discouraging slugs the nice to the environment way

hey,

I have 4 plants outside.
I dislike chemicals, but one of my plants(the smallest one) has no leaves left!
I have a bottle of anti-slug stuff that Iam supposed to squeeze around the plants in a circle, the idea is that slugs wont want to cross it.
My outdoor growing place is next to a river and I often see owls, snakes, feral cats, frogs, and even foxes nearby. That is why I dont want to use slug pellets.

Apart from the anti slug gunk I have already used what else can I use that wont kill any wildlife?

I would rather my plants died than any creatures did.

Thanks
doris

i have always buried a cup right up flush with the rim. fill it half full of beer and cover most of the cup opening with a peice of tree bark. of course it will kill the slugs but they go out happy and drunk. you need to replace the beer every day or 2 and after a rain. eventually you will get fewer and fewer slugs and none on your plants.

Nice one, I seem to recall seeing something about the beer method on the TV years ago.

I'll try it tomorrow.

doktordoris said:

Nice one, I seem to recall seeing something about the beer method on the TV years ago.

I'll try it tomorrow.

Click to expand...

great good luck. you may need to put out a couple of cups on either end of the garden depending on how bad the slug problem is.
i have also heard but never tried is a length of bare copper wire going around the plants on the ground. the slugs wont cross the wire. i think i need to try the wire and see.

doktordoris said:

Nice one, I seem to recall seeing something about the beer method on the TV years ago.

I'll try it tomorrow.

Click to expand...

There are a couple of ways to kill slugs without harming any animals or the environment. Use slug bait like Sluggo which is safe for animals. Also a line of diatomaceous earth around the plants will prevent slugs/snails from crossing the line. The last is a trap made out of a drinking water bottle from freddiemoney:

"I cut the top of the bottles off, flipped them over and pushed them back in and filled it up about a third of the way with frozen Fruitopia grape juice concentrate. Worked like a charm! "

The third way is one of my favorite. There are these killer snails called decollate snails. They eat the snails and their eggs. I love them. Do not use snail bait around them or it wil kill them. Hope this helps.

ive heard eggshells or copper wire are also safe snail deterrents

Put some salt in a circle around the plant.

Mysticlown150 said:

Put some salt in a circle around the plant.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't use salt, it could damage the plants.

I use coffee grounds in my beds, and eggshells. They turn into fertilizer and the slugs and snails HATE it, and the MJ loves it.

:] Good luck! I am glad you care about the environment, most people will just throw it out there and forget the consequences.

greenthumb111 said:

There are a couple of ways to kill slugs without harming any animals or the environment. Use slug bait like Sluggo which is safe for animals. Also a line of diatomaceous earth around the plants

Click to expand...

Yeah, this.

I do both so those sons of bitches leave my hosta plants alone.

Update!

I only check these outdoor plants once a week, but I appear to have solved the slug problem.
I bought some stuff (whos name eludes me) that is nice to the environment, and it really works. It comes in a clear gel which one uses to describe circles around the plants.
Or if the plants are bigger it can be used to make a circle of gel around the actual stalk.

The slug problem was so bad, before I used the stuff, that 2 of my 2 week old plants had all their leaves eaten off and then died.
I used the gel and when I checked a week later there had been no further slug predations.

Success! And the wildlife didn't suffer!

Brilliant.

doris