-Mystics]

Dang!!! 😖 Guess what I found in my old garage last week and just threw out?

[@1436jeannie]

Isn't that always what happens!??!

[@maxibake9323]

I'm 2 Floors up. No Slugs. Sometimes Woodlice though. 👍 Mind your Dogs with Slugs & Snails, you don't want them eating them. Lungworm. TFS GV, & take care too everyone. ❤🙂🐶

[@rosemaryjane9455]

I went slug and snail hunting after dark for a couple of weeks and that really helped reduce the numbers. Good to known we can relocate them to the compost heap where they will do some good.

[@deanwatt]

Something you may want to try is, all the old bits of lettuce that you clean up to try and discourage the slugs, stick them under your planks of wood, so they get attracted to shelter and food all in one crafty (and free!) trap.

[@GrowVeg]

Smart move Dean, I like it!

[@Key-Pen_it_real_1A]

​@GrowVeg I was cringing when you were holding and touching the slugs with bare hands.

[@Agrillot6]

@@Key-Pen_it_real_1Aagreed. I don’t MIND plucking them up with my bare hands, however the slime just doesn’t wash off very well, and takes 4-5 washings or even more to get it off my hands 🤢

[@lindawhite3799]

We've avoided tilling but tried it last year and saw a significant reduction in slugs. I've also found coffee grounds to be effective. They don't seem to like to crawl over them.

[@matgggg55]

I just tested this and coffee grounds do not work, but cinnamon seems to work very well.

[@shirleywittering9698]

@@matgggg55 I had some stale coffee and tried it, it worked until it rained.

[@matgggg55]

@@shirleywittering9698 I took like 20 slugs and put a circle of coffee grinds around them and watched if they would cross the thick boarder, they did immediately.

[@rrbb36]

You don’t have to use beer in your slug trap. Here’s an alternative home-made recipe: 1 cup water 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon flour 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast That’s all folks… it’s the yeast they’re after, not the beer. 😘

[@TheSamba37]

You're just making beer with that homemade recipe, but yeah, it doesn't need to come from a can.

[@kimberlysmith697]

Thank you

[@rrbb36]

@@TheSamba37 Funny, I don’t see any hops on my list of ingredients, but I’m happy to can it up if you wish. How much “Slugger Beer” would you like to buy….a case, a 6-pack, or just a can?

[@Nitecrow314]

@@rrbb36 Beer doesn't need hops to be beer. It's a flavouring, nothing more.

[@rrbb36]

@@Nitecrow314 Wow, it’s amazing how rare a genuine sense of humor has become. And since you seem to prefer to be so very serious, as a PRACTICAL matter, MOST beer does indeed contain hops as a flavoring agent. Have a beer and TRY to have a lovely day.

[@asteria4279]

Hot tip: use chopsticks to pick up the slugs to avoid slimey hands! Personally I go slug hunting with my garden scissors… ✂️

[@GrowVeg]

Great tip!

[@lindasmith6202]

I tried the saucers of beer for slug traps. Didn't catch any slugs but found out my dog had a drinking problem.

[@GrowVeg]

😮

[@meilinyuen7063]

Plant a few sacrificial lettuces next to your priced plants. Snails and slugs zoom towards the lettuces. Pick them at night and cut them up. Their primitive nervous system suggests they feel no pain, so I don't feel guity about it. Their remains also provide food for birds the following morning. Don't throw live snails away as they are well known to have a strong homing ability. Watch a David Attenborough programme if you don't believe me.

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks for the advice. Several people have commented on their amazing homing skills!

[@louielu839]

Great advice thank you, you always make me giggle, I just wanted to remind everyone that DE can also harm the pollinators and we all know that our bees are precious 🐝 so please use it carefully.

[@dn744]

I grow extra cabbage and lettuce. Pull leaves off, lay about 200mm away from your tender plants, go out when dark and collect them up to move on.

[@GrowVeg]

What a great idea!

[@becca22891]

The best most comprehensive slug video I've seen! Excellent resource - will be sharing with my community garden.

