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Should I be indiscriminate when killing slugs?
I've read that the most effective way to reduce slug numbers is to go round the garden in the evening, with a skewer.
Some of them are very small, and I've taken to slicing them in two with a knife, or squashing them on a paving slab.
But are all varieties of slug to be teated as pests?
Are any of them carnivorous?
The same question could be asked about snails, of course.
Then there's the problem of laving the slugs' natural predators with no food. Am I making more trouble and more work for myself by killng so many?
Maybe I said too much. The question is:
Are all varieties of slugs to be treated as pests?
and like it says in the title, Should I be indiscriminate?
4 Answers
- ?Lv 79 years agoFavourite answer
I use a plastic bag with some salt in it. I also use slug traps. Half an orange peel or a bathroom tile laid on the soil will collect slugs underneath it. Beer traps are also effective, an inch of beer in a yoghurt pot.
Ghost slugs are carnivorous, they are white.
- DeanLv 59 years ago
In one word - no. Slugs do a lot of good by eating weeds as well as choice garden plants!
Kill all the slugs and you'll be knee deep in weeds.
I only kill them where they are a problem - they leave most plants alone.
Yes - they are the favorite food of Slow-worms, Hedgehogs, and the Violet Ground Beetle.
Also - they are great for the compost heap.
- Anonymous9 years ago
I go out with a torch and my salt pot. A small amount of salt is quick and effective and instant.
Your method is unpleasant and time consuming.
These pests are capable of taking the food chain down and need to be dealt with.
