Natural Slug Control

About 2 years ago we decided that no insects would be killed by us during our gardening exploits.  They may be annoying, eating the very things that you are caring for for months on end, but it just doesn't seem right to squish them or drown them in beer and fling them in a bush.  But, we never said anything about tossing them to the birds or simply uncovering them so some needy robins can have their lunch.  It feels a bit odd leading them to their doom and I still have to decide how I feel about that one, but for now I'll go with it. 

But to be honest, most of the slugs that we come across end up getting launched over the back wall or simply thrown into the under growth in the hope that they will find something extra specia and stay there.  I wrote a post before on how Chris constructed a raft that is more or less impervious to slugs and woodlice and to me this represents the best solution.  Make it easy for them to decide not to crawl all over your food...then there is no need to think about what to do with them.  The more delicate things like strawberries are reserved for this special treatment and every so often I do a bit of a check up and see how well the moats are working.  Over the winter we tended to let the water run dry and so I guessed that there were probably some hopefuls laying in wait for the fruiting time.  One way I have found to oust the slugs and woodlice from containers is to put the pot into a tray of water. 

As the slugs burrow their way into the bottom of the pots and live between the drainage material it would be impossible to pick them out so this is the only way to do it really.  After about 10 minutes the slugs give up and start to crawl out from their hiding places and make their way up the pot to escape the water.  They don't seem to be panicked or anything, but they don't want to stay submerged either.   You have to make sure collect the slugs before they make their way to soil level so they can hide again.  The woodlice don't seem to be able to get out of the water however.  They get prevented from leaving because of the surface tension of the water.  They tend to float around just under the surface wiggling their legs, hoping to push through, but it just doesn't work, so they need a little help.  If you put a little branch into the water they will gladly crawl up it.  If they stay in the water for too long they will die, I missed a couple, that's how I know :(, but they seem able to stay in for a couple of hours without too much harm.  The fact that slugs and woodlice can survive under water makes me wonder how they breath.  In fact I've just looked it up and according to Wikipedia they breath through their skin.  The woodlice may do the same although I really have no idea. 

I've always been interested in nature and I'm beginning to appreciate how interesting these "pests" are.  Each one of them has a strange and unique way of living in the world.  They are trying to survive and to eat what most helps them.  We would probably have more problems in the garden if they did not exist at all and so I won't be looking at them with irritation from now on.  We'll keep our moat operational and pick them out of other areas, but apart from that we'll leave them in peace while they collectively do a huge amount of work for us in the garden.

For more information on slugs visit here

Comments

[RIGreening]

I see nothing wrong with leading the slugs to their doom. I appreciate your sensitivity, but jeepers, these are your precious fruit you're protecting. And I think the birds will thank you.