Slugs and Beer

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Blokky27

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So we have the same problem as many no doubt with slugs eating all the stuff we’ve bought and just planted. So frustrating.

So frustrating in fact that my partner read up on the subject and decided to go with “beer traps”. Which basically means feeding them pots of my best lager and hoping they die rather than get drunk and have a good time. Can anyone tell me for sure whether the ones that don’t simply drown in ecstasy don’t just wander off, get the munchies and do even more damage than before? Does the beer actually kill them?

Pictures attached of the second night in a row we’ve tried this - seems to me more like we’re just creating some sort of rave or festival for gastropods…

Oh, after taking these photos earlier tonight a further ten of these traps were put out so we could be facing thousands of the buggers in the morning!!!
 

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You will have a lot of success with beer traps but it is a messy job cleaning it all up. You could also sprinkle salt on them when you go out to check at night as they cannot survive being assalted (pardon the pun). If you can stick to the pattern for a week or so you will see a noticable difference in the numbers and then you can reduce the frequency of the free offerings.
 
It looks like the beer traps are on the lawn?

This will attempt to kill all the slugs in the garden - a bad idea because you'll never succeed, and even if you did, then all the useful things that slugs do in the garden would stop.

Better to put them near the plants you're trying to protect - the beer will attract and kill only those slugs going for your plants.
 
StephenStephen said:
It looks like the beer traps are on the lawn?

This will attempt to kill all the slugs in the garden - a bad idea because you'll never succeed, and even if you did, then all the useful things that slugs do in the garden would stop.

Better to put them near the plants you're trying to protect - the beer will attract and kill only those slugs going for your plants.
Click to expand...
What useful things do they do?
 
Blokky27 said:
What useful things do they do?
Click to expand...
...mainly speeding up the process of turning dead or dying vegetation into soil, and being food for birds....

Slugs and snails / RHS

Slugs and snails are common garden animals, and they are well suited to the damp, mild climate of the UK. A few species feed on garden plants, but most prefer to eat rotting material and could be considered a gardener’s friend
www.rhs.org.uk www.rhs.org.uk
 
Buy cheap beer rather than use your best lager, although coffee grounds sprinkled around your plants does work, too. Likewise, egg shells. If you want to go to war i can recommend using nematodes which attack them underground and silently kill 'em within a week. Copper bands and tape is a sure way to keep 'em away from plants. And the tried and trusted slug pellet is still a classic. Get organic, which uses Iron phosphate rather than the unkind to animals, metaldehyde.
 
I'm sorry, but I don't quite get it. Beer attracts them. But then do you have to collect them yourself or do they die from the beer? I put boards in the garden, they hide under them, then I sprinkle salt on them. But I can't say it's very effective.
 
slipery said:
I'm sorry, but I don't quite get it. Beer attracts them. But then do you have to collect them yourself or do they die from the beer? I put boards in the garden, they hide under them, then I sprinkle salt on them. But I can't say it's very effective.
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Here’s your answer, Slipery…

The morning’s takings attached in the photo…
 

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Does this work with alcohol-free beer? [Which actually isn't all that much cheaper, FWIW].
 
StephenStephen said:
...mainly speeding up the process of turning dead or dying vegetation into soil, and being food for birds....

Slugs and snails / RHS

Slugs and snails are common garden animals, and they are well suited to the damp, mild climate of the UK. A few species feed on garden plants, but most prefer to eat rotting material and could be considered a gardener’s friend
www.rhs.org.uk www.rhs.org.uk
Click to expand...
And Hedgehogs!
 
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