Post date: May 25, 2020 3:45:35 AM
Notes on Controlling Slugs and Snails
Slugs and snails decimate young seedlings and are aplenty in the Spring garden. Controlling them needs work in the Fall and early Spring.
Eggs are laid in the Fall, and the young ones are capable of hibernating and overwintering. Birds will feed on them if exposed.
We clear the garden of all the mulch and gather all fall leaves for crushing and composting. This step will prevent their reproduction. Don’t let dry leaves
lie around in Fall - eggs will be laid under them.
Do not leave debris in the garden in the fall. Clear well, and clear all leaves and compost.
Do not let artificial covers lie around the garden. Your plastic weed covers, black weed cloth, and all such artificial covers are ideal habitats for thousands of eggs to be laid, and to remain outside the view of birds that will hunt them down.
If you routinely cover your yard with such weed cloths, you will have surging snail and slug populations in spring.
Ensure you have a winter garden. And mulch your yard in the winter. The soil organisms that live due to the plants, will decimate most eggs. The millipedes that thrive in the soil and come before the slugs will eat up all the eggs and the little ones.
Clear your yard of all the winter mulch in early spring. Make sure you have no debris as the soil warms up. Cover with a layer of compost. You will find the top soil dry always even in the heaviest Spring rains.
Snakes, salamanders, frogs, are all predators. Don’t be scared of them. Avoid going to the garden after sunset.
Do not water the garden in the evening. Ensure that your garden is dry. Do not water the leaves.
Do not place tender plants, seeds in the garden in spring. Allow soil to warm up before sowing or transplanting. Sow late, not early.
Remove all clotches, covers, lids, and such warm habitats from the garden in the Fall and in the Spring. An uncluttered garden with no artificial materials lying around is the best defense against slugs and snails.
Early in Spring, make a weak solution of water and starch. Potato starch or all purpose flour is fine. Sip a kitchen rag or wash cloth in it. Wring our weakly and place loosely wrung cloth all around the garden after sunset. Pick up before sunrise to find most slugs and snails under the cloth. Dispose. Repeat many times to reduce the populations.