Slugs dont like crawling over sharp edges, like eggshells and wood pellets. If these breeds are in your immediate area, allow them to stalk the slugs in your garden soil. How to Kill and Remove a Tree Stump Yourself, How to Get Rid of Ant Nests in Potted Plants, How to Drive Away Gnats for Good: Easy DIY Methods, How to Kill a Tree with or without Chemicals. Can snails navigate them? If natural remedies aren't working, you may need to try chemical alternatives from your local gardening center. When the slugs finally make their way to the seaweed-filled earth, theyll immediately turn around and leave that plant alone. I really enjoyed reading it. Use them to form a barricade around your plants or planting beds. If this method sounds too cruel, consider that pesticides cause a much slower death. Wooden Skewer 10. And snails too? Its bad in the sense that if you use it improperly, you can kill your plants or even harm you. Think hell need a bit of luck there.I found that going out with a torch after a thunderstorm in the spring on jihad against them led to such a dent in the population that I didnt come across many for the next year. I did not put a big barrier around anything but just lightly spread it on the ground where there was a problem. Again, this is NOT a bait. Ive seen people use ammonia as a fertilizer, but I wanted to use it as a pesticide to get rid of the slugs without pouring nasty chemicals into my hostas like Id get with some commercial-grade pesticides. Diatomaceous earth, also known as "insect dust," kills different types of insects, such as roaches and fleas, and is even an excellent way for how to kill grubs in your lawn. I used a small [48oz] Chapin spray bottle, which was ideal for the job. We had tried all sorts of natural products to repel them but coffee is the one that has been the most effective. Of course, if you live in a wet area, you dont have much of a chance of keeping your garden dry, so youll have to go right to these other options. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. What you have to understand about ammonia and water is that it will kill slugs on contact, but it does not have any residual effect. To learn how to make slug traps, keep reading! When ammonia is dissolved in water it forms ammonium hydroxide which is the same as household ammonia and it contains 5-10% ammonia. It is highly unlikely that either of these techniques work. Will putting a ring of pure Dawn around the top of the planter work? A belated thanks Mary. we put a small tub by each bed and wed have to empty them a couple times per week because theyd be full. Note that all of these methods work just as well for snails. Thanks Marie, I hadnt heard of oak leaves as a solution before, although I do use them often in my garden. But Ive decided to take a season or two off of growing my veg because of them and figure out what it is about our wee ecosystem that keeps them so proliferate. Organic Container Gardening - Step By Step Guide, Organic Gardening Books - The 50 Absolute Best Books. Many snails do not eat plants that have been touched with a caffeinated spray or powder. Sprinkle the bran onto plants and gardens youd like to keep slugs away from and check up the slugs occasionally. Coffee grounds may have mild effects on the health of your garden. A 10% solution will do the job. For a hands-off approach, spray slugs and snails with a vinegar solution (1 cup water to 1/2 cup vinegar). Most molluscs live in the water, but slugs and snails are the two that can live on land as well. Ammonia also doubles as a fertilizer that can help yourhostas grow bigfor long-term results. Seaweed is not as effective as plain salt, but perhaps a little safer for your soil. If you want to debate someone, stick to the topic instead of changing it to fit your argument. You can spray too, but you have a higher chance of missing eggs. its good to have options. Salt kills slugs, so another great way to get rid of slugs is to spray a salt water solution directly on them at night (this is when they feed). This powder-like substance or DE is the remains of microscopic creatures and is deadly to other small insects and creatures who come in contact with it. Dog Or Cat Food My husband figured out that it was the yeast in the beer that attracted them into the traps, but it was the alcohol in the beer that killed them once they were in there. Grind up. Bait and Trap A good point to remember is that to bait gastropods is to attract them - so keep bait and traps a safe distance from any plants you want to protect. Ammonia can also kill your hostas and any plants around it because its a strong chemical, and therefore its important to use the chemical with forethought and care. Yes, ducks are great helpers in the garden. Thanks John. On the unharmed newest plants, going to dig them up, rinse them off, as