Although Colorado’s dry climate typically discourages slugs, when there is plentiful rain and snowfall coupled with a fairly mild winter, these slimy mollusks often appear in droves. Many spring vegetables, pansies, and bulbs are attractive target plants. To keep slugs under control, consider the following tips:
--Decrease humidity in the garden by using drip irrigation and watering in the morning instead of the evening to give plants (and slugs) a chance to dry out during the day.
--Trap and destroy slugs using either a tray of fermented liquid (beer or sugar-water with yeast), or moistened newspaper placed on the soil’s surface.
--Repel slugs using diatomaceous earth, copper foil, copper sulfate, or wood ashes as a barrier around raised beds and greenhouses, or around individual plants.
--Keep mulches (which act as a shelter for slugs) away from the base of tender seedlings or newly planted annuals.
--Provide slug predators such as ants, birds, snakes, toads, and turtles with an attractive habitat and they will naturally take care of the slugs. ***

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