What means are suitable for this?
Every summer resident and gardener knows the slug as a pest. This is a mollusk whose body is covered with thin, delicate skin, protected from drying out by mucus, and it is constantly consumed not only by evaporation, but also during movement. And since the mollusk consists of 98 percent water, it is vital for it to restore it. And it is in years with wet summers that their mass appearance usually occurs.
During a favorable period, slugs and snails multiply intensively and cause significant damage to almost all garden crops, simultaneously spreading fungal diseases. External signs of the damage they cause are easy to notice: they gnaw the stems of young seedlings and eat holes in the leaves irregular shape, and, feeding on fruits and berries, they eat away the depressions in them.
Ways to control slugs and snails
They can be divided into: agrotechnical, mechanical And chemical control methods. In the first case, it is usually recommended to dig up the soil more thoroughly, loosen it, thin out plants, weed, etc., which creates favorable conditions for the existence of slugs.
Mechanical methods of struggle
Most often used mechanical method fight against slugs, which consists in laying out various traps among plantings and the subsequent destruction of pests gathered under them. Traps, which use pieces of boards, plywood, cardboard or burlap, are laid out in the evening, and slugs are collected and destroyed in the morning or afternoon.
However, as experience shows, both of these methods are not very effective, since the rapidly emerging young generations, which at first cannot be seen even with a simple glance, are very a short time continue their harmful work. The accepted method of mechanically destroying them by crushing also does not help much in the fight against slugs, since their testicles, with which they are stuffed with up to 100-150 pieces, can give birth to new offspring within a month. Therefore, it is best not to crush the caught slugs, but to shake them out of the traps into some container filled with kerosene, where they quickly die.
To more completely catch slugs using traps, some gardeners place damp burlap under the traps and lubricate the surface facing the soil with rancid oil, lard, curdled milk or a weak solution of sour dough. Slugs are significantly more accumulate in traps.
Also gives good results constructing obstacles in the way of slugs in the form of strips and grooves consisting of sand, sawdust or fallen pine needles, as well as sprinkling areas where slugs are concentrated with eggshells and fine salt. Helps in the fight against them inter-row tillage of soil with boiling water or stove ash and attracting natural enemies of slugs – frogs and toads – to areas.
Experience shows that in the fight against slugs and snails it is most effective to use not just one method, but the whole range of measures, named above. This allows you to reduce the “population” of slugs by 60-70%, and sometimes this helps to completely prevent their invasion for a while.
Chemical methods of control
Unfortunately, despite all the work expended, such a fight against slugs and snails does not guarantee their complete disappearance. Therefore in Lately gardeners are increasingly forced to resort to chemical methods struggle. The most widely used four drugs: thick saline solution, 10% solution of iron or copper sulfate, a bulk mixture consisting of one part mustard and red pepper and two parts of stove ash, as well as five percent metaldehyde granulate (contact and intestinal molluscicide), now commercially available. In Russia it is sold under the trademarks Groza and Meta.
True, as experience has shown, the first three drugs have a negative effect on the skin of slugs, but are quickly neutralized by moisture. Moreover, in response to irritation, slugs only shed mucus and, in order to kill them for sure, they must be subjected to repeated treatment. Five percent metaldehyde granulate, consumed in a dose of 30-40 g per 10 m2, turned out to be more effective. Granules are scattered between rows, on paths, on the soil surface, as well as in places where slugs shelter and breed in dry weather, either in the evening or early in the morning. At the same time, the slugs, losing mucus under the influence of granules, dry out and die after 2-3 days, but again, not all of them.
General deficiency of all four drugs consists of considerable costs, since after watering the plantings, rains or even dew, the treatment must be repeated. And when using metaldehyde, as stated in the existing recommendations, due to the toxicity of this drug, only two treatments per season are allowed, and the last one should be carried out no later than 20-30 days before harvest.
My method for killing slugs and snails
Many gardeners have developed their own time-tested methods of dealing with slugs and snails. For example, on my site, after repeated experiments, I managed to achieve almost one hundred percent death of slugs by pollinating the rows and passages between the beds with a mixture of fluff lime with superphosphate or ammonium sulfate in a ratio of 2.5-3:1. This method is effective provided that such processing is repeated up to three times with an interval of no more than one day. The best time
processing turned out to be late in the evening, and the slugs lost not only mucus, but also skin, as a result of which both adult individuals and newly emerged young slugs died by morning.