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks so much for sharing Rebecca, that means a lot.

[@carlchapman4053]

My grandad used to cover the edges of his garden beds with coarse sandpaper dusted with talcum powder, it didn't stop them but the dry sharp surface reduced the amount of slugs willing cross over it and the trails were clearly visible so he knew how many he needed to find and remove. Edit - They all went over the hedge into the nearby woodland, usually as far as he could throw.

[@GrowVeg]

Great technique.

[@klsaunders2656]

That's a really good idea that I've never heard before. I will have to try it.

[@ardenthebibliophile]

You can also make slug bait with some bakers yeast, sugar, water, and flour. The sugar/flour/water feeds the yeast which offgas and attracts slugs! Beer works well, but if you don't want to waste your last ale it's a good workaround

[@GrowVeg]

Excellent tip and a great way to save precious beer!

[@stephiechefy]

One thing I’ve done that’s not mentioned here is turning my soil up and over at the end of the growing season once overnight frosts start. From what I understand, it disrupts the next generation. I did this last year and it seems to be giving me a terrific result, and thank goodness because between them and the cabbage moths, my poor veggies and I were STRESSING lol

[@GrowVeg]

Glad you've managed to get on top of them - a big relief!

[@Elinalovinglife]

with what tools did you manage that? am a complete beginner

[@lady8kombu]

I started sprinkling chilli powder in my small garden to deter the neighbours' cat (she liked my garden as her toilet, sadly) and it not only annoyed the cat, I also noticed the slugs were eating the powder and leaving my seedlings alone. At some point when the chilli powder got wet from the rain, the slugs were kind of rolling in it (they looked like those corn cheese puffs coated in chilli...) and other slugs were eating them. Quite disgusting! Slugs are cannibals! Anyway, chilli powder works really well to deter the cat and distract the slugs, so hey, give it a try. I live in a very windy area and we get plenty of rain, too, so I have to keep on reapplying it. But it works.

[@GrowVeg]

What a great tip - thanks for sharing this Andrea.

[@SyKnife]

I don't think I can ever each a corn cheese puff again without thinking of cannibal snails who love spicy meat.

[@lady8kombu]

@@SyKnife Hahah!

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

I tried cayenne pepper on a tomato that had been munched. A light sprinkle on the plant, soil, and damaged tomato. The next morning, I found more damage. Game on. I coated the 1 damaged fruit with additional pepper. Next morning, it was gone. No idea what it was, but it never came back.

[@John-gj9db]

Brilliant options presented Ben. I’m going out to my shed now to throw away the slug pellets. You are the David Attenborough of gardening 👍

[@GrowVeg]

Cheers John - high praise indeed!

[@Stephens8x6Workshop]

Having tried many methods the only system I have found to be 'almost' successful is an electrified fence. No joke! two strips of wire stapled 6mm or so apart around my raised beds and a battery in a waterproof box linked across. It does not kill them but certainly gives them a headache when the complete the circuit. A couple of hunting trips at night to clear up any that were within the boundary before switch on and (hopefully) my veggies will survive. I say 'almost' successful as I have spotted a few clever ones arching their body over the second wire as they slither across (ha ha). Got to hand it to them, for such a small creature they are very inventive. I suspect to see subsequent generations abseiling in from above or leaping over with a motorcycle 'Great Escape' style!

[@GrowVeg]

What an intriguing setup. I hope it manages to keep most of them off.

[@MorusAlba1975]

Eradicating them is much easier. It just takes about three years of regular slug hunts, with scissors rather than a bucket. I don't need slugs in my compost heap or anywhere else. Other insects will do their job perfectly well, without the damage.

[@daniellesnyder7734]

Slugs can travel 25 feet in one hour. If I threw them in the mulch pile like a “time out” they will be right back at it in no time.

[@rrbb36]

I prefer the FREE home-made, slug-killing, nematode-spray solution that Tony O’Neill teaches you how to make on his YT channel: Simplify Gardening

[@GrowVeg]

Yes, I watched this and though it was really rather clever.

