Diagnose Slugs

Symptoms
Plants attacked by slugs show large ragged holes in leaves, fruit, and stems. Slugs tend to zero in on plants that have already been damaged in some way, but they will eat almost any kind of foliage. They feed on a wide variety of ornamental and vegetable plants, and can destroy seedlings and young plants very quickly. They usually start feeding the bottom of the plant. Other signs that slugs are at work include trails of shiny, silvery slime on leaves and soil.
Slugs usually become a problem when their ideal weather conditions (cool and wet) prevail in the spring and early summer. This is why they are such a big problem in the Pacific Northwest where rainy and generally cool weather is common. Some types rapidly produce 2 or 3 generations by midsummer. An individual slug can eat 30 to 40 times its own weight every day! Consequently, without control measures, they may proliferate so that there are 1 or 2 slugs in every square foot of planted area in your yard--more if you grow hostas there.

Resistant Plants

Plants Generally Resistant To Slugs and Snails
Ornamental plants resistant to slugs include the following:

Plants Resistant To Slugs
Alum Root Artemisia Balloon Flower
Bleeding Heart Boltonia Candytuft
Coralbells Coreopsis Foxglove
Goats-Beard Hardy Begonias Jacob’s Ladder
Lamb’s Ears Lenten Rose Leopard Plants
Rose Campion    
 

Plants Commonly Attacked By Slugs and Snails

Common slug and snail targets include the following:

Ornamentals Vulnerable to Slugs
Begonia Bellflower Daylily
Delphinium Geranium Gladiolus
Hollyhock Hostas Iris
Marigold Pansy Petunias
Primrose Rhododenron Azaleas
Bush Rose Saxifrage Snapdragon
Violets    
 


Fruits and Veggies Vulnerable To Slugs
Citrus trees Avocado Cabbage
Lettuce Mushrooms Rhubarb
Strawberries Tomatoes  
 


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