Slugs and snails!

[Chuck]

@Pat, the whole idea of egg shells is that they are supposed to scratch their bellies, but I used the egg shell as a barrier by placing in around the plant to create a low wall and I still found snails on my plants. This was last year, and garden #2 is more plagued by slugs, but I've been able to just remove them by hand.

What if you sprinkled salt on the egg shells? Not enough salt to hurt your soil but enough to melt the slugs when they crawled across. I don't have snails or slugs because it is too dry but someday it might start raining again. I do remember them from about 10 years ago though

 

[rajat]

Hi all, since few days i have been searching all over to know if kind of snails m having in my garden pots r beneficial or harmfull ones,but after a lot of mining not able to reach any conclusion, here in india its rainy season & today morning i saw literally millions of these small snails in my 6 inch pot, though they r in all the pots but have a look at this particular pot-

These r very small & mostly feed on organic matter ..PLS guide

 

[rajat]

all these small white spots r eggs

 

[Chuck]

Here in Texas there are beneficial snails which look like yours, kind of an icecream cone shape. The bad snail is round and flat like an escargot edible snail.

 

[rajat]

Here in Texas there are beneficial snails which look like yours, kind of an icecream cone shape. The bad snail is round and flat like an escargot edible snail.

thx for replying, can we say generally that most of small snails aren't harmfull, just to make things simple

 

[Chuck]

thx for replying, can we say generally that most of small snails aren't harmfull, just to make things simple

No. Size makes no difference. The little ones only take smaller bites. They will all grow up. I have seen snails like yours 2 inches long.

 

[Jack Rouse]

The best thing for slugs is a product called Nemotodes, this are micro-organisms that live naturally in the soil, they are a parasite to slugs and eat them from within, you simply water it in, it has to be repeated, and is fairly expensive, but it works, best left for strawberry patches.

Cheaper alternatives are crushed egg shells, and coffee grindings, get to know a busy a coffee shop, they will ave more than enough, and probably wont charge you for them, another alternative is crushed walnut shells, search the net for those, anything dry and sharp will stop slugs and snails, a circle of grit, or sand will do the same job.

Oh and just to make you realise how large the battle is, a sq yard of soil can contain anything up to 10,000 slug spores !

 

[Chuck]

The best thing for slugs is a product called Nemotodes, this are micro-organisms that live naturally in the soil, they are a parasite to slugs and eat them from within, you simply water it in, it has to be repeated, and is fairly expensive, but it works, best left for strawberry patches.

Cheaper alternatives are crushed egg shells, and coffee grindings, get to know a busy a coffee shop, they will ave more than enough, and probably wont charge you for them, another alternative is crushed walnut shells, search the net for those, anything dry and sharp will stop slugs and snails, a circle of grit, or sand will do the same job.

Oh and just to make you realise how large the battle is, a sq yard of soil can contain anything up to 10,000 slug spores !

Yes, beneficial nematodes are an excellent means of controlling all insects and pests that live and reproduce in the soil. I didnt know that they were available in the UK

 

[Jack Rouse]

Yes, beneficial nematodes are an excellent means of controlling all insects and pests that live and reproduce in the soil. I didnt know that they were available in the UK

They've only been available for a few years, and are quite expensive, at the moment I only use them on my strawberry patch, they seem to work

 

[Chuck]

They've only been available for a few years, and are quite expensive, at the moment I only use them on my strawberry patch, they seem to work

Here they cost about $10 per million which is the smallest number you can get, but a million goes a long way

 

[Jack Rouse]

Here they cost about $10 per million which is the smallest number you can get, but a million goes a long way

I had to read that twice, the first time I read it quickly and nearly fell off my chair !
Ours are measured by the area a pack will treat, the smallest is 40sq metres and costs about £9 $7-8

 

[Chuck]

I had to read that twice, the first time I read it quickly and nearly fell off my chair !
Ours are measured by the area a pack will treat, the smallest is 40sq metres and costs about £9 $7-8

You all are getting robbed. Our nematodes come on a little sponge. The nematodes look like a smear of some kind light brown goop. A million of them will adequately cover 1/4 acre . Isn't 40 sq meters about 400 sq feet. 1/4 acre is about 11000sq feet.
www.hydro-gardens.com

 

[Jack Rouse]

You all are getting robbed. Our nematodes come on a little sponge. The nematodes look like a smear of some kind light brown goop. A million of them will adequately cover 1/4 acre . Isn't 40 sq meters about 400 sq feet. 1/4 acre is about 11000sq feet.
www.hydro-gardens.com

us getting robbed, nothing unusual there, look at our petrol prices compared to yours !

 

[Chuck]

us getting robbed, nothing unusual there, look at our petrol prices compared to yours !

Yeah, but aren't you required to take required paid vacations and get all of that free health care that we are about to be force fed. Personally, I think we are all getting robbed

 

[zigs]

Custard is only 4c a packet over here