Tips for getting rid of slugs and snails in the garden

by Brandon Burke
(979 Ingram Street Dayton, OH 45402)

Then you go to your favorite garden store and purchase two plants beautiful peppers. It took a while because you have to sort through all the plants to find the best, most healthy. And they were not cheap. Looks like the price increases every year.

You go home and select the perfect spot in the garden and plant your new peppers. The next morning, you walk in the garden with a cup of coffee to enjoy your new peppers to see if they miraculously grew six inches overnight. Then your heart sinks as you discover your plants have disappeared. Not only nibbled a few bugs ... they left.

You have been victims of the scourge of the garden. Slugs!

Snails and slugs (I'll see on the bill of lading slugs) can completely devour a small factory in a single session. In addition to taking huge chunks of leaves on larger plants. Maybe slugs have some benefit for mankind, but I can not think of everything. Certainly not in my garden. So how can we get rid of them?

First, no matter what method you use eventually you have to eliminate all debris from your garden and surroundings. Slugs are night creatures and do not like to be exposed to air or light. Therefore, they hide and live under rocks, boards or old wood cuttings grime. So the first step to get rid of is to remove all their hiding places. Rocks, wood planks, grass clippings, old metal tool that has been around for months ... they must all be removed.

Then choose a method to get rid of them.

There are many. Some home remedies are:

Beer in a cup, take small containers that hold liquid and bury the top of the container, even at ground level. Fill with stale beer and wait to crawl in and drown. Slugs are attracted to beer and they crawl in it. This method works but is not enough for even a moderate infestation.

Hand picking: Very simple. Go into the garden at dawn and hand pick slugs. This method also works but it is tedious and time. I still do today in addition to other methods.

copper strips: You can buy copper strips to shop the garden for this purpose. The idea is that you completely surround your garden with a strip of copper and slugs will not cross the copper strip. I found that, although useful, some slugs seem to cross the barrier.

Snail Bait: This is what I found to be more effective. However, the lure of classic snail is attractive to dogs (which looks like dog food) and is toxic to dogs and children. I refuse to put a toxic chemical around the plants in my garden that I intend to eat. However, it is a better product.

Most garden shops and large markets now sell a snail bait that is "pets". It cost a little more but it is worth a dollar or two. It is non-toxic to animals and people. And ... it works.

I used the bait animals snails company for several years and my garden is 99% snail / slug free. You just ask in the afternoon, around the garden plants or individual you want to protect. Re-apply every two days that your water or rain, he wins.

Start your application in the spring before planting the garden and continue for two weeks. You can then apply once a week throughout the growing season and you do not have a slug problem.

I found one or two pieces to survive the occasion and make the garden. This is very rare and that is why I say my garden is 99% free instead of 100% slug. Therefore, I continue to participate as needed on my normal morning walk in the garden.

I wish I could tell you that there is a cheap, effective home remedy for slugs. As the vinegar mixture, ketchup and water or something like that, but the store bought pet snail bait has proven to me to be most effective.

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