It seems like slug information never gets old and everyone looks for a new way of controlling slugs and snails in our gardens. I know I recently did a column on slugs but there is some “new” info available, so here we go with another look at slugs.
A good friend has moved to the high desert in Central Oregon and she likes to brag that slugs aren’t the problem they were when she was living in Tillamook County. Since slugs thrive on cool, damp weather it was no surprise to me to learn slugs do not like the desert climate. But my friend – in an effort to be helpful – found a cute little lime green book called 50 Ways to Kill a Slug; Serious and Silly Ways to Kill or Outwit the Garden’s Number One Enemy by Sarah Ford. Published first in the U.K. in 2003, the version I was given was published in the U.S. in 2013.
And - true to the subtitle – some of the suggestions are quite silly: throwing them into the street and yell “Don’t come back!” Of course slugs don’t understand English but your neighbors will and then they will start to wonder what crazy person is living next door.
But there are some rather unique suggestions that I want to try this spring and see what happens.
The first trick involves grapefruit, apparently a favorite food of slugs. Author Sarah Ford suggests buying a grapefruit, enjoying it for breakfast, and then use the rind in the garden. You will be turning it upside-down so it looks like an igloo. But first take a knife and cut a little entry door in the side to make it easier for the slugs to gather and invite their friends. If you leave this in the garden for a couple of days, you will return to find the shell filled with slugs and then you can dispose of them in your preferred way: drowning, setting them on fire, or cutting them in two (my favorite method, if a little messy).
The book suggests a variety of barriers to place around your favored plants and a few are worth considering: chimney soot combined with ashes, sawdust, egg shells, grit, sand, and crushed nuts. You may notice quite a few Willamette Valley nurseries place crushed hazelnut shells in their gallon pots, and this seems to work well for them. I have tried egg shells but they don’t seem to be as effective as crushed seashells. Besides, my dog loves to try to eat the egg shells; not a good idea.
Sarah also recommends using cut human or pet hair as a barrier, placing it around the base of plants. Slugs won’t like crossing the coarse hair and will move on. I had actually explored a product recently that was the dregs of sheep’s wool that had been compressed into pellets. By soaking the pellets, the scratchy wool expanded again and could be placed around the plants. I guess this works except it is quite expensive (about $15 for 3.5 liters) and it has to be replaced often. The other problem was that certain dogs loved to try to eat the wool. That would be the case with my dog, I can guarantee it! But if it was her own fur, she might be less likely to chow down on it. I hope.
A method I hope would be very effective uses the soil additive vermiculite. You may already have some in your potting shed if you use it to loosen your potting soil or compost. If you add water to it, it will swell and can be placed around your plants. Slugs will be attracted to the moisture, but they won’t like rolling around on the vermiculite as it will be unnerving and seem like a landslide. This may be worth a try. But like anything else, it would have to periodically be renewed. Same with the ashes, sawdust and hair.
I am thinking the sawdust method would only work under two conditions: 1.) the sawdust would have to be very coarse and have lots of splintered edges, and 2.) it would work until the rain turned the sawdust to mush. In the later case, the slugs would be drawn to the moisture and have no problem creeping over the mush.
The slug barriers of any kind will have to be rather wide as the slugs can spread themselves out and sort of pole-vault over the barrier to get to the juicy leaves. My favorite method is still taking my flashlight out after dark and – wearing my gloves - collecting them in plastic containers with lids that I can throw in the garbage when filled.
I also have tried used coffee grounds with some success.
My friend may enjoy gardening in the high desert because of the lack of slugs, but if truth be known, I will enjoy the lush green we have on the North Oregon Coast, slugs and all.
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