IF you are fed up with slugs climbing all over your flowers and plants, fear not – you’ve come to the right place.
Getting rid of slugs is often a time-consuming and difficult task for garden lovers, but thanks to one elderly woman’s trick, you won’t have to worry about the pesky creepy crawlies any longer.
Whilst many will use slug pellets to rid their garden of these slimy pests, one woman has shared her nan’s hack that works with barely any effort involved.
Posting on the Gardening UK Facebook page, a woman named Jodie Wilson shared her nan’s method that has helped to stop slugs destroying plants.
The savvy woman wrote: “I thought I’d share my experience with slugs as I’ve seen people buy copper nets etc.
“My nan used to leave saucers of beer out when I was a child for slugs around her vegetables.
“I have a courgette plant that has been devoured and its flowers and actual courgettes that have been eaten. They destroyed my kale and sunflowers too.”
Jodie then explained that she used the beer trap hack and it worked in just two days.
She added: “I put a bowl out for two days and there must have been 30-plus slugs in the bowl, such fantastic results for no effort really.
“I didn’t want to put pellets down as I have a son who may see them as sweets so thought I’d share the success.”
It is believed that slugs can’t resist the smell of beer, making it the ideal bait for a trap.
If you fancy giving this method a try, gardeners will need a plastic cup or container and a bottle of beer.
You simply half bury the cup in the soil close to the plants they are attacking and half fill it with beer.
Tempted by the smell of beer, the slugs will then fall into the cup.
The Science Behind This Method
So how does it work?
This tried and tested method of killing off slugs with a cup or tray of beer has proved to be very effective.
Slugs love the scent of beer, and so will make their way to liquid, fall into it, and die what we would hope is a pleasant (as possible) death.
Slugs are attracted to the yeasty, fermented odour of beer and prefer it to the fresh smell of your growing plants.
It is the ethanol in the beer that kills them.
Morris Hankinson, of Hopes Grove Nurseries, told The Sun: “Spare beer placed in a small container and put in the ground among your plants will attract slugs to a yeasty demise.
“Fresh coffee grounds do the opposite, they deter slugs when sprinkled around plants and also slow down rot, which helps to improve your soil.”
Facebook users were thrilled with the simple hack and many took to the comments section to voice their thoughts on the idea.
One user wrote: “Fantastic idea. Think I need to try this out for myself. Thanks for sharing.”
Another said: “Well done, you’re using one of the two only effective methods I know of. The other being nematodes.
Slug traps work, any beer is fine
Facebook user
“If you want to avoid having to handle the waste then dig a hole next to the bowl and tip the contents in then backfill quickly. Gets rid of them without spreading a stench.”
Someone else commented: “Yes, slug traps work, any beer is fine, you can also mix yeast and water and that works too.
Common garden pests
Common pests in the garden don’t need to be a cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work on getting rid of them and preventing them from returning.
Aphids (Greenfly, Blackfly)
Aphids are extremely common and can impact plant growth. They have tiny soft pear-shaped bodies, and are usually green or black. You may spot them clustered on the stem of soft shoots – look under leaves in particular – or may find a sticky substance on your plants that gives away aphids have been there sucking at the sap.
Whitefly
These small white-winged insects are related to aphids, at just 1 or 2 mm in length, and look very much like white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly in clusters when you disturb them. Their lifecycle is only three weeks long, which means an infestation can occur very rapidly.
Slugs
An unmissable, squashy-looking body plus small sensory tentacles on its head. Slugs move along on one muscular foot. They range in scale from surprisingly small to terrifyingly large; limax cinereoniger species can grow comfortably beyond 20 cm in length.
Cabbage Moth Caterpillar
Cabbage moth caterpillars happily make their way into the heart of the vegetables, The caterpillars are distinguished in shades of yellow or browny green with no hair.
Mealy Bug
Mealybugs are tiny oval-shaped insects that have a white, powdery wax coating. There are several different species, many of which have what looks like legs coming from their sides and back end. In their earliest stage of life, it’s entirely possible to mistake them for fungus and not recognise them as insects at all.
“But they need refilling every few days. And emptying which is disgusting but must be done.”
Whilst another gardening fan added: “They worked for me. I just kept forgetting to empty and the floating dead slugs and smell was gross, but did work.”
If you want to give this trick a try and don’t have any beer in your cupboards, don’t worry, you won’t need to go out and splash loads of cash on expensive beer.
In fact, if you’re on a budget, you’ll be thrilled to know that you can nab a 10 pack of French lager from Morrisons for just £3.60, making each bottle of beer just 36p each, making this hack super cost effective.
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