While important to the ecosystem, these slimy creatures can be disgusting and a nuisance especially to those that do not consider them a delicacy. They are a sneaky lot that somehow crop up in your garden once you have opened the drips in the evening and fed the thirsty soils, sheltering under plants, especially the green leafy vegetables.
Snails will feed on almost anything on
the farm. You identify their bite by looking for holes and ragged edges on
leaves and stems which have an irregular shape due to their file-like
mouthparts. They can consume an entire seed if they are small.
In some cases, once they bite plants such as courgettis,
snails deposit worm eggs in the plant leading to worm infestation later in the
plant life cycle.
So how do you keep them away?
Well, this starts at some basic
garden practices like removing moist, decaying debris from areas surrounding
your garden.
Other unusual methods include
placing shallow dishes of beer around the garden to lure the slugs or snails to
a drunken death. Here, you can also mix water with molasses, cornmeal, flour,
and baking yeast to replace the beer. These are both great baits that can help
control the population of slug and snails on your farm.
Ground Coffee: Snails hate Caffeine. Sprinkling
ground coffee around your plant will deter snails from coming to your garden because
the bitter taste of coffee keeps them away.
Garlic water: Garlic also has a bitter taste.
Crushing garlic and mixing with water then sprinkling it on your garden is a
good alternative.
Rough ground texture: Snails hate moving on
rough grounds. This texture can be achieved through spreading crushed eggshells/gravel/woodchip
or mulch and this will deter the slug movement.
Strong Smelling plants and flowers: Slugs
and snails also dislike a strong fragrance. Plants such as lavender, mint,
sage, parsley, Ferns, Hydrangeas, Euphorbias, Rosemary, hairy Geraniums and
even Japanese Anemone, will definitely turn them off.
We welcome your feedback and
would like to hear which other methods have worked to keep snails and slugs off your farm.