What is also important here is that all the components of this mixture are useful for the soil and for plants, they are familiar to every summer resident or gardener and, importantly, this method is 3-4 times cheaper than all previous ones. I believe that this method of combating slugs in combination with agrotechnical measures can be considered quite promising for wider use on plots. In addition to this, I would like to point out other well-proven mixtures consisting of tobacco dust and ash in a 1:1 ratio or tobacco dust and slaked lime in the same ratio. When pollinating with them, use 30 g/m2 with an interval of 5-6 days.
Anatoly Veselov, gardener
and crawl out of their hiding places into garden beds mainly only at night. After their invasion, there are perforated leaves, damaged stems and fruits with traces of shiny mucus. To preserve the harvest, you need to know how to properly deal with slugs in the country house and garden.
A gastropod, very similar in appearance to a snail, is called a slug. Its translucent body has no limbs and moves by contracting the muscles of the sole. There are tentacles on the head that act as sensory organs. Each cell secretes a small amount of secretion, which prevents the slug's body from drying out completely, promotes its movement and repels some predators.
Ground slugs are very afraid of sunlight and prefer dark and damp places. These pests reproduce best at temperatures from +15°C to +19°C. During the rainy, hot summer or warm, humid autumn, reproduction occurs most intensively.
In dry weather, slugs in the garden become inactive and their activity decreases. Mollusks try to get into dark place to keep your body moisturized longer. Some of them build earthen cocoons, holding soil particles together with their own mucus, and wait there until favorable conditions arise.
Damage from slugs
You can meet a slug in any region with a mild climate and average or high humidity. This gastropod pest successfully sneaks into the most inaccessible places and conducts its destructive activities there. In the garden and vegetable bed, in the cellar and basement, you can stumble upon whole hordes of lickers.
Most of all, the pest likes to feast on the fresh greens of young plants, but it will not refuse fleshy bell pepper or sweet strawberries and raspberries. As soon as the first representative of the voracious family is noticed in the garden, a decisive fight must begin. Otherwise, in a maximum of a month, the mollusks will fill the entire area, and it will be very difficult to get rid of them.
The main harm from slugs is damage cultivated plants, which serve as food for the pest.
The following plants may be affected by shellfish:
- strawberries, raspberries and other berry crops;
- vegetables - cucumbers, cabbage, tomatoes in the greenhouse and open ground;
- fruit trees;
- seedlings and salad greens.
In addition, gastropods infect other plants with fungal diseases. Controversy powdery mildew and gray rot along with mucus settle on the leaves and fruits of healthy crops. As a result, the plant becomes sick and dies.
What are slugs afraid of in the garden?
When starting to fight slugs, you need to know what they are afraid of and what weather conditions the mollusks cannot tolerate.
Slugs are very afraid of hot, dry weather and cannot tolerate exposure to sunlight at all. This is understandable, because the body of these animals consists of 98% water. Therefore, when starting to fight slugs, you first need to clear the beds of excess grass so that they are ventilated and moisture does not stagnate between the plants. It is advisable to remove weed thickets not only in the garden plot, but also around it.
It has been noticed that mollusks never approach onions, garlic, sage, oregano, mustard, caraway and geranium - slugs have a highly developed sense of smell. By planting one of the above crops next to a vegetable bed, you can protect your crops from pest invasion.
Mollusks cannot jump or fly, do not move very quickly and are not able to overcome even the smallest obstacles. Therefore, one of the methods of combating gastropods is to mulch the soil with ash or sharp pebbles, pine or pine needles.
Natural enemies
There are many ways to control slugs, from harmlessly repelling the pests to completely destroying them with chemicals. Birds, frogs, hedgehogs and other living creatures that live on summer cottage. Therefore, it is necessary to create all conditions for the life of these useful animals and in every possible way lure them to the territory of your dacha.
Biocontrol agents
The product can be used from early spring to late autumn - the main thing is that the soil has time to warm up to +5°C and is not too dry. The drug is absolutely safe for people and surrounding nature, has a long-lasting effect, is effective and easy to use.
Nematodes are living organisms that remain dormant until a certain point. Even in a cold place they can live no more than one month.
Biological slug control agents are commercially available in the form of a powder or spray. The powder is diluted with water according to the instructions and watered over areas where mollusks accumulate. Nematodes multiply quickly and destroy slugs. With the help of the drug, you will be able to get rid of most of the pests within a week. The disadvantage of the biological product is its short shelf life.