[@rikuk3]

I did a test with copper tape about five years ago, similar pots/compost/plants and the one I used tape on was slug free all year...the other was not and I've used tape ever since. Double the strips up to increase width.

[@phenixwars1]

Do you put the tape on the stems of the plants?

[@mickhowes5485]

do you connect a 9 volt battery to it? two strips of copper 5 mm apart with the battery positive terminal connected to one strip and the negative to the other strip, as the slug/snail crosses the two strips it gets a mild shock and retreats. The battery lasts at least a year as its only shorting with a slug going across it.

[@ChrisWijtmans]

I think chicken wire around the grow beds and some vulcanic gravel does the job as well. They dont like crossing the sharp objects.

[@shirleywittering9698]

@@phenixwars1 the copper tape goes round the top rim of the pot.

[@nicholasryan5401]

I have over fifty pot's of flowers in my front garden and use seven slug traps around my hosta's. The rest of my pots rarely get attacked which include agapanthus, salvia's, alpines, fuchsia's, hebe's, daylilies, African daisy's, alstroemeria's , cranesbill geranium's, delosperma. In the flowerbeds I have eight slug traps placed beside hostas. The bait I use in the traps is water, sugar, flour and dry yeast.

[@GrowVeg]

Great suggestion, thanks for sharing this. 😀

[@elsef6798]

Thanks for yet a great video! I love your non cruel perspective and advice - very helpful!

[@alexturner9267]

After dumping the ash from my house fires on my bonfire I noticed that the slugs never touched it so I started to put rings of it round my plants. So far it's worked an absolute treat even when it gets wet as it has a high alkaline level so I believe it may be acidic to them. Although I wouldn't recommend using coal Ash as this will alter the pH of the soil and possibly kill some plants

[@jennvanbrunt3815]

Great info on slug control. Thanks! I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of intentionally leaving standing water to attract frogs... you must live in a very magical place with no mosquito control issues!!! I am constantly battling standing water to prevent my yard being hospitable to my personal summer enemy #1!

[@GrowVeg]

Yes, very lucky that my climate is so benign. No mosquito problem here. Glad you enjoyed the video. :-)

[@shirleywittering9698]

@@GrowVeg a few drops of washing up liquid in the water kills the mosquitos.

[@hawkedriot178]

Since attracting all of the birds with feeders a few years back, I rarely ever see slugs anymore, there's a couple of snails but there seems to be a weekly massacre looking at the shells on the slabs. Touch wood, noones eaten any of my seedlings so far, even the local squirrel jumps over them to the feeders and ignores everything in the beds.

[@PrincessFidelma]

A few years ago we left/forgot about a Halloween pumpkin on our patio, I can't remember now if it had mostly disappeared or had been hollowed out, either way something had eaten it, and surrounding it was about 50 snail shells, yeah, it looked like a massacre had happened, I felt pretty traumatised for quite a while by all the "skulls" piled up, but that year we had almost no slugs or snails, and hardly any since!

[@PrincessFidelma]

@@maffmaheed1447 👍😆

[@mikeus69]

Yes! Feed your local bird population

[@meikusje]

My neighbor overfeeds the local birds, so they barely even pay attention to the snails and slugs, unfortunately. All they do is fly about in her garden day in day out.

[@mallemarijke]

Thanks again Ben, I love your posts. I’ve read that the beer is smelt by slugs miles away and this way you actually attract even more slugs to your garden

[@GrowVeg]

I can only go by my experiences is that I have found they help. It may draw in slugs from a little further, but it seems to be a good way of corralling them into one place for removal.

[@julieannbailey9505]

I've been sprinkling Epsom salt around my plants, mulching with aromatic cedar shavings and spritzing everything with essential oils, such as peppermint, mixed with a little water and a tiny bit of a surfactant like vegetable glycerin. I also installed bird feeders and planted lots of shrubbery that attract birds and bees. Our climate is damp and cool with lots of rain, so the gardens have little chance to dry out. Between the slugs and the wildlife it's a constant battle to grow anything all the way to harvest!

