If your garden leaves slimy trails and your plants have holes in their leaves, you have slugs. You probably won't see them in action because they are primarily active at night. However, getting rid of a snail infestation in the garden is fairly easy.
What are snails? They are mollusks related to squid, squid, mussels and oysters. They belong to a subgroup of mollusks called gastropods, which also includes mussels and abalone. They are hermaphrodites, containing both male and female reproductive organs, so they do not need to mate. They become sexually mature in 2 years and lay an average of 80 eggs up to 6 times per year.
Factors that promote snail infestation in the garden
Are you frustrated by all the snails attacking the plants in your garden? The best way to deal with the infestation is to eliminate what attracts the snails. Here are four points to pay attention to.
Wet earth, logs and stones
Snails love moist soil as they are very susceptible to drying out. Moist soil provides snails with favorable conditions to retain their body moisture. Check how often you water your garden and reduce the frequency of watering if you notice that the soil is too wet throughout the day. This can easily happen if your garden consists of a type of soil that doesn't drain well -like clay soil.
In addition to moist soil, wooden trunks and large stones can also attract snails as they offer ideal shelter options. Look around your yard and clear away any debris that slugs have settled on in the past. If you're dealing with a heavy snail infestation, you should also take the dead one outRake out leaves in your garden. Dead leaves are generally good for the soil, but provide too good a hiding place for garden pests.
Tall grass, shrubs and nutrient-rich plants
Tall grass also offers snails plenty of hiding places. Keep the lawn short by mowing it regularly. You should also remove unwanted plants such as wild shrubs and bushes that have established themselves in your garden. This is a good preventive measure to get rid of snails in the garden.
Snails prefer plants with fleshy leaves and stems. That's why you often see them around plants like lettuce, marigolds, and cauliflower. But that doesn't mean you should avoid growing such plants in your garden. You can try to keep the slugs away from your prized plants by using a method called companion planting. Regarding slugs, you would put plants that the pests don't like next to your cabbages, marigolds, etc. Strongly scented plants such as lavender and rosemary can help deter snails and slugs.
A few snails in your garden isn't necessarily a bad thing, as they can attract a variety of interesting animals such as birds and frogs. However, an infestation is a completely different matter and should be dealt with as soon as it is discovered.
Use bait
It is best to use an organic bait that contains iron phosphate, that is, iron and phosphate combined with oxygen, as is also used in fertilizers. The snails eat it and die within a few days. You will immediately notice an improvement in your plants as they will stop feeding after consuming the bait. They hide to die, so you won't see many dead bodies in your yard. Unused bait will decompose in your garden and serveas fertilizer. This bait is safe for children and pets.
Any other type of bait containing metaldehyde is NOT safe for children and pets and is not recommended.
Create barriers against snail infestations in the garden
Copper is a common barrier to keep out snail infestationsprevent garden. The metal reacts to the snails' nervous system, giving them the feeling of an electric shock. You can place flat copper strips along the top edges of your raised beds or around your plants. If you use an upright copper barrier, make sure it is wide enough to be buried at least 2 inches into the ground to prevent slugs from passing under it.
Diatomaceous earth is often recommended as a good barrier. It consists of the skeletons of diatoms that lived in ancient seas that dried up eons ago. The skeletons are ground into a white powder that has sharp edges that tear the undersides of snails that crawl on them, killing them. Although effective, there are two objections to this remedy. Firstly, it is not a renewable resource as it is mined. And secondly, it is precious.
A preferred substitute is eggshells. If you aren't already using them in your compost, wash your eggshells, crush them, and place them around your plants. The sharp pieces of shell injure and kill snails just as effectively as diatomaceous earth without costing as much. They are also biodegradable and add the calcium you need to your garden soil.
Set up traps for the molluscs
Catching snails is easy. Simply use a board, an empty flower pot, or citrus peels. Place them about 3 cm above the ground. The snails hide underneath during the day. You simply take out the trap, scrape off the molluscs and throw them in the trash (orin den Composter), before putting them back up to catch more snails.
