Snails and slugs are among the pests in the kitchen garden that you want to get rid of as quickly as possible. Especially in May, the reptiles can damage the young plants so much that they die. Save your crops without harming critters. We explain how to fight the snails with oatmeal without killing them. Ecological and animal-friendly variant.
Oatmeal against snails: The insider tip of many hobby gardeners
Beer trap, salt or coffee grounds - all means that mean a painful end for the snails. I didn't want to use these home remedies in my garden, and I also avoided using toxins. Then a well-known gardener gave me an insider tip. I should use oatmeal against snails and slugs. But how does the trick work? Oatmeal is exactly the opposite - it is not poisonous, but nutritious and offers the reptiles a food alternative to the vegetable patch. Actually – snails love oatmeal and oatmeal is good for snails.
Only provide oatmeal feeders if there is an infestation
1. You find signs of a snail infestation in the vegetable garden and want to distract the snails from lettuce etc. If you don't see any snails in the garden, please don't leave oatmeal outdoors. They have no preventive effect and can even achieve the opposite - because, for example, you can attract snails from your neighbors' property to your own garden.
Collect the snails and slugs at the feeding station
2. You set up several feeding stations near the vegetable patch. To do this, first soak the oat flakes in water, then place them in a plate. This means the animals can easily reach the food. Then you just have to wait and see: after 2-3 hours, check whether the snails have accumulated at the feeding place.
3. Not all species of snails are considered garden pests. There are also beneficial insects and even species such as the Roman snail that are under protection. The usual food traps catch all types of snails, which can unbalance the small ecosystem in the garden.
4. Repeat the process bythe snail flakes every dayReplace with new ones in the plates. This works best if you place several plates directly in front of or next to the plants with eaten leaves.
Fighting snails with oatmeal: What are the advantages of this home remedy?
The important advantage of feeding stations is that you distract the snails and not kill them. When the reptiles gather around the feeding area, you can immediately see the pests underneath.
These are the Spanish slug - a reddish-brown slug, the garden slug - a small, about 4 cm long gray snail that attacks lettuce very aggressively. These can easily be collected and relocated and found a new home in nature.
The tiger slugs do not need to be removed either. They eat other slugs and their eggs. The tiger snails can prove to be particularly helpful in the event of an infestation of harmful snail species.
The Roman snail is a protected species of snail. It is quite large, has a white snail shell that can grow up to 5 cm in diameter. This species thrives particularly on soil with a high lime content. Dead plant parts are also on the menu for these reptiles.
Theoretically, the slug species that are considered pests could also be killed and, for example, composted. Another option would be to release the reptiles into nature. However, this should best happen in the forest and not directly in arable fields, as they can cause great damage there.
The trick worked surprisingly well for me last year. I plan to start feeding again this weekend and hopefully protect my vegetables from pests for a second year.
