How to Kill Slugs With Bleach

Slugs do most of their damage at night.

Slugs can be a menace, chewing on plant tissues in lawns and gardens, mostly at night, leaving a surprise of holey plants in the morning. An out-of-control slug problem can cause severely damaged plants and sometimes plant death. There are many ways to kill slugs; you can use salt or trap them in beer or vinegar. It's also possible to kill them with bleach, but do so cautiously; too much bleach in the garden can kill plant life too.

Things You'll Need

• Spray bottle
• Chlorine bleach
• Water
• Piece of wood

Instructions

1. Dilute 1 part chlorine bleach with 9 parts water in a spray bottle.

2. Lay a piece of wood in the area where slugs are a problem. Leave it there for a couple of days. This avoids having to look for slugs at night.

3. Flip it over during the day and look for slugs.

4. Spray the slugs directly with the bleach-water solution to kill them.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also kill slugs with 1 part vinegar and 1 part water.

• Clean up your garden area in early spring to remove debris and possibly slug eggs, thereby reducing the slug population for this growing season.

References

• Plants Galore: Slugs in the Home Landscape
• "University of Minnesota Extension"; Slugs in Home Gardens; Jeffrey Hahn, et al.

Resources

• 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar: Garden