Last Updated on April 11, 2024 by Real Men Sow
Slugs aren’t a favorite pest to have around. They are sickeningly ugly and can be a nuisance. But where do they come from at night? These soft-bodied creatures can grow up to 25 to 100mm in length. They don’t have shells like snails and can hide in harsh environments. These shells are made from calcium carbonate and snails can live for many years in them.
Why Do Slugs Come Out At Night?
The phylum Mollusca class includes slugs, giant squids, steamer clams, and periwinkles. Both slugs and snails are hermaphrodites. They each have both male and female reproductive cells, but they still mate. Only after it rains or at night do slugs and snails come out of their damp hiding places. At ground level, it is much cooler and more humid. This is why the nighttime is when slugs are most active.
Where Do Slugs Live?
Slugs and snails often live in groups during the day under rocks, stones and rotten logs. Because they don’t have shells, slugs’ soft bodies can dry out.
Snails can protect themselves from water loss during certain seasons. To help prevent water loss, snails will create a double layer from mucus on their shells before winter. Many varieties of slugs hibernate in damp areas as long as it is cold. To avoid water loss, slugs might not emerge from their hiding places in summer when it is hot and dry.
Identifying Slugs In Your Garden
Garden slugs can be found in a range of colors, including dull orange, gray, and dark brown. They are usually between 1 and 2 inches in length. What attracts slugs in your garden? Slugs love dark, shaded areas that are damp or moist. They are happy to visit your garden and feed you, so you’ll most likely not see the problem but they will.
How to discover slugs in your garden?
They leave behind a slimy secretion which they keep in their places. Even if they don’t appear, you will be able to tell if they are there by looking for their secretion. These secretion trails can be best seen in the morning. This small activity can be used to trap slugs in your garden if you are unsure. Dig holes about 4 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. After three days, cover them with a board. If you find many, it is a sign that these pests are in your garden.
How To Get Rid Of Slugs That Come At Night
Use Salt
This is the cheapest and most convenient way to eliminate slugs. Sprinkle salt on the slugs to kill them, but do not sprinkle it on your plants. Spread the salt as far away from your plants as possible.
Beer Traps
A beer trap is an inexpensive and easy way to eliminate slugs. You can create your beer trap by placing a container half-way between vulnerable plants, and then filling it with beer. You can also look for specially-designed beer traps that smell like beet to attract slugs away. To avoid catching ground beetles, keep the container’s rim at least 2-3 cm above the ground.
Grow Slug-deterrent Plants
These plants can be grown on the edges of your garden. This gentle technique acts as a natural pesticide and deters slugs. You can keep slugs at bay without the use of chemicals. Slugs are repellent to plants like anise, rue, wormwood, rosemary, and fennel.
Destroy The Slugs Shelter
Slugs love to hide under dead logs, garden furniture, or under bricks. These potential shelters for slugs should be removed and they can be exposed to natural predators. The problem will decline naturally if your garden is not suitable for slugs. Encourage natural predators such as song crushers and hedgehogs to eat the snails.
Create A Prickly Barrier
Slugs are soft-bodied and any prickly material will serve as a barrier to keep them away from your plants. To create obstacles, you can use pine needles, crushed eggshells, and thorny cuts. Sharp sand can also be used, but it must not alter the soil’s quality.
Use A Slippery Barrier
This is the best way to pot your plants. Spray a slippery substance around the pots to prevent slugs from scaling them. This will protect your container plants.
Lay Down Copper Tape
Place copper tape that is self-adhesive in your garden until it is impossible for slugs or other animals to get past. Copper tape reacts to slug slime, giving slugs an electric shock every time they are exposed to it. The tape prevents slugs reaching your plants. The tape can be attached to potted plants, raised gardens, and other areas that need protection from slugs.
Apply Nematodes To The Soil
Nematodes, which are soil-dwelling microorganisms, are parasites of slugs. Apply the nematodes to the soil by mixing the water with them. To make this treatment effective, the soil should not be below 5°C.
Divert Their Attention
To attract the slugs, leave a pile of old lettuce leaves or dried cat foods in a damp corner. Once they have gathered to the food source, grab them and then dispose of them all in large quantities. This technique can be combined with torchlight night walks through your garden to capture slugs.
Go The Eco-Method Way
The slug is at the bottom of the food chain and can be fed to carnivorous prey to increase the ecological impact to your garden. To reduce the slug population, encourage birds, hedgehogs, badgers to visit your garden.
You can also feed your chickens the slugs that you have picked from your garden. You can then wait until you have a lot of eggs left over from your chicken.
