Two slugs mating!

Dear Readers, if you’ve been following the blog for a while now, you’ll know that I am actually not averse to having a few slugs in the garden – as a fascinating talk by slug expert Imogen Cavadino pointed out a few years ago, most slugs are actually useful as they eat dead and decaying matter, and help with the whole process of decomposition. There’s even the leopard slug, which eats other slugs. However, this is all faint recompense when a small army of slugs (or snails) has eaten your seedlings down to the nubbins, so I am always interested in any humane ways of persuading molluscs to slide away and feed on something else. Step forward James Wong of New Scientist, to give us the latest!

First up, enough already with the eggshells. Slugs and snails aren’t deterred in the slightest by these things, as their slime enables them to slip over such substances without going ‘ouch’ once.

Slugs are, however, attracted by the smell of yeast, so those of you putting out beer to entice our sluggy neighbours will probably be successful. Drowning the poor things is not exactly humane, however, so let’s cast a discreet veil over any ale-related traps (and let’s forget that Dad used to douse slugs with salt every time he saw them)

Coffee grounds are apparently an actual deterrent, but too high a concentration of caffeine will damage the very plants that you’re aiming to protect, so this is a very fine balance to achieve without a laboratory at hand.

However, one thing that does seem to work is garlic extract, made using garlic powder and water. How strong it needs to be, and how often you need to apply it is not clear, but James Wong suggests that it needs to be strong enough for the neighbours to notice. The smell of garlic and onion plants relates to various chemicals used to dissuade animals from munching on them, so this isn’t that much of a surprise. I wonder if interlacing your cabbages with onion/garlic plants would have a similar effect? Do let me know if you’ve tried it.

The New Scientist piece finishes with a plea to understand that not all slugs are bad, and that they are part of the ecosystem too. And  if you have any doubt, here is Henry the plush slug. If Henry doesn’t appeal, you can find Barry the Banana Slug at the same Etsy shop. After all, Bug Woman was rescuing slugs’ eggs from her salt-happy Dad when she was six, so you can’t start too early.

Henry the slug, from https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/389073404/mini-henry-the-slug-lambswool-plush-toy/