Dealing With Slugs in your Compost Bin

Anyone that lives in moist climates and or does a lot of composting will occasional run into slug or other insect problems.  In a effectively run composting they will not be much of issue because of the higher temperatures that are inherent in composting will kill any slugs that try to make there home in the compost.

But sometimes through no fault of the composter you will end up with slug and insect problems in your bin.  If they are just in your compost and it is away from your garden then the slugs will not be much to worry about as long as they are well fed by your veggie and fruit scraps you add to the compost.  However if the compost is close to your actives gardens then some control or eradication of the slugs might be in order.

There are many options our their for slugs in the garden from traps to poison pellets but when dealing with then in the compost pile the options are more limited.  You want to steer clear of poisons or chemicals since that would end up in the compost and would later be spread on the garden.  There are two common and easy ways to deal with slugs in your compost if you feel it is necessary. 

You can either pluck them out by hand and toss them in a bucket of soapy water which will drown them.  Make sure to use soapy water as they will most likely find some way to get out of a bucket of plain old water. 
   
The second effective way to deal with them is to empty the composter on a patio or tarp layed out in the sun.  This will have two effects on the slugs in the compost, they will be dried out by being exposed to the sun and they will be vulnerable to hungry birds that inhabit the neighborhood.  The sun and the birds will also kill and eat the eggs(hopefully) that the slugs will most likely have layed in the compost.   I say hopefully because when you are dealing with nature nothing is ever certain. 

Slugs will always be a ongoing battle in the garden but they can be managed quite easily with just a few simple methods like the ones outlined above.  If you wish to try and exclude slugs from your garden or keep them contained in your compost you can try using a copper mesh fence.  Research has shown that the copper produces a reaction in the slugs and snails akin to a electrical shock and they will not want to cross it.  The copper mesh can be found easily at places like Amazon and if deployed effectively it can be useful at keeping them out or in what ever you want.