One of the best ways to deal with a slug infestation is to get rid of their eggs so they can’t hatch in the first place. To get rid of eggs, you must know what to look for. So, what do slug eggs look like?
Slug eggs are clusters of small, translucent balls with a hue of white or yellow. The colour of slug eggs darkens the closer they get to hatching.
Slug eggs have a round appearance and are small. The eggs are found in clusters on the soil’s surface or beneath it. Slugs lay eggs in any moist place. The new eggs are translucent. The eggs then turn milky white as they mature.
Where Do Slugs Lay Eggs?
Slugs will usually lay their eggs in moist soil and compost. If you have a dark corner in your garden with soil, then this is where they will usually lay their eggs. They are unlikely to lay eggs in direct sunlight.
How Do You Get Rid of Slug Eggs?
The first thing you need to do is recognise what slug eggs look like. Slug eggs can be found in clusters and are translucent. Adult slugs will lay eggs on the soil or just below the surface.
You can begin looking for slug eggs by digging in the soil of pot plants. You can look for slug eggs in moist places because that is the optimal environment for them to hatch. Since slugs tend to stay in hiding, they also hide their eggs.
We recommend looking for slug eggs in the early hours of the morning. This is when plenty of moisture in the air makes it easier to determine the best areas for a slug to lay its eggs.
Think about where in the garden will be damp at this time of the day and look there.
Now that you can successfully identify slug eggs and find them in the garden, you need to eliminate them.
Soapy water is one of the best ways to get rid of slug eggs. You can utilise your regular dish soap to create soapy water and pour it on the slug eggs.
You could also use a garden trowel to scoop the eggs into a cup of soapy water to kill them off this way. A bleach solution will also work well in killing them.
How Long Does It Take for a Slug Egg to Hatch?
After mating, slugs lay eggs in moist places.
The eggs are like small balls, have a gelatin consistency and are in clusters. It can take anywhere from two weeks to a month for slug eggs to hatch. It can also take five months if the slugs lay eggs in winter.
Slug eggs can remain dormant for long before hatching in the right environment. This makes it tougher on gardeners because the eggs can hatch anytime. Any eggs left behind can still turn into slugs, so it is important to get rid of them.
Do All Slug Eggs Hatch?
Slug eggs will hatch with quite a high success rate, but that doesn’t mean every slug egg will successfully hatch. There will always be some that don’t hatch.
Why Are Slug Eggs Harmful?
Dormant slug eggs are not harmful. They are not going to do any damage to your garden and plants. But that’s not the problem… It’s once they hatch!
The resultant slugs feed on plant leaves and will not spare the stems and roots. Slugs have destructive eating habits because they consume more than their weight and do not stop. If slugs eat too many leaves, the plant can die.
Removing eggs from your garden is one of the best ways of preventing a future problem. As with many pests, one of the best forms of repellent is prevention in the first place.
Like weeding, checking for slug eggs in your flower beds needs to become part of your regular garden routine. If you see eggs, get rid of them ASAP.
Take a small plastic cup out into the garden with you as you weed and if you see eggs, pop them into your cup.
The other option is to use a pair of tweezers for popping each egg when you find them. However, this can become quite a laborious task, especially if you have to deal with multiple clusters of slug eggs.
Fed Up With Slugs Ruining Your Garden?
We’ve Put Together a Complete and Free Guide on How to GET RID of Slugs Finally! – Including Deterrents and Preventative Measures to Take:
Summary
Slug eggs appear like clusters of translucent balls. These eggs have a gelatin consistency and are laid in moist areas of your garden, often where slugs hide during the day.
As the eggs mature, the colour changes from translucent to milky white.
As a gardener, it is important to recognise slug eggs and get rid of them as soon as possible. Slug eggs can hatch as early as two weeks and remain dormant to hatch when the time comes.
Ryan is a keen gardener from the UK who’s spent years dealing with countless, common pests over the years so knows the ins and outs of how to deal with pests in the garden
