Apple Cider Vinegar Is The Affordable, No-Chemical Answer To Pesky Garden Slugs

Apple cider vinegar is known for its many culinary applications, including flavoring dressings and sauces; as an all-purpose cleaner; and for its potential health benefits. You might be surprised to learn that apple cider vinegar works wonders in your garden, too.

As gardeners seek out non-toxic methods to rid their plots of pests, apple cider vinegar makes the list as a clean, sustainable, and affordable household product that can be used as a pesticide to help remove slugs. The acetic found in apple cider vinegar does the heavy lifting of removing garden slugs. The acid dehydrates the slugs, stopping them in their tracks. Apple cider vinegar actually has numerous uses to help you maintain your garden. Just be mindful not to spray undiluted vinegar directly on your plants, as the full strength of the acid might damage them.

If you're making food with apple cider vinegar, you'll probably want to choose from our list of the best store-bought apple cider vinegars that we ranked. The kind of vinegar you would apply to your garden doesn't necessarily need to be the best food-grade option available. Vinegar for use in the garden just needs to be a neat variety.

To reap the benefits of apple cider vinegar, keep some in a spray bottle mixed in a 1-to-1 ratio with water and spray it on garden slugs to remove them. You can also dab some vinegar on the rim of your pot or planter to further repel slugs. It's even more effective when you add vaseline to the rim along with the vinegar to more comprehensively prevent the slugs from entering the pot.

Interestingly, apple cider vinegar works to control other pests, too. One of the best hacks for getting rid of garden pests involves using apple cider vinegar mixed with a little dish soap to stop fungus gnats. Starting with dry soil, add a layer of diatomaceous earth, then the vinegar/soap solution to repel the moisture-loving gnats. This also works well for fruit flies. There's yet another use for vinegar, only for this application you'll need the white variety. You can use white household vinegar to eliminate spurge weed, spraying it on the spots of your yard or garden where you have already pulled the weed from the ground. Apple cider vinegar, and vinegars in general, have numerous helpful applications beyond being used in foods. As these products are cost-effective and don't contain harsh chemicals, they offer accessible solutions to common problems.