Our very wet summer has created a lot of questions about snails and slugs for the Master Gardeners at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County.  If you have found lots of them around the lawn and garden, here are some ways to get rid of them.

As the old saying goes, "you have to get up pretty early" to outsmart slugs and snails. They are most active at night and early in the morning when there is lots of moisture. Some symptoms that they are present in your garden include; "chewed holes in leaves, stems, flowers and fruit of a plant. High populations of slugs or snails can result in total destruction of plants in an area."

Here are some natural ways to control the number of slugs and snails.

  • staking or caging plants (such as tomatoes to get the fruit up off the ground) allows air to circulate and dry the ground around the plant, and allows foliage to dry, thus making them less likely to be attacked by slugs.
  • overturned grapefruit skins and old boards are sometimes used as traps. Slugs will tend to accumulate under or in such articles during the hottest, driest part of the day. Hand pick and destroy slugs or snails as found.
  • stale beer placed in pie pans or some other similar container to a depth of about one inch (2.5 cm) is very attractive to slugs. They will apparently fall into the container and drown. Pans should be placed about 10 feet apart throughout the garden and emptied or refilled as slugs accumulate or as rain dilutes or evaporation removes the beer.
If you feel chemicals are needed, use diatomaceous earth, metaldehyde, carbaryl bait, or 1% iron phosphate bait as per label directions. Caution: baits may resemble pet food. Be sure to place baits where pets or children cannot get into them.

Get answers to all your flower and garden question at Cornell's Horticulture Hot Line on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon at 736-3394.

 

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