How do I get rid of slugs in my greenhouse??
18th Nov 2024
Those pesky little slimy creepers can be quite annoying to the greenhouse grower. And yes, they do eat your plants and you do want to get rid of them. They'll eat tomato plants at night and can quickly destroy a small plant. Slugs live in the organic matter on top of your soil then the hide away during the day, so you may not even know what's eating your plants unless you know what to look for. They generally come out at night to do their damage, eating the shoots, stems, leaves and fruits of many plants.
Slugs on my kale about to get picked off Slugs in my beer trap meeting their drunken death
There are a few ways of dealing with these unwelcome critters who seem to gravitate towards the kale and jackfruit first.
Pick them off at night
One is to don the head torch and pick them off after dark (they are very easy to spot).
Get them drunk
The other way which is also highly effective (and less work) is to fill a small dish or jar lid with beer and leave dotted amongst the plants. Slugs particularly like beer and will drown themselves in the dish. I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of different brands of beer as I only tend to have craft IPA lying around. I’m guessing all kinds work though. I push the dish down into the soil a little to make it easier for the slugs to climb in. Within 2 days and with 3 of these dishes on the ground floor my slug problem was completely gone.
Slugs aren't big on coffee, so adding the grounds around your plants after your morning coffee is a great way to deter them. Just make sure your coffee ring is about 10cm wide and not touching them plant stem. You don't need it to be deep, just wide enough to thoroughly annoy them. Sprinkle the grounds in a thin layer on the soil. Coffee grounds are acidic, so don’t go overboard with the sprinkling as too much acidity in the soil will kill the plants.
Best of luck keeping these little slimy critters out of your greenhouse!