Organic Slug Prevention Methods: Slug Fencing & Slug Pubs

Copyright © 2010 Cherie Kuranko "InkSpot" All Rights Reserved

Slug prevention in a prime slug habitat area like Western Washington is a frustrating and ongoing battle. Organic gardeners hate to kill any of earth’s creatures, but slugs are one of the few pests capable of hardening a gardener’s heart after discovering their seedlings and plant leaves devoured overnight. Good news—there are many alternative methods to deter slugs from entering your garden before resorting to lethal methods.

Slug Barriers:

Slugs naturally choose a smooth path to slide across and leave their silvery-white trail. By creating a rough, sharp barrier around your garden plot you can effectively take away the welcome mat and hang up the Do Not Disturb sign on your garden. Slugs also dislike several types of things we normally compost.

Try spreading a 3-inch wide and 1-inch high barrier of any of the following or even a mixture of the following:

 • Crushed Eggshells

• Oyster Shell (Feed Stores usually carry it)

• Rock Salt (Slugs dislike salt and it can kill them)

• Fire Ashes (Slugs dislike)

• Coffee (Fresh ground coffee, not used, works best. Slugs dislike caffeine. This can be expensive to use on a very large area though.)

While these are great items to start with, they do require some maintenance because rain, watering, wind and walking on the barrier can cause it to break down over time.

Slug Fencing:

If the barrier doesn’t work, then it’s time to put up an electric slug fence. Sounds ridiculous, but according to the University of California’s studies on the matter it is possible to create a fence around your garden plot or even your pots, trees and raised beds that will deter slugs from slithering their way into your buffet.

A slug (or snail) moves by using a large muscle—called the foot. The slug uses its foot to help push or pull its body. The foot constantly secretes slimy mucus to help it move, which is what creates the sticky slug trail you commonly see wherever a slug has traveled. They suggest using copper flashing or copper screen for slug fencing.

They believe copper barriers work to deter slugs because the copper reacts with the slimy mucus that slugs secrete from their foot, which then causes a disruption in the slug’s nervous system similar to an electric shock. So, by using copper you can give those slugs a little zap when they try sliding in for a bite of your prized lettuce heads.

To build the slug fence, use a 4” high copper screen and bury an inch or two of the copper screen just below the soil so the slug can’t go under the fence. Fence your entire garden area. This works very well on raised beds where you can nail it to the bottom of the wooden sideboards. Be sure to clean out any existing slugs from inside the barrier before placing new plants in the bed. If you see a lot of slug eggs, either remove them or place a plastic tarp over the entire bed for a week during hot weather to kill off the eggs.

Natural Predators:

The slug does have natural predators; such as wild birds, chickens, turkeys, ducks and toads. Unfortunately, chickens and other farm type birds love to eat your garden as well, but encouraging toads into your garden is a very natural, organic way to solve slug problems. Toads will happily feast all night on slugs. See article: Organic Pest Control ~ The Toad to learn more about how to encourage toads into your garden.

Kill Slugs with Kindness:

If all else fails, one can always invite the pesky slugs over for a friendly beer. In fact, just create a ‘Slug Pub’ and you can simply toss out the drunks in the morning. An easy method for creating a Slug Pub is to pour some beer in an empty plastic soda pop bottle. Lay it on its side in your garden—partially buried—with the lid off. Slugs are attracted to the fermented brew and will enter and drown. You can save money and use a mixture of sugar-water and yeast instead of beer if you prefer.

Copyright © 2010 Cherie Kuranko "InkSpot" All Rights Reserved