Snails and slugs are the most annoying, painful, and devastating pests to a gardener and his garden. And the worst fact is that they have a long life span.
It is said that some snails have a life span of about 5-6 years.
So if you’re waiting for the snails in your garden to die off pretty soon like mosquitoes, then think again. Now is the time to act and I’m going to give 6 very practical and actionable otherwise known as organic ways of getting those snails off your garden.
So without further ado. Let’s see how to get rid of snails organically.
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Shall we?
Table of Contents
How to Get Rid of Snails – 6 Actionable Steps
1) Handpicking
This is by far the most effective but time intensive way of getting rid of snails from your garden completely. I normally love doing this all by myself and sometimes I invite my friends to come along.
The best time I’ve found effective is a few hours after sunset or 2-3 hours after a heavy downpour. You are going to see hoards of them by this time.
I also do not limit myself to those hours of the day. I sometimes go hunting for them at nights preferably 10-11 PM. I get many of them too during that time of the day.
Make sure you put the captured victims into a soapy bowl so they won’t escape as you go catching more. Also ensure that you do not use your bare hands in holding them otherwise the snails will leave a thick irritating slime.
I do not even use hand gloves. The best way to hold these snails is with a tweezers or chopstick.
2) Cat Food
I have found this to be effective sometimes. What you need do is;
- Take a tin foil. Cut it in such a way that it will have a little open for the snails to come in.
- Put the food at the tail end of the foil and weigh it with a rock
- Put the captured snails in a trash
You can do this at multiple sports in your garden. All entrance ways are usually the best.
3) Decollate Snail
A decollate snail is a kind of a predatory bait that feeds on little snails. It thrives mostly in tropical and semi-tropical regions. So if you live in temperate regions, I don’t think you’ll find them. They are beautiful in appearance and in most areas, they’ve been banned for using them as a bait due to their invasive nature.
If they’re not banned in your area, you can give it a try. What you’ll do is this;
- Get as many as possible. They are not hard to find.
- Ensure you are not using any other bait or tactics of getting rid of snails because it will affect these too.
- Spread them across your garden and watch what will happen
It has worked for me and for many and I definitely think it will work for you too. The only disadvantage of using decollate snails as a bait, is it will also feed on your little crops.
But notwithstanding, the benefits of using them outweigh the negativities.
4) Sage or Mint Repellent
Yeah, this is also a cool method to get rid of snails from your garden(s) or life. Did I say “to get rid”? Oh yeah. I’m sorry. But repelling is ALMOST the same as getting rid too (is that not so? LOL).
Yeah it has been reported by so many gardeners that putting the mixture of mint and sage in your mulch can repel slugs and snails from invading your garden.
I’ve not personally tried this one, but I have heard about many people getting amazing results.
So it’s definitely worth trying.
5) Natural Predators
There you go… chickens, turtles, rats, possums and many more can actually do the job for you. And oh! I did not add Mr. Snake to the list. Hmm if you like snakes anyway, you can hire them. LOL. Just make sure they don’t bite the shit out of you!
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I HATE SNAKES.
Anyways, if you live in a rural area, this is the method I’d recommend you give a try.
6) Beer
For those of us who likes this cool stuff will be like “Are you Serious, John?”. Yeah. I’m damn serious.
You see, slugs and snails are drawn to the scent or smell of a stale beer. So you can use this method to get rid of snails. These are what you’ll do:
- Take some deep bowls or small bucket
- Pour stale beer into them
- Spread these bowls or buckets to different parts of your garden.
- When the snails or slugs get into them, they will be unable to climb out (only if they are deep enough).
This method are for those who have a good budget with them. Four to 5 stale beer will do on one occasion.
So that’s all there is to it friend or mate. Go and apply what you learn – how to get rid of snails.
Please drop your comment if you have other working and effective methods of getting rid of these beasts.
By and large, thanks for reading this article in its entirety.
Have a nice and splendid day (or night) ahead.