Get Snails And Slugs Out Of Your Greenhouse Forever

Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 6:44 am

: Image by myriorama via Flickr

Snails and slugs are a menace. Wherever a climate is damp there will be a problem with these critters. In desert type climates such as New Mexico and parts of Arizona, snails will come out early, when there is moisture on the plants.

If the leaves on your otherwise healthy plants look like swiss cheese, you’ll know snails have come to call. Those slimy, fat creatures appear when you don’t expect them. Snails will follow the slimy trails they find that have been left by other snails.

Tracking down the snails is a thankless task. They are in hiding, making thousands of equally homely babies. They will keep doing this for their entire lives. The little buggers hatch in less than three weeks! In six weeks the babies will be full grown and making their own off-spring – many thousands more.

Find their slimy egg clusters hidden away. Quick! Shake salt on them as fast as you can. They will be destroyed before they hatch.

With each passing year, snails grow larger. They live for several years so they can grow quite large. The more they eat, the more they grow, so destroy them as quickly as you can.

Gardening in a home greenhouse can be a deterrent to snails and slugs. If you’re thinking of buying a polycarbonate greenhouse snails and slugs won’t be as big a problem.

Fat and bold, if they can creep in when your back is turned, they will make babies inside.Use the shiny trail to find where they are hiding! Sherlock Holmes has nothing on you when you go on the hunt.

After you find them, there are several things you can do.

Oat bran does not do well in their digestive tract and will kill them when they eat it.

Cracked eggshells will cut the snails as they slime their way across the sharp edges.

They love the smell of beer. Simply place bowls of beer around your greenhouse. They will fall in and drown.

If you plant certain herbs they will repel snails and slugs. Grow them in abundance in your greenhouse to keep the snails and slugs at bay. Thyme, lemon balm, rosemary, lavender and mint should be part of your arsenal.

Keep on top of the problem and you will never have to resort to poisons. In the confines of a greenhouse, herbs will usually do the trick. If you get a serious infestation however and need to take drastic measures, use all the above solutions at the same time. If you do that, you can avoid ever using poison.

If all else fails, buy a small green house and get a hedgehog or a duck. Hedgehogs and ducks love tasty snail meat.