Friends, I have some simple gardening news to share.
I have never found a more effective way to get rid of snails and slugs than beer traps! I have never found a natural solution that’s more effective. And (here’s good news!) the cheapest beer works just fine!
I’m sure this will work, no matter what you are trying to grow: flowers, veggies, whatever.
I set traps last evening; I use the plastic tubs from my favorite greek yogurt, and bury them almost level with the garden’s earth; I do like to mound it just a bit around the edges, being careful not to get a lot of garden soil in the container – mounding makes it easy for the snails/slugs to slither over the edges of the container. Otherwise, they may be too sharp and may discourage “crawling in”. I like the beer about 7/8 full in the container.
Well, this morning, I checked my beer traps, and they were FULL of snails and slugs! Snails and slugs love the yeast smell, and will crawl right in and drown themselves! All of the critters in my traps this morning explain why my green bean babies aren’t making it, and why the bras are full of holes, in spite of the insecticidal soap, or natural dust. While I usually change the beer in the traps every other day, looks like I’ll be changing them daily for a while.
I actually used beer that has been sitting around since last year, but it worked perfectly well to trap the snails and slugs! So, even if it’s “old”, don’t throw that beer out; it’s still useful for snail/slug traps.
If you haven’t tried beer traps for slugs and snails, they simply work! Just want to share that with you.
Unless, of course, you have to pay $8 and up for a can of beer! Poor Harriet … shoot me your address and I’ll mail you some Natty Lite, girl!
Been using this method for a while now, and it’s amazing how many slugs crawl right in – I’ve found them in the 3-4 inch long range, drowned in these little yogurt tubs of beer. Imagine the damage just one of those monsters can do to a garden!
However, if beer isn’t your answer, try DE (Diatomacous Earth) sprinkled around the plants; I’m told it will cut up their slimy bodies, and they will go away. DE can be used the day of harvest, if necessary. Just don’t breathe it in!
Insecticidal soap did not keep them off the veggies. They start coming out at dusk, and are active at night, of course. Some people just hand pick them off – you go right ahead!
Nevwe have had a problem with snails or slugs but I will well remember this one and since I don’t drink either I will have to get the neighbors to firnish me with some if I need it.
We’ve heard of using “beer traps”…currently we’re using DE (Diatomacous Earth) sprinkled around the plants, and have some Neem oil. We do have an occasional beer so guess I’ll have to save a can back the next time we buy some. Think they’ll like Michelob Ultra? LOL
I’m not a beer drinker, but anything with “Ultra” in it is probably way too good for the snails and slugs! Get you some really cheap beer just for this, and keep it around for annoying “guests” you want to get rid of! Serve ’em a bad beer and maybe they’ll go home? Never tried it, but, who knows?!!! :I-got-an-idea:
Good news for those who do not want to have alcoholic beverages around, for whatever reason. Years and years ago, Organic Gardening magazine sponsored a semi-humorous beer brand comparison test, to see if it made any difference. Budweiser was used as the control value and the graph showed number/percentage of slugs attracted in terms of “Bud Units”. :)
To everyone’s surprise, Kingsbury brand Non-Alcoholic malt beverage, was the overwhelming #1 slug-trapper.
Yeah, but those non-alcohols are more expensive (by far) than cheap beer, unfortunately. But, I do understand, some people may prefer simply not to have it around, for reasons of their own.
Funny story: the first time our Pastor stopped by to meet us in our current church, he stopped by unannounced, which is a plan, of course. I invited pastor and the deacon with him in, much as I would have preferred a chance to tidy up first. We had a very nice visit, but, I did notice that I had left a 6-pack carrier of bottled beer with 4 bottles remaining in the kitchen floor. I had done a Jerry Baker-type lawn treatment that day, which called for beer. Of course, I felt the need to explain to Pastor, “just so you know, we do not drink, but those are for lawn treatments”. I asked him whether he was familiar with the work of Jerry Baker, and he said that he was not. Needless to say, I felt a bit embarrassed. I thought, “you know pastor did not believe you, since he no doubt gets lied to all the time!”. Oh, well. We’re still at his church, we love our pastor, and he loves us, so, it’s all good! But what a way to get started in a new church! We’re blessed; they haven’t asked us to leave yet!