Fighting Slugs in the Garden

Fighting Slugs and Snails in the Garden

In the garden, you can encounter a wide range of snails, all belonging to the group of pulmonates. They move using a muscular foot, with which they glide along while secreting mucus. Movement is much easier for them in damp conditions, which is why they are mainly active at night, during rain and after it. Snails are hermaphrodites, meaning each individual has both sexes, however egg-laying is preceded by mating with another individual. They use a radula for food intake, which is a tongue with a file-like surface with which they essentially rasp their food. They seek out soft and damaged plant tissues. Some snails help decompose dead plant parts and feed on cultivated plants only occasionally, while others are capable of population explosions and can severely threaten crops under favorable conditions.

List of Snails You Can Encounter in the Garden

Roman snail (Helix pomatia) is a well-known, relatively large snail with a right-handed shell, abundant mainly on calcareous substrate. Essentially all shelled snail species are tied to at least partially alkaline soils. Although the Roman snail is quite widespread, it is not considered a major pest because it does not primarily seek out cultivated plants.

Field slug (Deroceras agreste), this smaller species is often seen on various types of vegetables, however due to its size it cannot cause much damage. The opposite situation occurs if it gets into strawberries or young seedlings. On mature vegetables it is more aesthetically displeasing, especially if it gets into the kitchen together with lettuce leaves.

Spanish slug (Arion lusitanicus) has become a very widespread snail in recent years, capable of causing considerable damage. Every gardener will surely recognize this orange-brown slug with a large appetite and reproductive potential.

Options for Protecting Plants from Slugs and Snails

• Natural antagonists of slugs and snails

The natural enemies of slugs and snails represent a fairly broad spectrum, which in the recent past began to narrow due to the use of granulated chemical preparations against slugs. Vertebrates that consumed poisoned slugs poisoned themselves in the process. The result is that some predators have started to avoid slugs and snails. Among vertebrates, ducks, scratching birds, hedgehogs, and moles feed on slugs and snails. Larger species of ground beetles feed on the eggs and larvae of slugs, while some species of nematodes and flesh flies parasitize the adults.

• Passive Methods

These are relatively environmentally friendly and involve creating unfavorable conditions for slugs and snails. The first option is to eliminate places suitable for their hiding. In this case, mowing the grass and not leaving mulch near flower beds is important. Also, remove objects under which slugs and snails could hide (wood, stones). Another option is to build barriers around the flower bed that slugs cannot climb over. Since slugs and snails love moist environments, their occurrence can be limited by scheduling watering for morning hours instead of evening. Also, maintaining a level surface without clumps will reduce hiding opportunities. Attempts to keep slugs and snails below the damage threshold become futile when there is an unmaintained garden nearby, which is a paradise for them.

• Active Methods

These need to be applied when we have sown or planted young seedlings that can be easily destroyed by slugs and snails, and we detect their emerging presence. On small areas, eliminating individual specimens by collecting them or setting traps is feasible. In the case of snails, it is usually sufficient to relocate them to another place. On larger areas or in vulnerable locations (hotbeds, planters), application of molluscicides is necessary - as substances used against slugs and snails are professionally called. Granulated molluscicides can be applied by spreading directly on the soil surface, or in case of frequent watering, it is better to place a pinch of granules on a mustard jar lid and set it aside before each watering. The market offers plenty of quality molluscicides that are environmentally friendly yet attractive to slugs and snails.