Gardeners are still on high alert for slugs – which can decimate a garden. However, there is a cheap and simple way to keep them at bay using items you likely already have in your kitchen
Gardeners are all too familiar with the ongoing battle against slugs, notorious for annihilating plants and veggies in a matter of hours.
With the start of autumn ushering in the height of slug season thanks to their breeding habits, these slimy critters become an even bigger menace, especially when allotments brim with ready-to-harvest produce. But using chemical methods to deal with them could unintentionally put other animals at risk. There’s a buzz among gardening experts for an environmentally conscious option that safeguards the local wildlife community.
Sheryl Normandeau, a master gardener and the brains behind Flowery Prose, has let slip her secret: a “tried-and-true” concoction made from ingredients you can scrounge up in your own home, downright irresistible to slugs. She suggests: “Beer traps have long been used for slug control but there is another way to trap them that doesn’t involve you sharing your precious brews (because, really, why should slugs get the good stuff? ). Try this very basic yeast trap instead.”
It’s through a slightly odd yet soundly scientific combination: the marriage of yeast, sugar and water begets a brew that gives off both carbon dioxide and alcohol, producing an aroma slugs simply can’t ignore. These unwitting pests will be lured to their aquatic end by this homespun contraption, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The green-thumbed brigade is now rallying around this economical solution that deters slugs without causing collateral damage to pets, local wildlife, or cherished garden insects.
How to craft your own slug trap for the garden
Here’s what you need:
First, you’ll need a shallow container that sits flush with the ground so slugs can easily crawl in. Sheryl suggests: “Raid your recycling bin for some shallow containers and sink whatever you scrounge up into your garden bed so that the tops of the containers are level with the surface of the soil.”
Ideal options include yoghurt pots, sandwich tupperware, or old shallow bowls, like those once used for pets but now no longer needed. However, don’t use your pet’s current bowl as slugs can carry lungworm, which is deadly to dogs if they become infected.
Only reuse bowls that won’t be used by animals again. Follow these steps to set up your trap.
