This spring and summer the snails and slugs are unbelievably extreme. They are extreme in their numbers and extreme in their behavior. I have never seen anything like it! Nor did anyone else here in The Netherlands. The slugs even made the evening news!

Every veggie gardner was complaining about the slugs eating all of their produce. They could not keep up with the snail and slug fighting because there were so many of them this year.
A lot of gardeners just gave up trying to grow altogether, just out of sheer frustration. I understand completely, I almost gave up too, but I didn’t. Maybe I am very optimistic or I am stubborn, or both. But I went on trying to grow veggies and fighting the snails and slugs, even though it was very frustrating. I will tell you how I went about it and maybe you can try some of my methods to fight the slugs in your own garden.

Even in the few days when it is dry and 34 degrees celsius, they are active and they crawl over the sharp pebbles like it is nothing.

Eating my developing pumpkins and the leaves as well!

My big marigold, which I had pre-sown and let grow bigger than normal before I planted it out (because of the slugs), was eaten within 3 nights.

I have always had an enormous amount of slugs in my garden, so I know from experience what a pest they can be. I also know from experience what (kind of) works and what doesn’t, because I have tried so many things to fight them.

Rain, dark days and more rain

This year though, almost nothing worked. There was such an extreme amount of snails and slugs because of the many rainy days. This spring, as well as summer, has never seen so many days of rain and cooler weather. Because of that we got an explosion of snails and slugs. And they ate everything… even the plants they normally will not touch were eaten. I couldn’t believe my eyes, even though I was looking right at them eating my lavender, thyme, rosemary and tomato plants they usually leave alone.

Even my tomato plants are getting hit this year. Normally the slugs leave my tomatoes alone, but not this year.

Snail and Slug Fighting

Although snails and slugs have a very important clean-up role in the gardens ecosystem, you just do not want them on your veggies. Slugs, especially, can wreak havoc. So what can you do to deter them and keep them in check?
I have tried so many things over the years that did not work, so I will only write down what (kind of) works for me, from my own experiments and experience. I use everything in the list below as they work together.

The list

I will give you the short list here and i will give a little more description below:

  1. Raised beds with metal legs or sides
  2. Nematodes
  3. Electric slug fence
  4. Copper tape or rings
  5. Organic slug pellets
  6. Pluck the slugs off by hand and dispose of them

Raised beds with metal legs or sides

Slugs and snails don’t really like climbing on smooth metal things, so if you have garden beds made of metal like Mark does or with metal legs like I have, they are much less likely to get into your garden beds. That said, some will still happily climb over the smoothest metal to get to your veggies. So that is why I also use copper tape and an electric slug fence.

Copper tape

For me copper tape is a hit and miss kind of thing. Some slugs are definitely stopped by it, while others don’t even blink an eye. That’s why I use a double band of tape around the pots where I can’t put the electric slug fence around. But even with the double band, some still won’t blink an eye and crawl right over. I look at it like this; it will stop some slugs and that is better than nothing. It can be the difference between veggies being eaten in just one night or over a few nights. If it is slower, I can still try to do something about it and save some veggies. So that is a plus in my book.

Electric slug fence

I know an electric fence for snail and slug fighting sounds a bit extreme, but if you have super sonic slugs like I have, you are willing to try everything. At first I was worried it would ‘zap’ me or my cats as well, but it didn’t. The only creatures that felt anything where the slugs and snails trying to get over the fence. When they got ‘zapped’ they turned around and went back down. From the moment I put this electric fence up, the numbers of slugs getting into my garden beds dropped drastically. So I was happily surprised and continue to use it year-round. But of course I had to get rid of the slugs that were already in my garden beds.

Nematodes

Nematodes are tiny worm-like creatures that live in the soil and they come in all kinds of different types. Every type is to battle a different pest. So of course I use the type specifically to battle slugs. I get them online and I only have to follow the instructions on the packet, deploy them twice a year and the nematodes will combat the below-surface slugs for you. The small downside is that they don’t work very fast, so that is why I also use organic slug pellets.

Organic slug pellets

Organic slug pellets work very fast. When the slug eats a few they will stop eating your veggies, crawl away and perish. But with these pellets you have to really pay attention which pellets you choose, when you use them and where you place them, because they can be dangerous for other animals too!!!
There are different pellets on the market, but only the ones made from ferric phosphate are not poisonous for other animals. So it is very important to check the label for the ingredients! Use them in dry weather, at dusk, and place them out of sight of birds as much as possible, because when they can see them, they will eat the pellets before the slugs do.

Pluck the slugs off by hand

I also pluck the slugs off whenever I see one. But when the slug pressure is really high, I go out when it is getting dark, and I go looking for slugs with a flashlight. Because of their slime, they light up and I can see them more quickly. I wear gloves that I use only for this purpose, gather them and put them in a bag or container and place that in the freezer. I dispose of them the next day. When you have a strong stomach you can also cut them in half and dispose of them right away. This is the fastest and most humane way for them to perish, but unfortunately it is not pretty.

Never ending story

Slug and snail fighting is, and will always be, an ongoing thing for almost all gardeners. But I have found the combination of these methods works the most effective for my super sonic slugs.
If you haven’t tried any of these methods in your own garden, I suggest you give it a go. Or maybe you have other tips and tricks that work for you. If you do, please let me know in the comments!