Janice wrote in message . ..

I did that.. once.... never again. It killed hundreds of worms,
ground beetles that feed on slugs, and a few slugs. The stench from
the carnage lasted a week.. it was disgusting. It didn't make much of
a dent in the slug population, but it sure did in the slug predators
and the worms!


slug bait is indeed quite a poison, and all other methods a nuisance
(yes, you can spread either coffee grounds, diom(sp?) earth, hair or
wood ash around each seedlings, but you have to do it for each
seedling, reapply after time or heavy rains, etc). the beer is only
marginally useful, at least with the smaller, grey, eastern slugs I
have, not if you have thousands like I used to have. Hand picking
works every time (faster to bring a bucket of soap water and dump them
in) but if you have to pick over a hundred every night for weeks it
can get tiring. sluggo works all the time, and now I only need a light
sprinkling every May (about 1/4 of can). I can even indulge in my
favorite low-maint. gardening technique, composting directly in the
beds, without fear of providing food/shelter for the slugs.