Good Luck! I have the same issue, but no where near as bad as you. I have several holes on multiple plants. I found a slug on one the other morning. Let me know how those techniques work. I just might give them a try myself.

Tim

A ring of coffee grounds around each plant is very effective, and the grounds are a good soil conditioner. Another method is a late night (or early morning) sortie with a flashlight, a finger and thumb and a stout shoe!
Brien

salt + concrete + grass + roots poking out of holes do not mix.

A bunch of used coffee grinds inside the pot and around the stem will work. You could spray the leaves with a *weak* coffee solution too if you like. Remember that snails can also bypass the stem by crawling up that tinfoil you have around some of your pots.

Good luck either way.

Whoever suggested salt doesn't tell you that salt isn't particularly good for the soil. Sure it's great to pour some on slugs and watch the show, but not at the risk of harming your plants.

Coffee grounds, beer traps, diatomaceous earth, sand, ducks or geese, copper, decollate snails, and the very simple iron phosphate poison available at any garden center are all good solutions. Regarding the poison, there's a new product out called Sluggo PLUS(has to be the plus), that will also control earwigs et al -- The regular Sluggo, just slugs. OMRI listed.

By the way Rodne, aphids don't chew foliage -- they're tissue suckers and fungus and disease carriers.

Good luck.

Kevin

NO Salt. Salt isn't good for any soil - Once salt has been added to soil, it takes a long time to remove or neutralize it. Follow Kevin's advise above.

Sandy

I had to read the OP a couple times, because I thought he was going to put salt on the soil in the pot, but, I believe he was talking about putting it on the concrete around the pots. At least I sure hoped that's what his intentions were! LOL

I wasn't sure how effective it would be as I don't know how far they travel. My guess was that it was in the pot, not climbing the pot every night and leaving. But, didn't figure salt around the concrete would hurt anything.

Kevin - thanks for the info on Sluggo Plus!

I have a few plants that look kind of like that but for me it is not slugs. It is birds. Blue Jays and Cardinals in fact. Do you have problems with birds? I sure do....

Bill

Okay, perhaps I wasn't very good at expressing the fact that I'm growing all my plants in containers this year, so when I said I was spreading salt around my plants, I meant on concrete and milk crates that I'm boosting them up on . Not into the actual soil.

For those concerned,... I have left a lil beer out for the past two nights and slugs seem to be a bunch of alcoholics !! I can already see an improvement in my plants ! Thanks to those who wished me good luck :)

Be sure to have a look under the pots. They usually spend the day there and sometimes hide in the drainage holes. I have lots of slugs because there is a lot of wood around, so I start out with a sprinkling of slug bait around the pots, then I do a nightly 'slug patrol' with a flashlight and 10% ammonia in a spray bottle. Does them in and does not hurt the plants. Glad to hear about the Sluggo Plus because I have tons of earwigs this year (as last). I didn't know Sluggo was still on the market...my mother used it back when I was a kid.

OK,i livein Maritime Washington state.....in the woods and have tons of slugs. What i do now in the spring when I am making up my pepper pots. I take sawdust and put it in the bottom until it covers the drain holes, they won't snuggle up to that. The other thing is to go hunting with scissors, one snip and they are dead. During the day, another loved spot is under/inside the top lip of pots.....and anywhere they can be out of the sun.....such as in between those layers of foil.....good luck with it, i know they suck and the war is NEVER over. this year, they are more than plentiful

If you have gum trees, try putting the gum balls (the star-like droppings) as mulch around the plant. Slugs HATE them and they will break down eventually as a nutrient mulch.

I put the link to a picture (first time, so hope it works!)

Here is a link that might be useful:

@Mzteaze. Thank you for this suggestion. It appears the solution was right under my nose all the time !! I work for my local county's parks and recreation department. I clear these things off of my walking trails all the time !! Little did I know I could use them to my advantage !! You can bet a big fat bag of these will be coming home with me on Monday ! :)

I have holes like that all over my plants. thought it was just caterpillars (haven't seen any lately, but still see holes). never knew what it was. never saw any slugs around, but I'll have to be more vigilant.

I go out with a salt shaker around 11:00PM to get the buggers. They seem to really like my hot pepper plants, too.