Traps
One of the most humane methods of controlling slugs after hand collection is to set traps, purchased from garden stores or homemade.
The trap is designed as follows: two holes are made in the upper part of the plastic glass into which tubes are inserted. Bait is placed inside the container, which can be pieces of vegetables. Traps are distributed evenly throughout the bed, trying to place them in the most shady place. The slug, moving through the tube for food, falls to the bottom of the glass.
Devices for collecting slugs can be made with your own hands. It is enough to stack old boards or tiles, flower pots turned upside down in a dark, damp place and spread out the bait. In the morning all that remains is to collect the gastropods and take them further away from the site.
It has long been noted that slugs love beer. You can set traps using this well-known product. Small containers are buried not far from the garden bed so that their edges are at ground level, and beer is poured into them. The height of the jar should be such that a slug that has eaten the intoxicating bait and fallen into the container cannot get out.
Obstacles
Barriers placed in the path of pests and protecting beds or single plants allow you to quickly and easily get rid of slugs. A strip 15 cm wide is covered with sharp gravel or crushed bricks, coniferous or pine needles, eggshells or other bulk materials that can block the path of mollusks.
Sprinkling paths and the ground around plants with lime is considered a proven folk remedy. It is better to do this treatment of the area against slugs in the evening, before the pests crawl into the beds in search of food.
Plastic gutters installed along vegetable beds can be used as barriers.
Garden stores sell special fencing coated with copper. The fact is that when crossing a tape made of copper, the slug receives a small electric shock. This repels pests and they move to another place.
Traditional methods of fighting shellfish
Experienced gardeners know how to deal with gastropods by making various decoctions or using ordinary food products.
- A decoction of wormwood or fern will repel pests. To prepare the mixture, place freshly harvested plants in a bucket and pour cold water and stir occasionally. After the mixture has thoroughly fermented, water the pest areas with it.
- Slugs are afraid of the smell of coffee, mustard powder, vinegar, and ammonia. All these substances can be used to control pests. It is better to cultivate the soil in dry weather, since after watering or rain the products will lose their repellent properties.
- Shellfish are incredibly attracted to the smell of citrus fruits. If you put half of a large grapefruit on the garden bed in the evening, peel side up, then in the morning all you have to do is throw out the slugs from the eaten glass.
Chemicals
In large garden areas where it is not possible to control snails with repellents and traps, chemicals are used. This method of struggle is perhaps the most effective of all those previously listed. However, it should be remembered that all insecticides are toxic and any treatment of the garden with chemicals harms animals and plants.
The Swiss drug "Meta", used all over the world for more than 100 years and recognized as the most effective among analogues, is produced in our country under the name "Thunderstorm". The destructive effect of the insecticide is provided by metaldehyde in combination with additives that attract slugs and snails. Once in digestive tract shellfish, the chemical completely dehydrates the body.
The granules are scattered between the beds, creating a protective barrier. The product can be used in any weather, as the granules are not afraid of moisture. In addition, additives that attract pests repel birds, which makes the use of the product safe for the feathered inhabitants of the garden.
Another domestic remedy for slugs, based on the action of metaldehyde, is “Slug Eater”. The drug is easy to use, has a protective effect lasting up to three weeks, and avoids a decrease in yield and loss of product presentation.
Prevention
Work to prevent slug attacks begins with the onset of spring. Experienced gardeners recommend taking the following measures to prevent the appearance of pests:
- limit the area with plantings to a strip wood ash or mustard;
- Carefully weed out weeds and remove excess plants to ensure sunlight reaches the garden bed;
- in the fall, carry out deep digging of the soil to destroy the homes of mollusks and destroy eggs;
- feed birds and hedgehogs;
- Carry out uniform watering, avoiding waterlogging of the soil.
As you can see, preventive measures do not require a lot of time and money. This is much better than poisoning the soil and garden plants with chemicals.
It is difficult to choose the most effective of all the methods of fighting snails and slugs in the country, so it is advisable to use several methods at once. It is possible and necessary to fight against mollusks. If it is not possible to completely rid the garden of pests, then reducing their population will undoubtedly bring tangible benefits to the plantings, and even in a rainy summer will allow you to get a full harvest.
How to get rid of slugs on your property
Significant damage to the crop is caused by slugs. An invasion of slugs and snails in the garden is a disaster for summer residents. It will not be possible to completely destroy these creatures - if you destroy your own, they will crawl from your neighbors. Mollusks cause a lot of trouble, especially in rainy weather. Therefore, it is necessary to know and apply all methods of combating them.
