At first glance, slugs don\u2019t seem to be much of a\nthreat to you or to any other living creature. You may even find their optic\ntentacles and slow ways adorable. But don\u2019t let these cartoonish slowpokes fool\nyou. Beneath that harmless appearance is a monstrous appetite that can raze\nyour blooming garden in days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
If you see slugs in the garden, your plants could be\nin trouble. They are among the most destructive pests around and they can chomp\ndown every leaf and fruit your precious garden has. Needless to say, you have to\neliminate them before slugs sneakily take over your garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we talk about ways to get rid of these slimy,\nslithering gastropods, let us do a quick profile of this gardener\u2019s nemesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slugs are hermaphrodites; they can have both male\nand female reproductive systems. That means they can breed on their own. When\nthey do, they produce up to 36 eggs several times a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have a life span of two to six years and reach\nadulthood in about six weeks after hatching. One other notable thing about\nslugs is that they keep growing; some growing as tall as 10 inches. Imagine a\nslug bigger than your hands coming to feast on your garden every summer night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The worst part about slugs is their insatiable\nappetite. They eat twice its body weight in a day and they feed under the cover\nof night. How can it eat so much in such a short span? We\u2019re not sure who took\nthe time to count but it\u2019s said that slugs have 27,000 teeth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are various ways to keep slugs from destroying the garden you\u2019ve\nlovingly tended. One of the most conventional ways to do it is hunting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For small gardens, try using milk or beer traps.\nPlace the traps near important plants since slugs can notice them only when\nthey\u2019re real close. To set this kind of trap, do the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most preferred among those three concoctions is\nbeer. In case you didn\u2019t know, slugs love beer<\/a>\nin the same way that moths are attracted to flame. And no, it isn\u2019t because\nthey\u2019re alcoholics. They simply can\u2019t resist the sweet smell of yeast in beer,\nwhich they often mistake for an overripe fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you don\u2019t want to literally get your hands\ndirty hunting down slugs, you can always call for help from Mother Nature\u2019s\nagents. Natural predators and biological\nagents<\/a> like birds, beetles, and toads feed on slugs and their\npresence in your garden should help control the boom in the slug population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These invertebrates feed on those pesky molluscs and you can purchase\ntheir larvae from a gardening store in your locale. Distribute the larvae\nthroughout your garden in early spring and the ground beetles will emerge as\nadults to feed on slugs by summer. However, you need to encourage these beetles\nto stay in your garden. One way to do just that is to provide them dry refuge\nunder grass, stones, or straw. This keeps them from getting eaten themselves,\nwhich should give the bugs plenty of reasons to stay where you can see them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Give these a home in your garden and they\u2019ll gladly\neat slugs and other pests from your plants with gusto! If your mission is to\nattract wild toads, turn a pot or other containers upside down against a rock.\nThis creates a dark hiding place that these critters love to inhabit. If you\ndon\u2019t have the luxury of time, you can always purchase toads and have them live\nin your garden. When you have cash to spare, you can add a small, decorative\npond in your garden where toads and frogs and live in. Just don\u2019t grow fish in\nthe pond as they\u2019ll gobble up the very tadpoles you\u2019re raising to combat the\nresident slug army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chickens, jays, ducks, robins\u2014these birds don\u2019t mind having a slug for\nlunch! Indeed, birds are the biggest natural predators for slugs. Pick up slugs\nand feed them to visiting birds in the morning and they\u2019ll soon be coming to\nyour garden for more over time. That is if you\u2019re not too squeamish. If you\u2019re\nraising ducks or chickens, let them roam your garden from time to time so\nthey\u2019ll take care of any stray slugs trying to gobble up your garden blooms. If\nyou\u2019re not growing either bird species, you can encourage wild birds to build a\nnest near your garden by providing them shrubbery, hedges, bird baths, or bird\nfeeders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best way to keep slugs from assaulting your dainty little garden is\nto keep them at bay. Luckily, there are a couple of ways you can keep slugs\nfrom even thinking about going to your plant sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the slug infestation is too great to remedy with\nDIY strategies, you\u2019ll need to bring in the big guns. In this case, they come\nin the form of chemical treatment. However, use these with caution as some\ncould affect beneficial insects or contaminate the waterways if you\u2019re not too\ncareful. Get professional advice before you proceed doing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There may be nothing more alarming to a gardener\nthan getting his or her realm invaded by slugs. With these tips, anyone tending\na garden should be able to hold the fort before professional exterminators come\nand finish the job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At first glance, slugs don\u2019t seem to be much of a threat to you or to any other living creature. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n