A snail is a gastropod mollusk. Snails are usually found in aquatic environment but some snails are found on land which can become a total nuisance for your plants. So if you are fond of gardening and treasure your plants snails can pose a big problem for you. Their eggs are difficult to find and these are not very easy to kill. However, a few simple techniques can be carried out to efficiently get rid of snails without poisoning your plants. Any kind of real poison can definitely kill your snail but it can cause bigger problems if ingested by your house pet.
Iron is fatal for snails. Scatter pellets of iron phosphate all over the infested area. This will save all your plants without adversely affecting your family at all. Another good method is to use stale beer. You can set up traps at dusk which are filled with beer. Once the snails fall in to them, their mucus membrane is destroyed and they die. A natural method to kill snails is using toads. Toads eat snails. So do garden frogs. So pour water in to the ground, the snails will gather around in a shady areas and will be an easy target for the toads. This is nature’s course at its best.
Another ingredient becoming popular to kill snails is coffee. Use leftover grounded coffee and mix it in the soil near the damaged plants. The snails will die when they come in contact with the coffee mulch. Another way to protect your precious plants is to keep them in copper plant guards. Snails die the minute they come in contact with copper. It shocks them and kills them instantly. If you cannot buy the plant guards, use copper substances to create a barrier between the plants and the snails.
Try and keep your garden clean. Snails like moist and shady areas where they can rest all day and wreck havoc on your plants at night. Remove all rotting debris and any old broken pots under which the snails can find shade. Keep the soil free of weeds and well cultivated. It is not impossible to get rid of snails but they are persistent little creatures. No matter what method you choose, you have to be consistence till you are sure the infestation is over.