Place weeded weeds in a compost heap away from cultivated crops.
Clear the area of boards and stones - favorite places for slugs to hide and breed during the day.
Mow the grass in areas adjacent to the garden.
Systematically loosen the soil the next day after watering. This will get rid of weeds and create uncomfortable conditions for pests.
After loosening, pollinate the soil with a mixture of tobacco dust and wood ash.
After harvesting, do not leave tops and weeds on the site - all in a compost heap or fire. This will deprive the slugs of feeding and shelter.
Do not allow children to play with snails, as they carry helminths.
Use the scent of certain plants to repel shellfish. They do not like thyme and parsley, garlic and sage, mustard and lavender, rosemary and ferns.
Sprinkle compost heaps or garbage dumps with coarse salt in the evening; it will destroy a lot of these pests.
Use water troughs by placing them on the soil. This obstacle will either scare you away or stop you - the mollusk will not get out of it.
Water the soil in greenhouses with garlic infusion.
For labor-intensive control of soft-bodied pests, recruit allies 
Create conditions for frogs and toads - this could be a small pond and a stone grotto or cave where the amphibian will hide from the sun. They can be caught and moved to a new place of residence.
Snails and slugs are a hedgehog's favorite food. He can eat as much as he weighs in one night. You can attract a prickly friend with a treat - cheese, sausage. But milk can cause stomach upset in hedgehogs. In a secluded corner of the garden, a pile of brushwood will serve as a refuge for him. Make a house out of a box or boards. If you have a family of hedgehogs, they will save you from the unequal struggle with snails and slugs, as well as harmful insects. Give them a dish of clean water and a treat. They will definitely appear.
A number of birds also feed on protein foods from snails and slugs. Birdhouses and winter feeders will create a permanent habitat for them.
In the meantime, you have few allies and the repellent plants have not yet grown, resort to other methods.
Slugs and fighting them
You can use traps. Buy them beer or bring them fermented compote. And make a trap out of a plastic bottle so that they get in, but cannot get out and drown. Change the solution after two days.
Pests have an easily wounded surface. Prepare eggshells and shells; they should be crushed and scattered between the rows. Conifer needles will also work.
Sprinkle coarse sand in the path of slugs and snails.
Sawdust sticks to the mucous body and prevents them from moving - also a good way.
Make a protective strip of superphosphate or lime ten centimeters wide. They will not pass this obstacle.
Sometimes open circuits are used for weak electric current from a battery.
While there is no rain, prepare a mixture of wood ash about half a kilo and a tablespoon of salt, dry mustard and ground pepper. Scatter between rows of plants and lightly loosen.
Safe spraying
Use three-day infusions of nettle and burdock. To do this, finely chop the plants and place them in lukewarm water.
They are also afraid of black coffee. A 0.1% solution affects them, causing them to flee. For greater effect, add brewed mustard and hot pepper.
Few people know that our children's favorite snails have 14,175 teeth! Only the shark has more. And why does such a cute and shell-protected mollusk need so many teeth? Yes, to grind everything “green” that gets in her way. In addition, snails not only cause great damage to our gardens, but are also carriers of worms and tapeworms. How do gardeners fight the invasion of these little gluttons? different countries? We learned about this by wandering around the World Wide Web of the Internet.
Let's start the review with the most humane methods of fighting snails and slugs:
1. Avoid dense plantings and weeds on your site. Mow the grass along the sides of the site in a timely manner and do not scatter various rubbish, bricks, boards... - among all this “good”, snails and slugs feel very comfortable. Better yet, between the rows vegetable crops lay out wet rags, bags, boards, plywood, cabbage leaves - slugs like to crawl into such shelters for the day and here it will be easier to collect them.
2. Next to fruit and berry crops, it is useful to plant garlic, lavender, thyme, rosemary, mustard and some other plants that snails do not like. Beds with strawberries and tomatoes can be planted with parsley - it will repel snails.
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3. Garbage dumps and compost heaps, which contain an abundance of rotting debris that attracts snails, can be sprinkled with coarse salt. This should be done in the evening, in dry weather, when the snails crawl out to graze. In the morning on compost heap you will find scatterings of dead snails, since they categorically do not like anything related to salt. Just do not overuse salt in flower beds and vegetable beds, as few plants tolerate severe soil salinity.
