Strawberries are sweet, juicy and delicious. So it's no wonder that snails are also attracted to them. However, they eat the strawberry leaves and cause holes in the fruit, which attract more insects. Here's how to protect your strawberries from slugs.
Slugs can cause a lot of damage to strawberries. If your plants are not protected, the slugs can destroy your crops. Fortunately, you can use simple methods and effective home remedies to keep the pests at bay.
Just keep the pests away
Snails thrive best in moist environments with old leaves and mulch to hide.
Remove weeds, dead leaves and debris from the strawberry beds where the slugs could hide. Although mulch is recommended for many crops, you should also remove it and leave the soil clear.
Watering your strawberries daily will create the perfect, moist habitat for slugs. Instead, water your strawberry plants 1-2 times weekly to keep pests away and get a larger harvest.
Coffee grounds against snails in the garden
Many gardeners useCoffee grounds as fertilizerin the garden as it provides useful nutrients and improves the soil. But few people know that it also deters snails because they hate caffeine.
It is best to use fresh coffee grounds, as they are more effective than used ones, and spread them over the strawberry beds or sprinkle them directly around the plants. You can also spray the plants with cold coffee for extra protection.
Make a garlic spray
Garlic has long been used as a companion plant for many other plants because it deters pests and is also effective on snails.
Mix a bulb of garlic and a quart of water in a blender or food processor. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes and filter the liquid, removing the garlic pieces. Pour the solution into a spray bottle and mist the strawberry plants and the soil around them. The strong smell of garlic keeps the snails away.
Protect strawberries from slugs: With citrus peels
Place citrus peels around your strawberry plants so the slugs are attracted to them instead of your plant, because strawberries aren't the only fruit they like.
Cut an orange or grapefruit and scoop out most of the pulp, but leave some on the inside of the peel. Spread the peels a few meters away from the strawberries and leave them overnight.
If in the morning you find the shells filled with snails, you can throw them away along with the pests.
Drive away snails with oatmeal
One of the easiest ways to keep slugs away in the garden is to make an oatmeal trap.
Place about a cup of plain, dry oats in a container or can and place in the garden. The sweet, grainy scent of the oatmeal attracts snails from all over the garden and they die quite quickly after eating them. Check your traps daily to refill them and remove dead snails.
Beer traps to combat snails
One of the most popular methods gardeners use to get rid of slugs is setting up beer traps. Since beer contains yeast and sugar, the snails are attracted to it, but they die due to the ethanol and the fact that they drown in the container.
You will need a few yogurt or margarine cups to bury in the ground around the strawberry plants with the edge of the container at ground level. Fill the containers with beer and check them regularly to refill them and dispose of dead snails.
Instead of beer, you can also make a mixture of 250 ml water, 1 tbsp flour, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp yeast as this will also ferment and produce the same effect.
Snail barrier for strawberry beds
Exclusion is also an effective method of protecting strawberries from slugs.
- Diatomaceous earth:Sprinkle diatomaceous earth near the strawberry plant so that it creates a barrier for the slugs. When the pests get close to this barrier, their skin becomes irritated and they are unable to overcome it. Be sure that diatomaceous earth is only effective when it is dry and for this reason the area should be sprinkled again after rainfall.
- wood ash:You can also create a barrier by sprinkling wood ash around the strawberries.
- Copper band:Is in tradeCopper tape against snailsavailable, which causes unpleasant symptoms when it comes into contact with the snail's mucus. This reaction prevents the snails from approaching the strawberry plant.
