The $1 Slug Control Hack That Works Better Than Anything Else I’ve Tried in My Garden – My Seedlings Are Finally Safe!

A natural, humane way to get rid of slugs and snails that only costs a dollar? I know it sounds too good to be true, but this pest control method works better than anything else I’ve ever tried. And, as a gardening editor, I’ve tried more than my fair share of tricks to keep my plants safe from these backyard pests. Copper tape, beer traps, eggshells, nematodes: you name it, I’ve put it to the test.

I had high hopes for the copper tape I carefully wrapped around each and every one of my pots. It might work for some people, but the slugs in my garden just slid right across it. I only tried beer traps once because of the guilt (not to mention the smell) of drowned slugs the day after. Crushed eggshells worked – until it rained. And keeping nematodes in the fridge just made my skin crawl. I like to garden for wildlife, so slug pellets or any other chemical solutions weren’t an option for me.

So you can imagine how happy I was when I tried this simple, cheap slug control method and it actually worked. The revolutionary solution to a garden safe from slugs? A few slices of humble cucumber. Because, turns out, slugs find cucumber slices tastier than seedlings, more delicious even than dahlia shoots.

Reducing your backyard slug population to a manageable level using cucumber slices isn’t without its challenges. You need to scatter ¼ inch-thick slices where you suspect plants are being nibbled, then return once it’s dark to gather your prey. So yes, this does involve patrolling the garden in pyjamas, torch in hand, just before you go to bed. But you'll find so many slugs busy gorging themselves on the juicy cucumber centres. And, as long as you cut them thick enough, the slices function as the perfect tray to lift that slimy collection of slugs and snails and pop them into a container, cucumber and all, ready to be rehomed.

I use a big Tupperware container with an air vent so I can safely leave the slugs and their cucumber food supply overnight, and take them to their new home – a nearby verge – the next morning.

My plants are safe, the slugs are still alive, my conscience is clear: win win.

The biggest benefit of this method is that it doesn't eradicate the entire slug population from my garden. Because I garden using organic methods, I very much want some slugs in my garden because they’re a valuable part of the food chain. Using cucumber slices means I can reduce slug and snail numbers where and when I need to. And, when plants are only susceptible to slug damage at certain times – like all the dahlia shoots just starting to emerge from the soil right now – I can use cucumber slices as a short-term protective measure until the plants are big enough to cope with a nibble or two.

Getting rid of garden pests without resorting to chemicals can be tricky. But this natural slug control works so well in my garden because the cucumber slices catch tiny baby slugs little bigger than specks of soil that you can't see, as well as the big daddies that are fatter than your finger, and the result is cumulative. Did you know one slug is capable of having 90,000 grandkids? Yup, it's a lot.

I started using this slug control method last year and, this spring, there are far fewer to contend with, so I only need do a cucumber-slice-slug patrol when I spot a plant is getting munched a little too much. And this year, I'm growing my own cucumbers and cutting out the middle man, so it'll cost me even less!