You’ve planted some small marigolds in your flowerbed or in your garden and suddenly you check one morning and something has been munching on them. In you quest to find out what was devouring your beautiful new flowers you come across the possibility that it could be slugs. But do slugs eat marigolds? Yes, slugs do eat marigolds, they actually love to eat marigolds.
Are Slugs Attracted to Marigolds?
Slugs love eating marigolds so much it is actually recommended to use marigolds as a trap crop in companion planting to help lure slugs away from your more valuable vegetables that slugs like to eat. Slugs like to eat lettuce, basil, mint, and many other things that you plant in your garden, so having a trap crop of marigolds can be a lifesaver for these other crops.
Slugs usually eat the leaves off marigold plants and not the flowers themselves. The plant is most vulnerable when they are young because it won’t take much for the slug to eat the entire marigold plant when they are so small.
How to Tell if Slugs are What is Eating Your Marigolds
The most common sign of slugs in the garden that you will see is irregular holes in the leaves of your plant. You might also notice the common slime trail that slugs leave behind on the ground near your plant.
There are of course other things such as earwigs that could also be eating your marigolds. They too seem to like to much on the leaves of young marigold seedlings when I start to sow them in the late spring.
But most of the time it will be slugs eating your marigold leaves. Marigolds are usually known for repelling pests, but slugs don’t abide by that rule.
How To Stop Slugs From Eating Your Marigolds
If you aren’t using your marigolds as a trap crop to attract slugs then you might be looking for a way to protect your marigolds from slugs. There are several options available when it comes to trying to get the slugs to stop eating your plants:
- Copper Strips
- Diatomaceous Earth
- Beer Slug Traps
- Oil Slug Traps
- Hand removal
- Slug Bait
- Mulch made with oyster shells and tree nut shells.
- Salt.
- Planting rosemary which repels slugs.
- Remove environmental factors that slugs like to live in.
Even with all of these options available, you will still not get rid of all of the slugs in your garden. Slugs do have a purpose in the garden ecosystem, but control is still needed to help keep damage to your flowers and vegetables to a minimum.
Frequently Asked Questions About Slugs Eating Marigolds
Yes, slugs will eat French Marigolds.
Yes, slugs will eat African Marigolds, just like the French Marigolds they don’t care what type of Marigold you are growing they will eat the leaves.
References:
- Protecting your plants from dreaded slugs. 2011. Oregon State. https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/sites/agscid7/files/langelotto-dreves-2011-protecting-plants-em9027slugs.pdf
