Have you ever seen snails actively eating?
I totally caught this bugger in the act!
I was out on my early morning garden exploration and saw snails devouring the leaves on my green beans. I have certainly been seeing the evidence of their activity on many plants around the garden; on the dahlia shoots, broccoli, cabbage and earlier the daffodils. Until now, I hadn't seen them actively chewing my plants, and then this, well this is kinda disgusting! I do believe I said 'Yuck!' out loud as I pulled this bugger off the precious leave. It's a funny thing I've noticed, snail damage is so obvious and yet we aren't always willing to accept it. Why is this? Not really sure.
So how do I manage this pest problem? I admit that I do have a very high level of tolerance, more than I would have for any of my clients. Here is my action steps:
I start by handpicking as many as I can find. They are clever and do hide deep in the nooks & crannies well!
Snail boards are pretty terrific. I thought I had a photo of one, but see that I don't so I just found this on line for you to reference: snail board trap The snails hide under these boards, then you can scrape them into a bucket of soapy water or feed to the chickens. Very satisfying!
Beer traps work, I've used them before with minimal success. What I discovered is that the beer traps are great rolly pollies traps.
I have used diatomaceous earth (DE) and it can work well. You apply it by sprinkling the DE around each plant to create a barrier, being mindful to not douse the leaves. The DE works wonders, and is completely non-toxic (however it is a lung & eye irritant so don't breathe it or get it in your eye). The only problem with the DE is that on dewy mornings or with sprinkler systems, when it gets wet it is no longer effective, so it will need to be reapplied. Keep in mind that if snails are up in the plant, unless they crawl down to be in contact with the DE, it will not kill those in the plant.
I know that iron phosphate baits are on the market under a number of different brand names; Sluggo, Natia, Garden Safe, Safer Brand...they are less toxic, and work well, however I always use caution with any pesticide and hesitate to use it. Remember that all pesticides, even less toxic ones, are designed to kill something. I can not be 100% sure that something other than snails will eat this bait. Is it toxic to earthworms and other organisms in my soil for instance? So I choose to leave this action as the very last resort and only if there is not other option.
I hope this is helpful and I also hope that snails are not decimating your garden!
Enjoy this day! Take good care and stay well!
: )
~Suzanne
