I lay sprigs of Rosemary & mint on top of the soil in my Sunflower seedling pots & touchwood the snails & slugs have avoided them. They hate the strong smell of herbs like Rosemary, Mint & Lavender. I surrounded a large pot of Scabious seedlings they were munching with pots of herbs & they’ve not been near it since.
If you do decide to pick off the slugs, inevitably, it takes time before you see a result because slugs are active throughout the night, not just the time you are looking for them. My garden is relatively big and I spent one hour, four or five evenings a week - no, my life is very sad - picking them up and disposing of them. When I started, I could get 400 - 600 on a warm, damp evening, mainly Spanish slugs. It seemed to make no difference. But now, my third year, I just pop out for twenty minutes about twice a week and struggle to get 20. It's important to get the babies as well as the big ones because they will quickly grow to breeding age.
Night raids are effective if you can keep it up every night for a while. If you are an early riser do dawn raids too. Beer traps work too but site them carefully as beer scent is also an attractant. I put mine outside my fence but there is a field on the other side so I can do that. Another garden would be a different story. Try not to use pellets, even the ferric ones aren't completely harmless to all wildlife. I also bring some plants into the house at night to avoid the mollusc maul.
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