4. Attract birds, toads, frogs, ground beetles, and hedgehogs to your site. When you see a hedgehog at the dacha, treat it with milk, and then feed it daily, prepare a shelter for it, for example, in the form of a pile of brushwood in a secluded corner of the garden. And then slugs and snails will become a rarity, because they are hedgehogs’ favorite treat.
5. To attract toads and frogs, you can dig a small pond and pile a bunch of last year’s leaves nearby. These animals now often live in city parks and ponds, so you can catch a few and create comfortable conditions for them at your dacha. Toads can be given milk and fed with pieces of cookies and bread.
6. A non-toxic and cheap way to combat snails and slugs was proposed by one American woman: “Every spring I nurse orphaned ducklings and injured ducks. Their keen eyes and empty stomachs never miss an opportunity to profit from a slug or snail. But in places in the garden where ducks - unwanted guests, there I use crushed river shells with sharp edges to repel slugs, which I scatter in ribbons between the beds. A bag of crushed shells lasts for several years.”
7. The action of the special ecological granular material Slug Stoppa Granules, which is scattered around the plants and is effective throughout the season, is based on the barrier principle. Granules create a physical barrier for slugs and snails: they absorb moisture and mucus, dry out the surface of their bodies, making it impossible for pests to move.
8. Physical barriers also include special plastic gutters that are attached along the perimeter of the ridges. Such gutters are filled with water, which serves as a mechanical barrier for slugs. Wide plastic rims with a bent edge are also available for sale, which are fixed in the ground around plants and keep snails and slugs away from the plant.
9. Any dry porous materials, as well as fine gravel, crushed shells and eggshell are unpleasant surfaces for slugs and snails, so they are well suited as row filler. However, it should be borne in mind that in rainy weather their effectiveness is significantly reduced.
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10. Strips of coarse sand, crushed eggshells or nut shells create a kind of prickly barriers that are insurmountable for snails and slugs. This protection option is quite suitable for seedlings of vegetables and young flower crops. And each specimen of large plants (delphinium, hosta, peony...) can be protected by surrounding it with a mini-ridge of coarse sand.
11. To protect strawberries from snails, sprinkle the ground with spruce needles or place a thick layer of spruce and pine paws on the surface of the beds; the needles fall off by themselves and serve as protection against snails; in addition, they protect the soil from drying out quickly and, finally, having rotted, they are useful as fertilizer. The frame of the legs at the same time serves as support for the berries and protects them from contact with the ground.
12. Dried nettle plants can be placed under tomato, pepper or eggplant plants, which slugs are big fans of. Slugs are afraid of them, and if there are a lot of nettles, they will prefer to avoid this place.
13. Mulching the ground near plants with sawdust is a good way to combat snails and slugs. Sawdust sticks well to slippery mollusks and they become breaded and stop moving.
14. Plant vegetables in raised beds or tubs, stake legumes, tomatoes and pumpkins in good time, use clear plastic covers (such as the bottom halves of large plastic water bottles) and plastic covers for young vulnerable plants - all this makes for desirable plants for slugs are physically less accessible.
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15. Mechanical protection method. With the help of special plastic funnel-shaped limiters you can very effectively protect your plantings from snails and slugs. The funnel is installed around the young plant and protects its roots and shoots. In addition, such a funnel will ensure precise access of water to the roots of the plant when watering.
16. A sheet of plywood (15x15 cm) can be attached to a stick on which a large nut is screwed. Place a large sheet of plywood (18×18 cm) on this nut. Push a damp burdock leaf or a wet rag into the cracks between them. A large number of snails will crawl in there overnight. In the morning, destroy the pests.
17. Snails do not like places coated with tar. Shrubs can be protected from them by making a ring of cotton wool, an inch wide, at the base of the trunk, and covering it with tar or adhesive resin.
18. The simplest method - “manual collection” - is very effective, but requires almost daily labor. Snails should be collected in the evening or after rain, and then destroyed (for example, in a strong saline solution or boiling water) or taken somewhere away from gardens and cultivated plantings (this option is more humane, but also more labor-intensive).
19. Snails and slugs lay their eggs in the ground (somewhere under a shelter, bush, thick grass, etc.). And when digging the soil, you need to carefully look to see if there are clutches of snails. If there are, then they must be destroyed - crushed or buried deep.
