how to stop snails eating my seedlings?

Question

just planted some seeds and then remembered my yard is full of snails in the flower beds.

Answer 1

Clear out the old leaves & mulch they may be hiding in. Then surround your plants with one of these: sharp sand, crushed egg shells, lava rock, Diatomaceous Earth, cedar, pine needles, & oak bark. These will cut & dehydrate the slugs, & eliminate them. Oak leave & seaweed can be used to deter slugs & snails.

Trap slugs & snails with beer or other fermented material. Place a shallow container, filled with beer or other fermented material in a hole with the top at soil level.

Water only in the morning - the surface soil will be dry by evening. Studies show this can reduce slug & snail damage by 80%

Make your garden wildlife friendly, to encourage the natural predators of slugs and snails to come and visit... encourage frogs and toads...and put up bird feeders.
http://www.gardening-club.com/Tips_on_Dealing_with_Slugs_and_Snails_in_the_Garden.php

There's many more suggestions here including:
"Sprinkle a line of lime around your plants.
Scatter oat bran on the soil to kill slugs and snails.
A mulch made of stems and leaves of strong smelling herbs like wormwood, mints, tansy, lemon balm along with conifer twigs mixed in will help stop slugs and other pests."
Seedling Protection:
1. Make a circle of copper strip around just the plants you want to protect.
2."Protect your seedlings with 2-3 litre plastic soda bottles. Make sure no slugs are around the seedlings first. Cut the bottoms out of the bottles, sink them into the soil around the seedlings and remove the caps. You can reuse them over and over too."
http://www.ghorganics.com/page13.html

Good luck! Hope this is helpful.

Answer 2

The folk remedies will work if you do not have a lot of snails. If you do; get serious and buy some Corry's Slug and Snail Death. You can get it in liquid, pellets, or powder form. No need to go wild, just add a pencil thin line around your garden plants. Corry's does the rest.

Answer 3

I would recommend using a beer trap. Get a plate and pour beer in it. Then put it away from the plants you want to protect. The fermenting yeast will attract them and they will drown. I would renew the trap everyday or so. Or... You could use what is called diatomaceous earth and when mixed with soil, it acts as sharp razor blades for the slugs and snail. Here is some more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

And

http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Get some plastic cups and cut the bottoms out; slip a cup over the plant, large end down, and make sure the lip of the cup is slightly below the surface of the ground. This will create a barrier that snails can't cross. I have done this with all sorts of things - old milk cartons work well too.

Happy planting!

Answer 5

To my knowledge, that isn't a slater bug. A slater bug is a silver grey colour and they only eat decaying/rotting wood.The only thing I know that eats strawberries are snails & slugs and then only the fruit. You may have put too much fertilizer on them or something. I've never seen anything like that happen to strawberries and i've been growing them for years, both on the farm in central NSW & here in Sydney now.

Answer 6

Sprinkle a barrier of salt around your seeds

Answer 7

EGG SHELLS WILL KEEP SNAILS OUT OF YOUR FLOWER BEDS! YOU CAN POUR SALT ON THEM & SEND THEM TO THEIR GRAVE!