traumatic as this will be, replant them in old nursery tree pots I have from getting new trees this year. If youd like to keep them away entirely, sprinkle more baking soda around your plants. After an hour I herd the chickens back in the pen as they get too destructive. Yes, and no. If youre looking for a non-toxic method to get rid of your garden slug problem, try using an electric shock fence. Make sure you dont get this on your hosta leaves because it can burn them. Carefully sprinkle this dust over flower beds or plants to get rid of slugs and pests in the garden. We hope you enjoyed reading our natural snail repellent tip guide. Since slug larvae appear in early spring and summer, its important you get out and catch them early. Approved. Space plants far enough apart to allow air flow between them. Are you going to test every plant in the garden? By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Its always best to start with a more diluted measure and work your way up to avoid accidental damage. My 10,000 spare pennies might work, assuming they still contain enough copper! Ammonia also works well to kill bacteria. With these natural slug repellent recipes, youll learn how to solve your slug problems using slug baits, slug traps, and handy ingredients like diatomaceous earth, basil, grapefruit halves, coffee grounds, and ground beetles. Your plants will absorb ammonium and nitrate through the assimilation process. I find they dont hold the water either. And it is approved for organic use! Though there are chemically-induced products to solve slug related issues, its not wise to purchase them, as they are toxic to birds and other animals. When in doubt, go the natural route and use your hands. Just be sure to thoroughly water your plants the next morning to get rid of any salty residues. Because they work and they have limited effect on the environment. Of course, that doesnt mean that there is some plant that will react. If so, lets dive in! If you did, please share our homemade snail killer recipes and tricks on Facebook and Pinterest for your friends and family to see. Ammonia works on snails and adult slugs. Glad coffee grounds worked for you. When hit with the spray, they died within minutes. Death is instantaneous. Try baiting the slugs with a dollop of peanut butter surrounded by salt. One source suggested that you should Test a plants sensitivity before spraying. The reason for this is because seaweed is salty, and slugs do not like salt. earthworms before I try DE- on the plants they've already demolished. Thanks for sharing Carol. Controlling Slugs with Ammonia Which Methods Work? Because slugs normally feed at night, limit treatments to an overcast evening that follows a late, afternoon rain shower. For the best results, monitor the soil during the early hours of the day or late at night when they come out of hiding. Over time, the ammonia can get converted to nitrate to increase your soils acidity. Its good in the sense that it can eliminate slugs and a few other pests, as well as make a small amount of fertilizer available in the soil. Use dollar store sprayer to spray the ground or poke holes in the cap and sprinkle the complete perimeter of your garden. Depending on which way you choose, you may have to dilute the ammonia. I like growing petunias; so beautiful, but they are slugs' favorite plant. Anyway, last year we found the most effective thing to combat them was beer traps (which we made with empty canned cat food cans). Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. .. thanks so much. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Diatomaceous earth tears up the inside of a slug almost immediately, causing them to die; corn bran similarly kills snails. Yes. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. They are just gone. "Where I planted mint they did not bother those plants, but where the mint was not touching the plant, such as my, "The various methods and chemicals that work. A concern with this method is the effect on plants. Affiliate Disclaimer: Tipsbulletin.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, Effective Slug Deterrent: Diatomaceous Earth, Natural Slug Repellent: Change Your Watering Schedule, All-Natural Beneficial Insect Slug Repellent, Getting Rid of Slugs using Frogs and Toads, Privacy Policy GDPR Medical Disclaimer DMCA. Along with working on slugs and aphids, ammonia is a great bug deterrent because it has such a sharp and strong odor. This is the 9:1 ratio. I put down cornmeal and I will be raking the pine cones out of my garden today before we get more rainugh!!! Others spray plants so slugs stop eating them. Mix a 10 to 1 ratio (water to ammonia mix) and a sprayer to spray directly on the slugs and leaves of the hostas. I remember her saying that she had used this method successfully for many years, and that she