Fighting snails: what really helps?

Nudibranchs can eat large amounts of fruit and vegetables in the garden overnight. All kinds of home remedies, traps and other pesticides are touted to combat snails. Some make sense, but some are just myths.

Especially in spring, nudibranchs often destroy freshly emerged plants and make it difficult for us to start the new garden year. Unfortunately, you have to deal with snails in the garden all year round - we show you how to fight snails and get rid of them successfully.

Fighting snails: how do you recognize an infestation?

Snails have a rasping tongue, which is also called a radula. With this they grate off food and there are traces of eating on the infected plants. These are located both on the edge of the leaves and in the middle of them. These tracks tend to be rounded, but do not have a clearly defined shape. Often only the stalks remain. A snail can eat up to 200 square centimeters of lettuce leaves per night - that's equivalent to a whole, large lettuce leaf.

In addition to the eaten leaves, you can always find traces of slime left by snails in the garden. The little animals need enough moisture to move around - they can travel about ten centimeters per minute. The traces of slime are usually silvery, shiny and easy to recognize.

Snail eggs also give an indication of their occurrence and an impending infestation. The moist, shiny, white to yellowish egg packages can be found, for example, in cracks in the ground, in holes in the ground, under plant boxes or under stones. You can lie anywhere that is dark and damp. After about two weeks the new generation hatches and soon starts working on tasty plants.

Which snails are protected?

The Roman snail (Helix pomatia) is under nature protection because it is one of the endangered species. Anyone who injures or even kills a protected snail can be sentenced to a heavy fine. Depending on the federal state, such an offense is punished with a fine of several thousand euros.

In principle, every animal is protected in Germany. Combat may therefore only be carried out if there is a valid reason. Nudibranchs, such as the field slug (Deroceras reticulatum) or slug (Arion spec.), can and may be fought if they attack our vegetables and fruits. However, combating them is not permitted in the ornamental garden. The following describes which means best protect your vegetables.

Nudibranch remedies: what really helps?

There are some nudibranch remedies available on the market. In addition, numerous tips are disseminated. Unfortunately, not all of them are as helpful as expected, in some cases they are even harmful to the environment. There are pesticides against snails, also called molluscicides. There is also the possibility of driving away or catching snails with home remedies and traps. We present the different variants in detail.

Fight snails naturally

Organic slug pellets

Molluscicides that use the active ingredient iron (III) phosphate have already received the Öko-Test rating of "very good" several times. Slug pellets made of iron-III-phosphate is also permitted in organic farming. After ingesting this molluscicide, the slugs stop eating, withdraw into their hiding place without the formation of slime and starve to death after a few days.

Our Plantura organic slug pellets contains exactly this active ingredient and is therefore a beneficial alternative to conventional slug pellets. In addition, the iron III phosphate is converted into the plant nutrients iron and phosphate over time and does not pollute the soil. Our slug pellets are more rainproof than other products. It remains effective for up to two weeks even in light rain. If heavy rain sets in, we recommend re-application after seven days.

How is slug pellets used correctly?

• Application in mild weather
• Early in the morning or late in the evening
• Pour the area beforehand
• Spread evenly around the plants to be protected
• Important: Do not lay out in piles, but distribute in small amounts
• Application rate: 38 seeds per square meter
• A maximum of 4 applications with an interval of at least 7 days
• Application range: From April to September
• No waiting for harvest
• Caution: Do not use on garden snails in the vegetable patch

Snail traps

Of course, slugs can be combated with the help of, for example Snail traps. In it, the snails can either be caught alive or immediately rendered harmless. Lure baits such as moistened oatmeal or wheat bran are only recommended if the snails are regularly collected. Because with it new animals are constantly lured into the garden. Beer as a lure is definitely not advisable, as the very intense smell only attracts more snails from the area. In our article on snail traps, you can read about what to watch out for and how such traps are built yourself.

Home remedies for slugs

All sorts of home remedies for snails are touted as helpful on the Internet, which, however, often goes hand in hand with fallacies. This includes scattering ashes, sawdust, lime or eggshells. Another method makes use of the fact that snails are reluctant to crawl over dry surfaces. Because these would remove water from the animals. Virgin wool is sold for this purpose, but only functions to a limited extent. Rock meal or bark mulch are not effective against snail infestation, even if both are beneficial for the soil. Coffee grounds against snails, however, is a useful method.

Snails can also be driven away with special plants. You can read about which these are in our article Plants that drive snails find out.

Nematodes against snails

Nematodes are living roundworms, some of which are beneficial insects in biological plant protection. In the fight against snails, nematodes of the genus Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita can be used. They are put in water and then poured or splashed.

The nematodes penetrate the snails and infect them with a bacterium. This decomposes the snails, which the nematodes feed on and multiply in large numbers. After infection, the snails stop eating and starve to death.

Many harmful nudibranchs are caught by Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita parasitized, while Roman snails are spared. This genus of nematode is itself resistant to some molluscicides.

What must be considered when using nematodes against snails?

• Floor temperature at least 5 ° C, better 10 to 25 ° C
• Do not let the substrate dry out, not even 1 to 2 weeks after application
• Application is best 3 to 4 days before sowing or replanting

Snail poison

Most of the available pesticides against snails are granulated and scattered. They are known as slug pellets. The snails eat the grains, which almost always contain metaldehyde, and die as a result. This substance is poisonous for animals and small children and can contaminate the groundwater if it is improperly applied. We therefore advise against using such a remedy. A less harmful, alternative slug pellet with iron III phosphate, ours Plantura organic slug pellets, is described earlier in the article.

Destroy and dispose of slugs

Dead slugs can be added to the compost in small quantities. In larger quantities they belong in the residual waste bin. Anyone who collects live snails should of course not throw them into the neighbour's garden. Disposal in the forest or at waterways merely shifts the problem. Instead, the animals can be killed quickly by placing them in boiling water or a vinegar solution with a mixture of 60% vinegar and 40% water. The pure scalding with hot water or sprinkling with salt, on the other hand, is excruciating for the animals.

Tip: After consuming ours Organic slug pellets The snails withdraw into their hiding places without the formation of slime and therefore do not lie dead in the garden.

Can you prevent nudibranchs?

If you look around your garden carefully, you will see that some plants have no traces of snails eaten by snails. Because there are a multitude of them snail-resistant plantsthat can be planted in the garden. These include perennials and ornamental flowers such as the wood violet (Viola riviniana) or the cranesbill (Geranium spec.). Certain vegetables, such as garlic (Allium sativum) or lamb's lettuce (Valeriana locusta), is not attacked by snails.

tip: Since these plants are avoided by snails, they can also be used to plant deterrent strips along beds to keep snails away from the garden.

Furthermore, the garden should not be watered in the evening. The humid climate would lure the snails out of their hiding places. In addition, you should always prepare the seedbed so that it is finely crumbly and press sensitive seeds on so that snails do not easily reach them.

Nematodes are useful gardening helpers that are also effective against other pests. Sciarid gnats may cause you problems in the soil of house plants - but not long after you read our article on Fight against fungus gnats have read.