Ideal Bite

Having a problem with slugs in your garden? Solve it by tapping into their innate drinking problem...

08.12.2005

Submitted by idealbite on Fri, 08/12/2005 - 5:00pm.

The Bite:

If you have slugs in your garden, there is a natural, non-toxic, and easy way to reduce the population and prolong the life of the plants that slugs love to eat: lure them into beer traps and drown them. Slugs are attracted to beer for the combination of yeast and the carbonation (which isn't really all that different from the reasons why we are attracted to it).

The Benefits:

Beer used to attract slugs (and eventually drown them) is a non-polluting way to reduce slug populations.
Other animals such as earthworms don't get caught in the crossfire like they do in commercial repellents. Poison baits such as metaldehyde (Deadline) and methiocarb (Mesurol) are harsh chemicals and are not always successful for their intended use.
You can set out the traps using the "one for me, one for you" method (which you wouldn't want to do with other slug-i-cides).

Personally Speaking:

Moment of total honesty: slugs like beer, but they like plants, too, so this trick doesn't always work for us and takes constant vigilance. (We'd also often rather drink the beer than put it in the garden). If you want the slug-beer-thing to work, you have to stay on top of it and replenish the beer daily in order to keep luring the slugs away from your plants.

Wanna Try:

Try this effective and eco-friendly Slug X Trap for about $13.
For a funny look at all the different ways you can kill slugs (complete with recommendations to run over slugs with your car, and concerns over how "dry" college campuses will be able to trap slugs), check out this article.
Did we mention the "one for you, one for me" method?

Cocktail Fact

Banana slugs eat each other's slime before mating.

Bang For The Bite

Eco-friendly slug removal is an easy way to get rid of slugs without filling your garden with toxic chemicals. Use cheap beer, and it's an even better buy.

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