Slug Control: How to Get Rid of Slugs

This article is a general DIY guide to eliminating slugs in your home's yard by using the recommended products and methods. Follow this DIY control guide and use the recommended products, and we guarantee 100% control of slugs from your property.

While they may look harmless, slugs can cause extensive damage to your home's shrubbery and foliage. They can eat any vegetation, whether decaying or thriving. These soft-bodied mollusk pests are normally found within gardens because they prefer to eat the soft leaves of seedlings or tender-leaved plants like fruits, vegetables, and ornamental foliage.

Unlike snails, slugs do not carry shells on their backs. Instead, they have one large muscle on the underside of their body called a foot, which is covered with slime. However, like snails, this pest travels slowly across multiple surfaces, such as stone, wood, dirt, and plants. For this reason, slugs go to their destinations at night and leave trails of mucus to protect their bodies and avoid becoming dry.

A slug's lack of bone structure combined with its lack of a shell makes this pest able to contort itself underneath rocks, wood, and other small areas that snails cannot enter. Slugs are more able to dry out than snails since they do not have a shell to retreat into. In contrast to snails, slugs prefer to hide in dark, cool areas to retain their body's moisture, whereas snails can hide in dirt and soil.

Slugs are not considered insects but rather a part of the gastropod mollusks that do not have a shell; thus, insecticide products are ineffective. However, by following our easy-to-use DIY treatment guide, you will learn how to eliminate and prevent these pests using the listed professional techniques and products.

Identification

Before you can carry out a control program, ensure the pest infesting your property is a slug. Misidentification can lead to using the wrong treatment approach, costing you time and money. Below are the characteristics associated with slugs that help identify the pest properly.

• In contrast to snails, slugs lack a hard exterior shell. They will have straight, soft bodies covered in slime.
• Slugs will have two long tentacles protruding from their head, each with an eye at the tip.
• Slugs have two pairs of feelers on their heads. The larger pair is above the eyes, and the second pair is on the lowest part of the head, which helps the slug smell.
• There are over 100 species of slugs in the world that thrive in different conditions, such as land or water. Most slug species in the United States range from light brown to black and gray, although some species, like the banana slug, are yellow.
• Typically, most slugs measure between 1/4 and 2 inches in length, but they can measure up to 10 inches in some cases.
• Leaves sticky and slimy trails of mucus as they travel across surfaces. The mucus allows slugs to retain moisture in their bodies and protects them as they pass sharp objects.

Use the image and description above to help you properly identify a slug. If you are unsure of the pest inhabiting your turf, contact us with a photo of the pest by email or in person at one of our stores.

Inspection

Once you have confirmed that you are dealing with slugs on your property, you can move on to inspection. During this phase, you must locate the areas on your property where slugs are active. Learning this information will help you to select the appropriate product and where to apply it.

Where to Inspect

Slugs are generally most active at night when cool and damp but may emerge in daylight hours when the weather is cool or cloudy. When weather conditions are warm and dry, slugs hide underneath rocks, plant debris, wood boards, potted plants, plant leaves, logs, and other dark, damp areas.

What to Look For

Slugs feast on the leaves of fruits, vegetables, plant seedlings, shrubbery, flowers, and other ornamental plants during the night. After their feeding activity, afflicted plants experience jagged leaves full of small holes along the edge and center. These holes are rampant in April, June, October, and September when weather conditions are often cool and damp.

Traces of slime will be found along the edges of plants, on the stems, and along the ground near these plants. You may also examine your property at night, as pests are most active at night and cannot easily hide due to their slow nature.

Treatment

Before applying any pesticide products, you will need to wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

To make your garden and lawn less appealing to slugs, deeply water your turf with an inch of irrigation once a week in the early morning. This will help to maintain your plant's moisture requirements, provide enough time for the water to dry, and avoid other diseases from overwatering.

The next step is to implement products such as Ficam in areas where slugs have been most active.

Step 1: Apply Ficam Insect Bait

Ficam Insect Bait is a granular orthoboric acid insecticidal bait that mimics food and immediately kills slugs and numerous insect species, such as cockroaches. This ready-to-use product contains some levels of water resistance, which makes treatment easier for areas that cannot easily be controlled due to climate and moisture.

Apply 2 lbs. of Ficam Insect Bait per 1,000 sq. ft. of lawns and ornamental turf.

To eliminate slugs in flower gardens, interiorscapes, under benches, ornamental gardens, and around ornamentals and shrubs, use 6 oz. of product per 100 sq. ft. at the beginning of the spring planting season before damage occurs.

Reapply every 4 weeks for control.

You may spread this product directly from the container or through a handheld spreader. Determine how much Ficam Insect Bait to use by calculating the square footage of the treatment area. To find this, measure the treatment areas' length and width in feet and multiply them together (length X width = square footage).

Spread Ficam Insect Bait as a thin layer from 4 to 5 inches above the ground and shake the product material around the perimeter of the area to be protected. Do not place this product in flats or in the pots of plants. Treated areas should not be watered until 24 hours have passed after application. Larger areas may be lightly irrigated with water before product application.

Prevention

After eliminating slugs from your property, you will want to take preventative measures to ensure these pests do not return. Listed below are preventative measures to lessen the chances of slugs returning.

• Deeply water your plants in the morning no more than once a week to give the area enough time to dry during the day, as slugs are nocturnal pests.
• Protect your desired plants and lawns from slugs with retreatments of Ficam Insect Bait before the spring (April, June) and fall season (September, October). Slugs will lay their eggs during the fall season and have them overwinter and hatch in the spring.
• Rake and mow lawns to remove plant leaves and fallen branches, as these areas can be used as shelters for slugs during the day. This will also help disturb the soil for any potential slug eggs in the dirt.
• Create a sharp barrier around plants, such as copper mesh, labeled to treat and deter slugs from crawling or reaching the foliage surface.
• Inspect and repair moisture issues around plumbing, gutters, and drains.

Key Takeaways

What are Slugs?

• Slugs are mollusks without shells that commonly feed on gardens, lawns, and flower beds and cause extensive damage.

How to Get Rid of Slugs

• We recommend treating your yard and areas where they are most active with Ficam Insect Bait to remove slugs.

Preventing Slug Reinfestations

• Prevent slug infestations by changing your watering practices to deeply water once a week in the early morning with an inch of irrigation and gently wrapping copper mesh material labeled to treat slugs around the base of your plants.