20. The “drunk trap” method. A surprisingly simple way is to place containers of beer near the plants. Snails and slugs, it turns out, respect the foamy drink no less than we do. They crawl towards the tempting smell, and when they fall into a container of beer, they drown there. The main thing here is to install a sufficiently deep container, and not to pour the beer to the brim. For example, take plastic bottle from under the water, press one side so that it becomes flat and does not roll, and pour beer (preferably dark) into it. Slugs, attracted by the smell of beer, crawl into the bottle and die there. This method is also used in a special snail trap.
21. Special traps for slugs and snails are a bowl covered with an umbrella-roof. The trap is installed so that the entrances are at ground level. The bowl is filled with beer, fruit juice or other bait (the tasty smell attracts snails and slugs), and the roof prevents rainwater and debris from getting inside. In the absence of such a trap, pour the bait into simple bowls from an old unnecessary set and dig it flush with the soil surface on the ridges and borders with the plants most beloved by snails. Check and empty traps regularly in the morning.
22. Ordinary cuttings of boards, pieces of slate or roofing felt, wet rags and burlap, linoleum, watermelon rinds, cabbage leaves, etc. are also quite suitable as snail traps - slugs like to crawl into such shelters for the day.
23. American gardeners recommend a very original way of catching slugs using grapefruits: just take half a grapefruit peel, cut a small hole in it and install this dome-shaped trap. The mollusks attracted by the smell will gather under the skin overnight, and in the morning all that remains is to collect and dispose of them.
24. A regular cup of coffee can also repel pests without harming your plants. Caffeine, in the form of an aqueous solution applied to soil or plant leaves, repels and kills slugs and snails, presumably destroying them nervous system. According to the observations of American scientists, a 1- or 2% solution kills even large individuals (although it discolors the leaves of some plants), and a 0.1% solution confuses pests, speeding up the heartbeat, and scares them away from the plantations. To get a 0.1 percent caffeine solution, you can, for example, dissolve a double dose of instant coffee in a cup of water. Coffee grounds can also be used to repel snails, but spraying with a caffeine solution is much more effective: slugs crawl away as soon as they come into contact with caffeine-treated soil. Caffeine can kill small snails and slugs, and repel large ones. garden plot. It is best to use caffeine for small gardens and areas. Unfortunately, it can affect not only snails and slugs, but also beneficial insects.
25. There are plants that slugs and snails do not like and try to avoid, and this is primarily garlic, as well as many (but not all!) aromatic plants (lavender, sage, santolina, thyme, rosemary, bay, etc.) . Garlic is used by manufacturers of special herbal infusions that repel slugs. Infusions of garlic, hot pepper, and mustard are well-known folk remedies fight against slugs and snails. At home, 100 g of grated garlic is infused for 24 hours in a small volume of water, the resulting solution is diluted several times and the plants are sprayed with it.
26. Method of domestic gardeners: dissolve 50 g of dry mustard in 300 ml of water, let it brew for an hour, dilute another 3-4 times and spray the plants.
28. Destroy snails by placing them in a bucket with a strong solution of salt or lime. You can pollinate areas inhabited by snails with powdered superphosphate (300–400 g), slaked lime (300 g) or a mixture of lime and tobacco dust in a 1:1 ratio (200–250 g per 10 sq.m.).
29. Electrical control means. Self-adhesive copper tapes, headbands, or copper-coated covering material (brand name Shocka) are available at garden centers. Contact with copper gives the mollusks a slight electrical shock, so they do not cross such a copper barrier. Recently, headbands with a small battery have also appeared, which also give snails and slugs a small electric shock when crossing an obstacle.
“Chemical attack” methods propose to use the achievements of the chemical industry.
30. Metaldehyde (in Russia sold under the trademarks Groza and Meta). Apply no later than 20 days before harvest, at the rate of 40 g of granules per 10 square meters. m (see instructions on the package). You should not pour these granules in piles - it is more effective to place them at a distance of 10–15 cm from each other. Manufacturers assure that when correct use The product is completely harmless to people, pets and environment, however, warnings are often found in the horticultural press. Metaldehyde should be stored and used with great care. Wash vegetables and herbs especially carefully if you have used metaldehyde in the garden.
31. Finely crushed iron sulfate mixed with sand or lime is sprinkled on the ground in the evening or in damp weather. Neither snails nor slugs will pass where iron sulfate is poured, as they die from touching this substance.
32. Abroad they do the following: they cover the flowerbeds with thin shingles, on which copper sulfate powder is poured, or they stretch ropes soaked in a solution of copper sulfate around the flowerbeds.
