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Snails can quickly spoil the joy of gardening. The voracious molluscs can almost completely destroy plants in one night. Some natural home remedies offer quick relief from a snail plague.

In a nutshell

  • Lay out traps and collect the snails
  • insurmountable barriers protect young plants
  • Mulch as a slug-unfriendly environment
  • water only in the morning and as needed
  • Cinnamon is an effective but expensive home remedy for snails

collect

A simple and effective home remedy for snails is to collect them at dusk. At this point, they like to come out of hiding and be easily visible. However, the question then arises of what to do with the voracious animals.

A snail can cover a distance of up to 40 meters per day. If you want to release the snails back into the wild, you have to release them several hundred meters from the bed. In the event of an acute plague, however, you should kill the snails so that the population is decimated.

When it comes to killing methods, there are often techniques that are not without long suffering for the snails. The nervous system of snails works a little differently than that of mammals, for example. They still suffer if they are cut up, for example. If you want to put an end to the animals quickly, you should kill slugs.

Tiger Slug (Limax maximus) - a beneficial in the garden

Notice: There are also useful snails, like the tiger slug, which also doesn't have a house. If you cannot clearly identify slugs as pests, you should give preference to releasing the slugs.

barriers

Quick home remedies for snails are different barriers. Different methods are available for this. A simple way to ward off snails is to protect the plants with a bell. Put the protection over highly endangered plants.

In the household there are some vessels that can easily be turned into a mini greenhouse:

  • large transparent plastic cups
  • cut plastic bottles
  • big glasses

The greenhouse not only protects against snails, but also promotes growth. However, ventilate the plants during the day so that it does not get too hot under the mini greenhouses.

eggshells

Egg shells are available in almost every household. All you have to do is roughly chop the quick home remedy and sprinkle it around the beds in a wide band. Snails don't like to crawl over the sharp-edged shells. However, the bowls only help to a limited extent. When it rains, the snails can also overcome the egg shells.

However, the natural home remedy has a positive side effect. During decomposition, lime becomes available, which the plants can use. The beneficial snails need the lime to build their shells. Shell snails, such as Roman snails, also eat the clutches of harmful slugs.

fall

There are different ways to catch snails. You can use simple traps to attract the snails and collect them later. To do this, lay out small wooden boards in the affected beds. The snails like to hide under the boards.

A mixture of bran and cat food has also proven itself as a lure. Both are mixed in a ratio of 1:5 and placed in small bowls where the snails can crawl. The advantage is that this agent concentrates the snails in a targeted manner in one place, but does not endanger any beneficial insects.

You can easily collect the slugs and remove them from the garden. Also check the lower leaves of the plants, as slugs also like to hide there.

short lawn

If you have a lawn around the beds, you should mow it regularly. Nudibranchs prefer tall grass that offers them protection from predators. If the area around the beds is short, slugs do not like to crawl over them. The short lawn is also ideal for predators. Should a snail nevertheless dare to crawl across the short lawn, it will be seen more quickly by the enemies.

mulching

Mulching is a home remedy against snails that is underestimated. Many suspect that the mulch layer provides a hiding place for snails. However, the rotting mulch creates an environment that slugs do not like. This quick home remedy is available in many gardens.

When using mulch, keep the following points in mind:

  • use fresh grass clippings
  • Apply approx. 10 cm thick layer
  • Distribute mulch evenly
  • Renew mulch layer regularly
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) mulch

Tip: You can also integrate plants into the mulch layer that keep other pests away. Tansy, for example, is a good mulch against the leek moth and at the same time keeps snails away.

Pour right

A home remedy against snails is watering at the right time. Watering often takes place in the evening. At this point, the plants will not benefit. The moisture creates a good environment for snails and ideally prepares them for their way to the vegetables.

Therefore, avoid watering in the evening and prefer watering your plants in the morning or at the latest in the morning.

Also note these points when watering:

  • watering at ground level
  • water selectively at the root area
  • pour as required

plant

If you want to consciously lure snails away from important plants, give them enticing alternatives to eat. The marigold is particularly popular, for which the snails even leave the delicate lettuce. If there is a heavy slug infestation, you may need several plants and have to replant them repeatedly.

Marigolds (marigolds)

An alternative to feeding popular plants is to repel snails with plants. There are some species that snails avoid because they have a strong smell or are poisonous to snails.

Selection of plants against snails:

  • rosemary
  • thyme
  • aconite
  • thimble
  • fern

You can plant these home remedies against snails as a border around your beds. Herbs have a double benefit, not only do they repel the slugs, but you can also harvest them.

dry environment

Natural home remedies against snails are often only methods that are to be used correctly. A popular home remedy is to keep the areas around and between the beds dry. Snails avoid crawling over dry surfaces as it takes a lot of energy when they have to produce slime. If you don't have a lawn around the beds, you should keep the areas dry. For example, you can add sand or gravel. Both dry quickly after a rain, which means that the snails don't like to crawl over them.

remove hiding places

Not only can you offer targeted hiding places to attract the snails and collect them later. By deliberately removing the hiding places you create an environment that is not slug friendly.

Try to keep the areas around the endangered plants as free of hiding places as possible. Small things like a coaster, which serves as a shelter for the snails, are often enough. Nudibranchs also like to hide under flower pots. If the pots are in the garden or in the beds, dig them in a few centimeters deep. This prevents the snails from hiding underneath.

cinammon

There are some natural home remedies that slugs don't like to overcome because of their consistency or smell. For special plants, quick home remedies are usually used on a small scale. Therefore, you can also resort to somewhat more expensive home remedies, such as cinnamon. Experiments have shown that preferred plants are not eaten if they are surrounded by a wide strip of cinnamon.

With special plants, it is definitely worth spreading the expensive cinnamon around the plants. However, you should only use this on a small scale due to the costs.

frequently asked Questions

Do beer traps help against snails?

Yes, beer traps attract snails. However, beneficial insects such as small frogs or insects often die in these traps. Therefore, you should avoid beer traps and use other natural home remedies.

Do snail edges keep slugs away?

Yes, snail edges prevent the snails from getting into a bed. However, if they come into the bed over plants or with the earth, the slug edge is also ineffective, since the slugs are already in the bed.

Are spruce needles and sawdust also suitable for repelling snails?

Pine needles and sawdust also work to a limited extent. However, if these become damp from rain or irrigation water, they can be overcome more easily by slugs. It is therefore important to water in the morning rather than in the evening when the snails come out of their hiding places. In persistent rainy weather, you should resort to alternatives for snail defence.

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Category:

Garden pests