Bio Solutions For Snails

Snail and slugs are some of the most destructive garden pests. Luckily, we’ve got some tips and tricks on how to deal with them without harming other animals or the environment.

If there is one pest that almost every gardener finds intolerable, it’s that slow pest that moves on its stomach, carries its home everywhere it goes and seems to appear out of nowhere on rainy days. Yes, that’s right – the snail!

So how do we get rid of snails in the garden? Most of us want an environmentally friendly, organic solution to the snail problem – we don’t feel comfortable putting down a chemical bait that might be picked up by our pets or our children. Here are our tips and tricks for getting rid of snails without danger to our loved ones.

First up, here are some interesting snail facts: they eat primarily at night or in wet conditions and spend the rest of the time hiding under pots, in crevices and cracks or under leaves; one snail in your garden can lay up to 430 eggs which turn into 430 babies; snails have up to 14 000 teeth (sort of) on their tongues, which they use to rasp away at leaves. Snails are also mainly active during the warmer months – in winter they hibernate. They close off the opening of their shells with a mucous layer that regulates the temperature and reduces moisture loss and they hide somewhere safe.

Snails can cause terrible damage to your plants, which usually appears as irregular holes to leaves or leaf margins, as well as new shoots. Snails often leave evidence behind in the form of a silvery trail.

There are a few ways of dealing with snails. One way, which can be time consuming but also rewarding, is to go out in the evening, especially if there’s dew or has been some light rain, and physically pick up every snail you see, squish it and pop it in a bucket. Then pop them on the compost heap – just think, they’re full of the nutrients from all the plants they’ve been eating and their shells are also a great source of calcium.

Dealing with snails organically and responsibly

Eggshells can also be used to protect your plants against the ravages of snails. Dry eggshells in the sun and then crush them into really fine pieces and scatter this around the base of your precious plants – snails don’t like to walk across these sharp, abrasive little shell fragments.

Another efficient form of bio snail control is the Efekto Eco Snail and Slug Trap – this is really environmentally friendly. You get two traps in a box, each made up of the reservoir base section and the roof.

Bury the base of the trap in the soil with the top of the base level with the surface of the soil. Add a small amount of beer to the trap and place the lid on it. Snails will be attracted to the smell of the yeast in the beer and they drown in it. Once a week, empty the trap onto the compost heap and place it back in the garden with a bit more beer.

Biogrow Ferramol is another option if you’re looking for a natural snail and slug bait. The Ferramol is a small granular bait that is impregnated with iron. The snails are attracted to the bait and enjoy the taste of it, so they eat it. Their systems are then overloaded with iron and they die. The most important thing about this bait is that the active ingredient is iron phosphate, so if another animal eats it or eats the dead snails, they won’t be affected.

If you’re growing succulents or veggies, or any plant really, in a pot, you can also use Defenders Slug and Snail Barrier to keep these pests away. It is a self-adhesive copper tape, and slugs and snails hate copper. The copper tape generates a small electrical charge that repels the molluscs. The tape comes in a long roll – you just cut a length of it that’s long enough to go around the pot, peel off the backing and stick the tape around the pot. It looks good too!