Need to reduce slug population

I have been using a mulch over the last couple of years called ‘Blooming Amazing’, putting at least 3” on the borders in Autumn & Spring. It has incredibly reduced the slug & snail population. Would recommend it. There’s another one called ‘Strulch’ which does the same.

We used nematodes in our community garden but they were too expensive and didn't work.

I have been clearing the greenhouse today and found almost all the grapes on the vine have been eaten.

I checked up on nematodes, it’s expensive and they work if the soil is kept damp not if its allowed to dry out, so probably best to treat plot in spring when it is warm and damp, that will reduce the slug population the use the beer trap later in season

I wondered what was eating everything when I began vegetable growing in earnest. A friend said I should go out, after dark, with a torch and wear rubber gloves.
I was shocked!! But I collected a bucketful and it made a difference.
Later I started making my own beer mix (yeast and sugar in water in a jamjar) and vast numbers were found drowned but I got tired of setting traps so now I grow things the slugs don't like.
(Kale, beans, parsley and potatoes) salad crops I grow in the greenhouse where I can keep a close eye on them. I grow cucumbers in a bucket with copper tape around the rim.
Slugs do make good compost!

Oh dear. I fear that I am the bearer of bad news. I recall some time ago Which conducted a survey in a measured plot of land. One plot was left as a control and the other was assiduously slug - freed by hand every night. After one month there was no discernible difference...
Sorry...

dotpocka

salt

Never use SALT It causes a slow, painful death. Extremely cruel. Please don't use this method.

My Dad used to put a black tarpaulin or bin sack down at night and in the morning there would be loads stuck to the underneath - he would turn it over and let the birds eat them.

Chestnut...😁😁😃🤩. Great!

Chestnut

Witzend

A nice dish of ale is supposed to entice them in. We once used a snail-shaped thing made for the purpose. It did work, but I can’t say I enjoyed disposing of the beery drowned corpses.
🤮.
Someone broke the thing, or I’d be using it again. Our garden is titchy though.

The buckets of beer are very attractive to them and you will find them full of dead slugs! Works a treat but disposing of the drowned slimy shells is revolting. If you can find a way of burying them or something similar that would be good. Can they go on the compost heap? I have no idea. Or if you have space then dump them in a 'slug graveyard' in a distant spot maybe? Ultimately you have so many slugs you are going to have an awful lot of shells to dispose of whatever you do. So for this year the beer method is as good as anything and at least they will die happy. 🐌🐌🐌🍺🍺🍺

I've just realised the query was about slugs and I was answering about snails. I got my slimy little critters mixed up! Slugs may be easier to deal with as they just end up in a slimy stinking mess in the beer, whereas snails end up as a slimy mess plus shells!

Or maybe it's rabbits who breed like slugs, and we've been getting it wrong all along. 🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌

I hate slugs. There's millions around here. Beer traps have been effective but never seems to reduce the population of the dratted things. They seem to breed like rabbits.

Beer traps were the most effective method l tried, l tried many. They absolutely stink as they decompose so emptying the traps very regularly is essential. I bagged them up and out them in the household waste.

Witzend

A nice dish of ale is supposed to entice them in. We once used a snail-shaped thing made for the purpose. It did work, but I can’t say I enjoyed disposing of the beery drowned corpses.
🤮.
Someone broke the thing, or I’d be using it again. Our garden is titchy though.

The buckets of beer are very attractive to them and you will find them full of dead slugs! Works a treat but disposing of the drowned slimy shells is revolting. If you can find a way of burying them or something similar that would be good. Can they go on the compost heap? I have no idea. Or if you have space then dump them in a 'slug graveyard' in a distant spot maybe? Ultimately you have so many slugs you are going to have an awful lot of shells to dispose of whatever you do. So for this year the beer method is as good as anything and at least they will die happy. 🐌🐌🐌🍺🍺🍺

I have wondered about nematodes but they would be very expensive for the area I need, especially as they seem to need regular applications to be effective

A nice dish of ale is supposed to entice them in. We once used a snail-shaped thing made for the purpose. It did work, but I can’t say I enjoyed disposing of the beery drowned corpses.
🤮.
Someone broke the thing, or I’d be using it again. Our garden is titchy though.

www.gardenersworld.com/plants/how-to-stop-slugs-eating-young-plants/

salt

Nemaslug supply nematodes which you water onto the soil. They infect the slugs and kills them but only affect slugs, no other plants or animals. I find them a great help. Also cover bare soil with Strulch ( a straw mulch). My hostas have been untouched all summer and they are only just showing a few holes now.

I havnt had slugs for about 6? years. You spray nematodes in early March, that’s when the eggs are laid in the soil. You do it every year.

midgey

You need ducks! They love slugs.

midgey sadly we have foxes so free range ducks or chickens wouldn't last long!

You need ducks! They love slugs.

I’ve never had that many slugs, so can’t really advise. I do use thé pet safe pellets and they work for me.
Apparently free roaming chickens solve the problem, a step too far probably!

DH scoops them up and puts them in a polythene container walks up to a grassy bit of land 5/10 minutes away and deposits them there and returns home. He does this regularly.

There do seem to be a lot more slugs this year. My DD found one on her kitchen floor.
No new ideas on how to get rid of them, sorry.