tought the effect may be due to the high tannin content in the leaves. Support wikiHow by Will last a while even during rainy weather. Metaldehyde is, actually, an organic compound with, very limited effect on Wildlife and IS, usually, applied in pellets of wheat, which IS a bait. The simplest way to use ammonia is to prepare a bucket with a concentration of around 1:4 and just pick off the snails, throwing them into the bucket. Sprinkle the pellets in the soil where the snails roam. The main difference is that snails have a shell, while slugs dont. Dissolving slugs can be tricky, but there is a way to do it. If it gets damaged, you need to dilute it more and test it again before you douse the area. Of course, it sti-i-i-i-inks! Step 4. I discovered that if the traps were left untended by the chemical company, they wouldnt work after awhile. Spinosad is found present in fermentation juices of the soil bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa. I wouldnt give up entirely theyll still come back in 2 years. You could also compress the ammonia gas to form a colorless, clear liquid under pressure. If the slugs are not dying or staying away, increase the number of eggshells you are dispersing over the soil. This is a very alkaline solution. It has been said that it contains EDTA and that it is listed as an inert ingredient. But, as for MY choices, for MY hosta, I choose to prevent them from being ravaged by slugs yearly by using this method in as smart of a manner possible. He increased the ratio of alcohol to water to 50/50 and it worked even better. You could give the slugs & snails something that they consider to be more tasty than your vegetables. The ammonia is harmful to plants but the slugs die within seconds, so try to have good aim. Encourage birds to nest in your garden by providing hedges or dense shrubbery, bird feeders, and a bird bath. Directly on a snail or slug just like magic Im in Florida and have a lot of potted plants with trays underneath for retaining water. Crushed Eggshells. Purchase strips of copper foil wide enough that the slugs can't bridge it with their bodies. Fill a Spray Bottle. Im hoping youll analyze it for us! Lots of reliable online sources and even some YouTube videos confirm that this works, which should be no surprise given the high pH of household ammonia. Ammonia spray is a simple solution. It kills the introduced pest cane toad on contact, so I keep some (undiluted) in a spray bottle. Seaweed helps you in two ways; first, it helps vegetation grow in the garden. Continue with Recommended Cookies. If 5% works, why would anyone recommend 80%? If the slugs are climbing out, replace with a mix of honey, yeast, and a little water, boiled until gluey. This year I just included pine needles to my arsenal. They DO NOT promote the idea that spraying plants or soil works. Moreover, it is also a helpful fertilizer as it adds nitrogen to your garden. One part ammonia mixed with 10 parts water in a spray bottle will do the trick. This article has been viewed 2,025,048 times. Ive done most of the things youve recommended and all helpedto a degree. Go out in the evening and spray any mollusks you see on your plants. Bury a tall cup with steep sides into the soil. Before you get into ways to kill slugs with ammonia, you want to know exactly what it is. Heres the big list. Ammonia 6. How can you recommend the use of chemical baits nowadays !? I checked several government sites and got a range of 5% to 80% household ammonia. We had a terrible problem with them digging directly underneath our chickens feeders. If they arent snacking on the corn bran, you may have to blend it to make sure it becomes more powder-like. The percentage of caffeine required in a spray (1 - 2%) is greater than what is found in a cup of coffee (.05 - 07%), so homemade sprays are not as effective. Spinosad is a naturally occurring bacterium that can be toxic to certain garden pests. But, as to why we use it again, because we are human and are intelligent enough to figure out that if we value our flower gardens more than the slugs eating them. Mix with 4 parts water (1/4 cup of ammonia per cup of water) or according to Linda in the comments below, 20 parts water is fine (slightly less than 1 Tbsp per cup of water). If youre trying to keep the snails away from your flowers, wrap copper strips or copper tape around the bottom of the pots. The plants will benefit from the nitrogen, and the slugs will tangle themselves up in the strands of hair and die. This year the slugs started again, but MUCH worse, and the beer traps were working but we had to put out so many traps and we were going through a lot of beer. 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Will be raking the pine cones out of my garden today before get. Use them often in my garden today before we get more rainugh!!!!!!.