Garden Slugs, Yuck!!

If you prefer avoiding insecticides, and do not mind putting in early morning work time, you can trap slugs. Place scrap boards on the soil under plants and between garden rows. Each morning collect slugs from under the boards and put in a bucket containing soapy water. The slugs will drown and can be disposed of later. (Don't put slugs into your compost pile as they will become smelly.)

Yeasty odors attract slugs. Use yeast and water, or beer, as an attractant for slug traps. One trap design uses a coffee can in which a hole has been cut about one-third of the way up from the bottom. The can is buried so the hole is at ground level. Place about 2 inches of beer or yeast and water into the trap. Cover with the plastic lid to reduce evaporation and to keep out thirsty pets! Check and remove dead slugs daily, and replace the attractant every 4 days.

You can find answers to many gardening questions at our consumer horticulture web site: http://consumerhorticulture.psu.edu/, or contact your local cooperative extension office. In Lackawanna County ask for the Garden Help line at 963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu


Terry Schettini, Extension Educator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County