[@GrowVeg]

Sometimes gardening does feel like a real battle!

[@kdavis4910]

It wasn't near my veg thank heaven, but the other day I counted no less than 36 slugs in the back yard. 36! I did find some on an overwintered green bell pepper plant. I pick them off with leaves and throw them back into the woods. Living in the deep, dark, and dank eastern hemlock forest makes slugs a part of daily life. They really like beer. I mean they REALLY like beer.

[@melanielinkous8746]

So do I 😊

[@GrowVeg]

That’s a good way to deal with them. Just hurl them back!

[@MsDeriousGirl]

Don't use nice beer. *Opens can of Coors* Fair point

[@GrowVeg]

🤣

[@dethaddr]

I always save my coffee grounds. Slugs hate them because, like diatomaceous earth, it cuts up their underbellies. Happily, it also makes everything more acidic, which is 100% perfect for berries and potatoes. I've actually had the best success with fresh unbrewed coffee grounds. Any cheap coffee will do, just be generous with the dispersal.

[@aworldapartfilms4972]

GrowVeg is definitely my favorite gardening channel

[@MrRocksoil]

Diatomaceous earth is composed of microscopic shells and shell fragments.

[@chadwick6857]

Your channel, along with Self Sufficient Me, has been invaluble to learning more about gardening for me. Keep up the great work!

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks Chad, appreciate that. Love Self Sufficient Me too - great channel. 😀

[@mangoesinthevan]

I just discovered and tested a way to stop slugs and snails that really is 100% successful - for 15 years my veg crops have been roughly 70% destroyed by slugs/snails despite trying EVERY method I found on KZbin and elsewhere. I came across a system of putting copper or corrosion resistant wire around the boards on raised beds that is then connected to a 9 volt torch battery and watched a lot of videos showing that the electric shock makes the creatures shy away and claimed 100% success. I did the set up and watched most slugs and snails just cross the wires to reach my veg! Then I connected a 12 volt car battery and hey bingo, most were incinerated and some gigantic ones immediately turned away resulting in not finding one slug or snail or damage to plants in the past month. Of course if you object to slug/snails being killed its not for you. I am a big fan of GrowVeg and hope the channel will test this method and share with fellow veg growers!

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks for this suggestion - great to hear you're having such strong results with it. This would have been very useful this wet spring!

[@Stu-Vino]

We're lucky in that we have a footpath that runs alongside our back garden, so any slugs I find get lobbed over there (I do listen out to see if anyone's walking past, however 🙂)

[@christinamoxon]

I do prefer the trap-and-relocate method. It's made a good dent in my snug problem and I have neighbouring lizards, hedgehogs and frogs so they've hopefully been enjoying my efforts. It's not perfect and I've lost a few seedlings but most of my plants are thriving. Thanks for the video x

[@GrowVeg]

Seems like a more civilised way of dealing with slugs for sure Christina.

[@phoebehope6549]

I've made a border of crinkled up tin foil that has worked amazingly so far, but hardly aesthetically pleasing or long term 😅 so I'll be trying some of these. The critters always get relocated to the compost heap to speed things along 👍

[@prubroughton2327]

We have a voracious giant slug ( tiger slug)here in NZ the grow up to 4 inches ( 10 cm) that loves all things brassicas but will eat anything I was told they were strictly carnivorous but to my horror discovered this was un tru in my small commercial seedling nursery they climbed up to the top of the tables munched happily and then being very cunning retreated to their hiding place back down on the floor. I used to go out at 10 in evening and catch them. Had to destroy them because hens won't eat them and they evade most of our cunning traps but the babies do love a compost bin as a nursery

[@GrowVeg]

Those sound like very determined slugs!

[@jamesgrover2005]

I refuse to be tidy, I resort to capture/relocation and beer traps in the areas I want to protect. Another predator are Leopard slugs they eat other slugs, I've got some massive ones roaming the garden. I leave piles of garden waste in amongst my herbaceous border, slugs and snails are brilliant at breaking it down to fantastic soil. The circle of life :)

[@GrowVeg]

Absolutely James, great to be part of it.

