I have a ton of snails and slugs in my garden, not to mention earwigs! - Any - non toxic recommendations for getting rid of them. I don't mind using "bate" but am really opposed to spraying. They are basically eating everything from clematis - (lost one completely) to roses, lettuce and basil. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Safer's has a new Slug and Snail bait out this year that is non-toxic to pets, wildlife and humans. I've had a horrible problem with slugs the last few years, but because I have 4 cats I couldn't use slug bait. I tried the Safer's this year and it seems to be working. I don't think they are all gone yet but it's hard to tell because I have the earwig problem,too. Unfortunately, I haven't found a solution for them yet, other than spraying the yard and garden with a solution like Bub-B-Gone or Trounce. I don't like doing it, but it's either that or give up gardening!

Me too the darn things are EVERYWHERE...after a rain I'm out there grinding their little shell bodies into dust (read slime).

this is the first year I resorted to using beer - and the little devils do really love the stuff. I put out little tin foil cups with it.

What I can't decide is what to do with their drunken dead bodies when I go to change the beer???

I have never before seen them in my clematis' and even climbing up my hollyhocks and maple tree, cotoneaster and spieria shrubs and the slugs are even creepier...yuk, yuk, yuk,

The good news is that the infestation seems to have slowed down...either because I've killed off all the momma and poppa's ...or the rain is letting up or.....

I'll have to try the new Safers's stuff and I too have pets and don't want to use anything toxic. I battled slugs for years and I too had them on my roses and clematis and just about anything else. Imagine my horror and seeing my snap dragons, literally dripping with slugs. Too, too gross. I've tried everything from beer (which they seemed to really enjoy) to copper tubing (which was supposed to cause a chemical reaction with the slime and shock them) and the only thing that worked was having my ten year old hand pick them. She would play with them for until bed time (ten year olds like mine love slugs), and then I would sneak out and "add salt". The next morning I would tell my daughter that they must have crawled back into the plants. Nothing else I've tried has worked at controlling the slimy devils.

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto to everything except the beer. come on, does it REALLY work?

As an inexpensive way to try to trap slugs and snails, water a patch of open ground near their favorite delectables in the evening and place a piece of plywood overtop of it for the night. In the morning go out and turn the board over.. you should find that they should be hiding their, then you can get rid of them and spend more time enjoying your plants instead of looking for the little critters.

I manage to keep the slimy population from doing too much damage by hand-picking them (yuck) and either drowning them in a jar of water or squashing them flat. If you're squeamish, you can wear disposable surgical gloves. The best times to spot them is at dusk or dawn, or on overcast, dampish days. If you start destroying them as early as possible in the spring, the problem doesn't seem to get too bad.

I've heard of this one but have never tried it(I didn't have a slug problem until this week when I went to pick my strawberries) Cut a turnip in half, scoop out the middle and leave out overnight. They climb,in but can't get out. My mom swears but this remedy... Crush up egg shells and lay around the plants in a continuous barrier. Slugs and snails can't crawl over the sharp shells.

I have sprayed the slugs with a mixture of ammonia to water 4:1. I got the recipe on this web site and it works. You have to spray the slugs directly. When I check the next day,they are laying dead on the leaves, so I can tell it works.

I've just started with the new Safer's bait and wherever I have put it, slugs are not seen when I go out late at night with my flashlight for "SLUG PATROL". I'm not into hand picking but if you sprinkle some salt on each slug that is munching away on just about every type of flower I have, they are gone instantly to slug heaven. It looks like a miracle before your very eyes. Many of my salvia have been heavily devoured so I must get the Safer's bait out more. I also carry insecticidal soap to spray on any earwigs I see.

Yes Kathy - I am here to tell you that BEER does work.

I've read about that for many years and never had a problem bad enough that I had to resort to doing something until this year.

The little devils are definately attracted to the beer and they either drown with a smile on their faces or the beer burns them...

I do kind of like that salt idea tho....that way we can be on the assault end of things rather than waiting patiently for them to come to us....

Just you TOUCH my flowers and I see red.....

Message to Charmaine. If I'm not mistaken, ammonia is really high in nitrogen. (If I remember right, farmers in South-Western Ontario, - and probably elsewhere, too - put liquid ammonia on corn crops in July to supply the needed nitrogen for these heavy feeders.) What does the ammonia do to your plants?

Well, folks, I tried the ammonia thing, diluted 4:1. It sure does kill the slugs... instantly. However, I think my household ammonia must be more concentrated than yours Charmaine. The label says "pure ammonia" and the smell is strong enough to gag a gorilla. As an experiment, I used it on my sweet corn. (If it doesn't harm commercial crops, it shouldn't harm the corn here, right...) The first day, the few thistle plants not weeded out of the corn... all shriveled up and died. Not a bad thing, but a tad worrisome all the same. A day later, some of the corn leaves also showed signs of burn, although the plants otherwise seem healthy enough. I'm going to try it again on another stand of sweet corn, with a more diluted solution. I'll keep you posted.

I had a really bad problem with earwigs this year, so I researched everywhere. Some of the things I came across were beer (same as slugs). Put short pieces of garden hose or old pipe in the garden. In the morning dump them into soapy water. They hide inside when the sun comes out. You can put diatamaceous soil around the plants. After crawling through it, they clean themselves and the sharp shell kills them. There is also a recipe posted by John Vandenberg under earwigs on the canadiangardening.com site which involves soy. I can't find it right now, but it is on their question site. I will be trying these things next year. This year I had already put down earwig bait (after replanting my beans 5 times), and haven't had problems in the garden since (touch wood). These remedies showed up afterwards so I'll be prepared early next year. good luck. Chris

Can someone please tell me what annual flowering plants are resistant to slugs and snails and do well in bright sun? Thank you.

The ammonia spray is very effective. I do not have the exact formula but I use enough that they squirm when you hit them. I have never seen serious damage & I believe the plants benefit from the extra nitrogen. If you can find where they hide out (cool shaded place you can get a lot of them with a few blasts.