33. Spraying plants with copper-containing products (Hom, Oxyx, etc.), which are not washed off by rain for a long time. Snails do not die from it, but plants covered with blue copper stains become unattractive to snails.
34. A very effective remedy for fighting Bison snails. Lasts up to three months and is not washed off by rain.
35. You can pollinate the rows with slaked lime or superphosphate (200–300 g per 10 sq. m), sprinkle slaked lime around the greenhouses. Sprinkling the soil with lime is done in two steps, with a break of 10–15 minutes. During the first sprinkling, the snail protects itself from lime by secreting mucus, but with the second sprinkling, the snail is no longer able to secrete mucus, turns black and dies. By sprinkling the soil with lime for two days in a row, you can completely destroy all the snails.
For people who store vegetables, fruits, potatoes and other products in the cellar, the urgent question of how to get rid of slugs in the basement often becomes urgent. Along with other pests, these land mollusks can cause significant damage, since their diet includes plant fruits and root crops. Although the slug does not eat much fruit pulp, it still damages the outer layer of the fruit or vegetable, causing it to spoil.
Grocery cellars are favorite places for slugs to live and breed. Here the mollusks find the necessary nutrition; in the basements there is favorable temperature regime for the habitat of these pests and a humid environment, which is necessary for their normal existence. On the walls of the cellar, where drops of dew, water, and dampness occur, slugs will definitely appear soon.
Who are slugs and where do they come from?
Questions about what slugs are, where they come from in cellars, and whether it is difficult to get rid of them if they have already settled in the basement or basement are of interest to many owners of houses and cottages. According to the biological classification, the slug is a land gastropod that does not have a shell. Most common in middle climate zones. The habitat consists of territories with an average temperature of +15...+19°C from spring to autumn.
The slug has an elongated body, slightly flattened on top. In the front part there are tentacles that can retract and extend. At their tips there are several types of receptors: optical, olfactory and gustatory. The mouth is also located on the front of the head. It is equipped with a jaw with a sharp chitinous edge. Using its jaw and tongue, which has sharp teeth like a grater, the slug bites and grinds food.
Behind the head is the mantle, which is a denser part of the slug's body. This padded collar protects the lungs. On the right side of the mantle there is a respiratory opening, which is clearly visible in large individuals. The anus is also located nearby. Behind the mantle, the longest part of the body is the leg, with which the mollusk moves.
This type of mollusk is considered omnivorous, although most often slugs can be found on roots, leaves, fruits, vegetables, and also on berries. In open areas, in gardens and beds, mollusks find shelter under leaves, stones, and on the shady side of trees.
Cellars for slugs provide favorable conditions for life and reproduction. If in an open area a slug is forced into winter anabiosis due to a drop in temperature (at severe frosts individuals die, but egg layings do not disappear), then in the basements the temperature regime allows the mollusks to feed and reproduce all year round.
Slugs are characterized by cross-fertilization. Considering that they are hermaphrodites, the mating dance leads to the fertilization of both individuals, after which they lay eggs, hiding them in loose soil to a depth of 2-3 cm. In the cellar, the mollusks crawl into bowls, small depressions, pipes, drainage holes, or leave eggs between fruits or vegetables.
What types of slugs are there?
There are many varieties of slugs. The main parameters by which they are classified are:
- size - from 2 mm to 30 cm (the longest variety is considered the black slug);
- color (uniform, spotted, light, dark, etc.);
- habitat (functional, for example, garden or forest, or geographical - European);
- preferred diet (cabbage, grape slug, etc.)
Cellars are most often inhabited by small varieties of mollusks, having a body length from a few millimeters to 4-7 cm.
Damage from slugs in the home and household
Considering that these mollusks also feed on economic crops, they cause significant damage to fruits and products stored in basements. If it is not possible to ensure the required level of dry air and walls in the basement, then the fight against slugs in the cellar becomes systematic, because it is almost impossible to completely remove them from a damp and shaded room. Shellfish do not cause any sanitary or hygienic harm, but fruits damaged by them are subject to accelerated rotting and spoilage.
How to get rid of slugs in a cellar or basement at home
Today, various methods are used to remove slugs from basements and cellars. Here, both chemical poisonous substances and methods that are completely harmless to the products in the basement can be used. All methods of getting rid of slugs can be divided into several groups:
To remove slugs from the cellar forever, traditional methods, chemicals and other methods may not help if they are not combined with constant prevention. Most often, to solve the problem, drying is needed on a regular basis, because many cellars constantly get wet for various structural reasons, for example, when there is no quality ventilation or the specifics of the soil contribute to the constant penetration of moisture. Gradually, combining destructive and preventive measures, you can get rid of slugs for a long time.