[@minternet1]

Actually, they don't eat other slugs....the only eattheir eggs 🙂

[@jamesgrover2005]

@@minternet1 I'm not saying you are wrong but 8 out of 10 various links say they do eat other slugs, we might just be repeating a myth. But there are films of leopard slugs eating others on YT.

[@Lalrinmawii7]

I am sorry, I have zero sympathy for slugs..they destroyed my plants each year. I hate them.! They are one of the most disgusting pest for my garden. I go to my garden and hunt them at night and i pour salt on them!huh! They died immediately! Its a lot of work. I also use sluggo plus for organic gardening..not a 100% working..This year I planted 6 containers of pak choy, the seedling came out very nice..but they all got destroyed by slugs! So..however i can get rid of them...I could careless.

[@GrowVeg]

It's a real battle with those slugs!

[@EarthThemesStudio]

Great video! It's the " why" information that you provide about slugs that really help. Here's a question. If you put them all in your compost, will their eggs survive to be redistributed into your garden in the soil? They are pretty white and obvious, and a proper heap gets hot.... Just not sure

[@lysamerekvart9471]

I'd reckon that gathering the slugs in one place like that will also gather their predators, that (for most of them) also feast on the eggs... If you have hens, set them free on the heap before using it, you'll be sure to ditch any egg left, and add quite a bit of poo to it!

[@GrowVeg]

I reckon it would be a bit like dumping all your weeds on one pile - the majority would never make it through so even if a few survived you'd still be making a huge dent on the overall population.

[@kimallard225]

Hi Ben. Ive found in my home garden and allotment normal play sand stops slugs. I use it around the outside and floor of my green house and around young plants. Planks I put out for a few weeks. The rest I leave up to our frogs, toads, and resident hedgehog. Yet still on occation I use Nemetoads if I think the slugs and snails are becoming too prolific. Love the video especially the google eye head set. lol sould be a regular feature. 😂 Allotment owner and pretend gardener. I follow your ideas, advice and guidance. My friends at the allotment think I'm a great gardener. Not: its all you. So thanks for making me look like I know what im doing. Lots of love and best wishes Kim x

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks for the very kind comments Kim. As a gardener you are always learning, and I'm almost certain your success as a gardener is down to your diligent attention and care. :-)

[@ignescograce6689]

Love your energy, your enthusiasm and excitement, and the time you put into these videos They are deeply appreciated and insightful! I'll be sure to put these into action 🥰🙏🏼 Love and Light!

[@GrowVeg]

Thanks so much, really appreciate that! Love and light right back at yer! :-)

[@patr7115]

A couple of ducks are very helpful in controlling the slug population. My preference goes to the Indian Runner Duck, as it does not need a big pond and is very easy to take care of.

[@GrowVeg]

I've heard great things about them!

[@dkf4063]

Try seaweed. Slugs don't like the salt in the seaweed. Also, when it dries,slugs don't like the brittleness of it

[@GrowVeg]

Great suggestion. :-)

[@EveHenryTravel]

I’m about to try an experiment using dog fur as a mulch that deters slugs 🤞

[@gayleK5680]

To protect sullenly plants in pots rub Vic on the edge of the pot. Not the new water based one but the viscous one based on vasaline they will not pass this barrier

[@GrowVeg]

Great tip, thanks Gabbie.

[@justinarnold7725]

We got out at night with a torch and sprinkle salt on any slugs we see its the only non poisoness method that works instantly that we have found

[@madeleinehayes4100]

Only you could make this very squeamish-about-slugs person chuckle during a video about the slimy beasts! I acquired my distaste of the creatures after accidentally stepping on a nice big fat one in my bare feet shortly after moving to my new home in the country. Yuk! It took a lot of washing to get that slime off the bottom of my foot and I learned my lesson to not go barefoot in the garden when running out for a quick tomato or some herbs while cooking. Much as I dislike them, I dislike killing them as much so I am happy to hear they are useful in the compost pile - I am going to start doing that instead of putting them in the freezer in a ziploc bag - it kills them painlessly I've been told but still don't like the idea of killing them. Thank you for your very enjoyable channel!

