Organic Slug and Snail Killer
Slugs and snails can be real garden pests. They typically come out at night, so you may not know you have them until you look closely, where you are likely to see their telltale silvery trails. Snails and slugs live in moist environments and conserve their water supply carefully, avoiding the sun on hot days and sharing mucous trails with neighbors to avoid using their own precious water. Snails and slugs feed on a wide variety of plants, but there are several organic methods for keeping them out of your garden. Does this Spark an idea?
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Physical Conditions
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The first step in controlling the slug and snail population organically, is to physically remove any places where they might hide during the day. They tend to take shelter under boards, stones, weedy areas, debris, or around tree trunks, according to the UC Davis Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.
Planting
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When you are putting in new plants, it is a good idea to locate them as far as possible from potential snail and slug hiding places. Fewer hiding places means fewer slugs and snails, and it also means the remaining population will tend to congregate in the remaining shelters. This makes removal easier. You can facilitate this process by constructing a shelter with a board or a few stones, so you will have easy access to the congregating animals, according to the Thurston County Organic Slug and Snail Control.
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Traps
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In addition to constructing attractive shelters, you can also construct traps out of inverted melon rinds or beer-baited holes. Beer-baited traps are holes dug in the ground and filled with beer. The fermented beer attracts snails and slugs, and drowns them when they fall in. Make sure your beer traps have vertical sides, and are deep enough to prevent slugs and snails from crawling out.
Barriers
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Barriers around planting beds can prevent snails and slugs from reaching the garden. Copper barriers are best because the metal reacts with slug and snail mucous to interrupt normal nervous system function, creating an effect similar to an electric shock, according to biologists at Evergreen College.
Warning
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Though it is a well-known method of killing snails and slugs, you should never use salt in or near your garden. Introducing salt to the soil will increases the soil’s salinity and can harm plants by preventing them from absorbing enough water, according to the UC Davis Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit banana slug image by Carbonbrain from Fotolia.com
