Snail and slug control?Reader submitted

We have cats, dogs and chickens so don't like to use snail bait.

I've tried the beer trap without much success (and our dog likes to drink it lol). Have heard crushed egg shells scattered around can stop them. Just recently heard that cut cucumber in a tin deters them – am going to try that one next!

Has anyone tried any of these or other methods with success?

 

06/11/2012  2:14 am by MaryMary

I'd love to know the answer to this one too!

 

06/11/2012  7:08 am by Glam

I've used seaweed before. If you live near a beach and can be organised enough to pick up some smelly old weed you can place around plants (just make sure it doesn't touch the stems) and the snails seem to dislike it immensely! Once it dries it is crackly and I think it acts like the eggshell method. I also think the salt and smell might put them off too!

 

06/11/2012  7:23 am by Glam

PS. The seaweed is also a great fertiliser for the soil – much cheaper than the expensive seaweed mixes you can buy at the garden centre

 

06/11/2012  7:54 am by Milotech

The bane of us gardeners! I've had no luck with eggshells either but have heard of used coffee grounds deterring them and also copper wire laid around the veges?!

 

06/11/2012  8:19 am by Beccah

Erghhhh I used to think I was a zen gardener until our garden was visited by a holocaust of snails, 10 snails on a single leaf! So we have tried most of the remedies; beer traps just weren't enough (needed a beer lake and attracted flies and a dumb husband who drank the beer!) some success with egg shells but you need a good 5cm surround of egg shells and renew them as they get covered over with debris but not practical for the whole garden, also apparently they don't like lavender but that just means they skirt around it! The most success we have had so far is head torch and hand culling at night! The problem is killing them – you can tell when I have been in the garden because I throw them on the road :(. Currently we have copper tape around our raised beds and I’m waiting to see if it works. Going to try the seaweed though, sounds like a double bonus! Oh, and husband not really dumb, just a bit absentminded sometimes!

 

12/11/2012  11:46 pm by frances

I grow a lot of hostas and have a few snails – the two don't go hand in hand. But I saw something on a TV gardening programme recently to control snails around hostas. Garlic spray – crush a full bulb of garlic, boil in 1 litre of water for five minutes. When cool, strain and store in plastic bottle in fridge. To make the spray, add 1 tablespoon of garlic liquid to one litre of water. Spray early in spring on the ground and objects where snails hide, to eliminate snail/slug eggs, then through the season over leaves. I've yet to try it out but if this works on hostas, no reason why it won't work on leafy vege too – and it might add to the flavour!

 

08/02/2013  8:54 am by Tui

I like the sound of the garlic spray. I will have a go. I generally hunt out snails in the plants where they rest. Leafy plants like agapanthus are favourites. In my last house I would throw them to the neighbour’s chickens. Can't do that here. I hate squashing them but it is the quickest way to kill them. In the spring I have gone out with a torch in the evenings and been amazed by the numbers of snails out and about.

 

24/02/2013  1:32 pm by Beccanco

The reason why the seaweed has been quite effective is because of the salt in/on the seaweed. As you know when you soak your vegetables in a salt water bath when you bring them in to be eaten, any slugs, snails, caterpillars do their best to get away from the salt. That is because the salt very quickly dehydrates the little critters that are full of liquid. If using eggshells, I suggest soaking the crumbled shells in a strong salt water solution before scattering around the garden. It’s a double hit for the slugs and snails, the coarseness of the eggshells hurts the critters, and the salt dehydrates them. Works a treat.