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