How To Get Rid of Garden Slugs With Some Beer

Depending on where you live, slugs can be the most common, and most problematic creature in your garden. From radish leaves to bell pepper fruit, these slimy little guys will chomp their way through your hard work. But don’t worry. One of the best ways to get rid of them is to show some hospitality: just offer them a beer.

First things first, how do you know if you have a slug problem? The obvious indication is when you find slugs inside your veggies This is very common with bell peppers and other hollow veggies. Otherwise, you can find slugs by going out to your garden in the very early morning. The slugs come out at night and look for food. You can either see them on the dirt/crops, or you can see slime trails along the surface.

So let’s say you know you have a slug problem. A common home remedy for slugs in the garden is to set up a beer trap. The common explanation is that the slugs are attracted to the yeasty smell of beer. They love it so much, in fact, that they will often crawl into beer, get stuck, and drown.

Here’s how to set the trap up for yourself:

1. Get small plastic containers. Dipping cups or 1oz storage cups work well. Make sure they are open topped.
2. Get beer. I used a Guinness, because it was left over from St Patrick’s Day, but we’re sure other brands work well.
3. Dig small holes, the size of the containers. Leave enough room for the rims of the cup to stick out from the surface a little. These should be located around problem areas.
4. Fill the cup with beer. Leaving some room at the top.
5. Leave overnight, check for slugs in the morning.

You SHOULD clear out the dead slugs daily. But in all honesty, I didn’t and they remained effective. The cups did become a dreadful graveyard of slugs.

That said, I can personally confirm that this method was effective. I had a true infestation at the start of the year. They were destroying my young radish sprouts. But after using this method, I’ve not seen them again.