Creating barriers
To decide on in effective ways In order to deal with slugs in food, it is important to understand what these mollusks are afraid of and what environment will be most unacceptable for them. The lower part of the slug's body is tender and vulnerable. The clam will not crawl on surfaces that could injure its ventral surface. Therefore, the simplest way to prevent slugs from crawling into a particular room is to create barriers at the points of their entry.
To form barriers that are insurmountable for slugs, you can use a mixture of various fine construction waste (crushed brick, expanded clay, coarse sand, etc.). Most often, salt is used to create such barriers on the farm near cellars. mustard powder, ash, crushed shell. The path for slugs to enter the room is effectively blocked with simple lime.
This method is only effective in protecting the basement from slugs entering it, but does not get rid of shellfish already in it. Therefore, it can be called preventive. When pouring this or that product, it is important to find out where exactly the pests are entering the basement. The barrier must be continuous. Considering that the listed substances are easily swept away or blown away by gusts of wind, it is necessary to regularly check whether the integrity of the obstacle is damaged.
Chemicals
In order to get rid of slugs in cellars, chemicals are not often used. This is due to the fact that owners do not consider it advisable to use toxic substances in places where food products are openly stored. Only after you have failed to reduce or destroy the basement population of mollusks using other methods should you turn to chemicals.
Insecticides designed to kill insects are not effective in controlling slugs. Here you will need drugs such as molluscicides. Most often, the main toxic substance in their composition is copper sulfate in such a dosage as to effectively kill slugs. Popular drugs include:
- UliCide;
- Patrol;
- Anti-slug;
- Storm;
- Metaldehyde.
These products are intended primarily for the destruction of slugs and snails in beds, vegetable gardens and other open areas. When using them in a basement or cellar, you must study the instructions in detail and follow them exactly. There are also bio-products against slugs that are less harmful to the environment, such as Ferramol. However, their cost is quite high, which is why the use of such products is not entirely advisable in basements, where other methods can be used quite effectively.
When looking for a more gentle method of removal than a chemical one, how to remove slugs from the cellar without the use of aggressive chemicals, you should pay attention to the installation of fairly simple but effective traps for mollusks. To create such traps you do not need to buy any special substances or devices. The idea is to lure the slugs to one place where they can be easily collected by hand and removed from the basement area.
The first method of installing a trap is suitable for those cellars where it is possible to raise supplies high above the floor level. Boxes of apples or pears can be placed on shelves. Condensation forms most actively on the cellar floor, and slugs tend to the wettest areas of the room.
To enhance the formation of dew on the basement floor, it needs to be covered with film or expanded clay. The very next morning, having lifted the covering material, under it you can find many mollusks living in the cellar. To destroy them, all that remains is to collect them and take them out into the sun. Such regular collection can significantly reduce the damage caused by shellfish in the cellar.
Another type of slug trap is beer bait. To create it you need a standard plastic glass. It is dug into the floor of the cellar so that mollusks can crawl into it without hindrance. Then the glass is half filled with beer, which is sure to attract the smell of shellfish.
- the basement is completely cleared of products stored in it;
- it is necessary to ensure sufficient sealing of the room, seal all cracks, close window openings, and the entry point;
- personal protection is provided (overall clothing, gloves, goggles or mask for the face and eyes);
- the required number of sulfur bombs is installed on the fireproof supports, taking into account the size of the basement;
- after setting the wicks on fire, you need to quickly leave the cellar, closing the doors or hatch;
- the smoldering of the checkers lasts about 1.5 hours, after which the cellar must be left completely closed for 2 days;
- after opening, the basement needs to be well ventilated (often you have to pump in air using fans);
- at the end the room is cleaned, after which it can be used for storing food.
Folk ways to fight slugs
- solution of ammonia (per 1 liter 2 tsp);
- coffee grounds, which repel shellfish;
- a mixture of ash and tobacco dust;
- The basement floor is strewn with fir needles.
There is a large number folk ways repelling slugs. Such recipes are simple and available in summer cottages.
Preventing slugs
But it is most effective to carry out preventive measures against slugs. Before bringing food into the room for storage, you need to dry the cellar thoroughly. The basement can get very wet at any time, for example, due to heavy rains and soil moisture, and drying must be done regularly, for which special equipment can be used.