[@GrowVeg]

Glad to have made you chuckle Madeleine. I've stopped on one by accident before - barefoot - and it's not pleasant!

[@ProYada]

I really tried, picked them in the middle of the night, beer traps, tossed them out of the garden. Biological slug pellets worked, it said it's alright for bigger animals but still a little hesistant. I do want to try the nematodes method sometime. I'm also wondering whether taping sandpaper along the grow areas would work. It should be like walking on glass for slugs, right?

[@GrowVeg]

Not sure if the sandpaper would really work, but worth a go. I think thorough torchlit hunts are the best way to make a dent on numbers. Anything worth a try though!

[@annieem5693]

I press in a border of slender wild blackberry branches (very thorny, and they grow everywhere here in the Pacific North West). Although it takes some time to put in place, it is an effective barrier in wet or dry conditions.

[@GrowVeg]

Great idea. :-)

[@klsaunders2656]

I also chuck them in the compost. I do use the ferric slug pellets though that I use just in pots. I use nematodes when I can afford it. Garlic spray needs to be done really regularly.

[@julieperry6247]

Great video! I like to use a flour sifter to apply the diatomaceous earth. Easy to handle, precise, and don't get it on my skin. Cheers!

[@GrowVeg]

Great tip Julie, thanks.

[@bill-2018]

Slug hunt. With a 12 bore? If you don't get on with your neighbours throw the slugs into their garden. I'd have less paths around those raised beds so I can grow more stuff.

[@helen2061]

Thanks, Ben.. I appreciate that you relocated the slugs. I almost didn't watch this video 😂

[@GrowVeg]

Glad you did though Helen. :-)

[@ralphdixon4727]

Any beer works and works well. I cut a door on the side of a bottle so rain can’t get into beer trap

[@GrowVeg]

Great idea!

[@ahwell9984]

I've had good luck with diatomaceous earth against the hordes of snails and slugs we have here in the very damp, cool Pacific Northwest of the US. Feed stores usually sell it for far less than garden shops, and a small amount seems to be enough to deter the slimy pests.

[@elw6150]

Thank you, going to the feed store to buy some!

[@WhippsCross]

Standing water = misquotes as for slugs & snail relocation forget they come back to haunt, kill kill kill and use the corpses as bait for more hunting the next night.

[@1stAmbientGrl]

Sand works as a slug barrier, too.

[@dk2p15]

I personally prefer to annihilate slugs and take pleasure in removing them from the garden bed onto a hard surface and salting them with table salt. They explode immediately. Yes, it's gruesome but for the damage they do it's well deserved. Also table salt is cheaper than beer and slug bate. DO NOT salt in the plant bed as the sodium can alter the soil.

[@davidthescottishvegan]

What 15,000 slugs in the average garden. Yes we don't want to get rid of slugs & 🐌 no matter how annoying they may be eating our plants because we want natural biodiversity. Another fantastic & informative video Ben. Next to my allotment there's a pond so I get a friendly toad come to visit every year to have slugs for breakfast, lunch & dinner and he is a welcome visitor and hopefully he has a toad girlfriend.

[@GrowVeg]

That’s really great to hear David. It is amazing how many slugs are toad and his/her family can get through. You have a great ally on side there!

[@ClwnJuNkY]

Rubarb leaves Juiced ! And liquid sprayed around the ground

[@GrowVeg]

Great tip, thanks!

[@lorainel1711]

Garter snakes are great slug defence. I have two photos of snakes living in my garden, swallowing whole, slugs 2-3” in length!!! Those are the slugs that escaped my nightly slug hunts and avoided the beer pots, which work really successfully. Thank you for an informative video. Stay organic 🙏😍👍

[@GrowVeg]

Wow - what an impressive thing to have witnessed.

[@lucybarnard3954]

I don’t like to kill anything so remove slugs caterpillars etc into my compost heap where they’ll have plenty to eat without eating my food x