If you’re a gardening fanatic, then one particular pest is probably ruining your hard work – and all of your plants – in the process. The bane of many gardens, slugs are renowned for leaving a wave of plant destruction in their wake, with the molluscs meticulously munching their way through many a garden, much to the horror of the household tending to it.
However, one savvy gardener has advised there is a top way to keep the pests, which move slowly but eat quickly, at bay, and only requires two simple items. Thriving in damp conditions ready to detect and destroy your prized flowers, gardening gurus @bilgemehmet23, took to the video-sharing platform TikTok to show a foolproof method for repelling them.
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In the video, which more than 3.1 million people have viewed, Sam demonstrated his two-pronged slug deterrent approach by removing the bottom of a plastic plant pot to facilitate root growth into the soil, before smearing petroleum jelly around the pot rim, then dusting it with ‘the cheapest salt you can get’ around the edges.
His partner, Billie admits: "This actually works, guys. If we don't put it on there, by the morning, we've got a slug problem again. They just don't go near it."
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Sam also highlights that while the process protects the plants, it also means he can water them individually as well: ”People laugh at me, but really, I've had a slug problem before so I just thought, let's just try it. And it's worked for us,” he enthused.
Slugs are slain by salt due to the scientific principle of osmosis. Dr Gordon Port, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, told BBC Science Focus that salt kills them: “It essentially draws the water out of their skin is an osmosis effect and they die within minutes of dehydration.”
However, while the hack is a great gardening trick, it’s worth noting that salt can also damage plants and disrupt the soil balance, so refrain from directly spreading it into the soil.
According to the Natural History Museum, slugs are considered ‘generalists’, meaning they have evolved to eat ‘just about everything’ and are herbivorous, carnivorous, omnivorous, and detritivorous (the latter meaning they feed on dead and decomposing organic matter). According to Jon Ablett, the museum’s Curator of Molluscs, they are: “important recyclers of nutrients.”
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