Topic: Snail Wars

[Garden Manager]

After fighting a somewhat loosing battle to keep them off my prized plants (beans, dahlias etc). i am now taking the fight to the critters themselves. Rather than setting traps, putting up barriers and crushing the od few when i find them, i am now making a determined effort to hunt them down and first trap them, then kill them.

This has been mainly involved night patrols armed with torch and bucket (with lid). Targeting key plants they like to feed on I have sucessfully rounded up dozens of the blighters, sometimes in one night if it has rained recently.

Their fate afterwards? Well i keep them trapped in the bucket for a while then finish them off with boiling water. The (ahem) remains then get binned and the liquid left to cool then put back on the garden (I am sure it does some good).

I guess i am making progress in reducing numbers but seeing as i always seem to find roughlt the same amount in the same places on each occasion i suppose there must still be tons of them still out there!

[saddad]

A fairly efficient technique in the long term though... I go straight to the crush method myself. If you can leave some plank or something they can hide under they will congregate there and you can get loads all at once. Esp. at the start of the season when they have all been waitning for spring, reduce the numbers before they start to breed!
 ;D

[Garden Manager]

Well I think it is an extremely efficient way of curbing the population. Each one caught is one less to produce loads of new snails or slugs (i go for them too, I dont discriminate!).  Rather than wait for them to come to you, go looking for them i say. I have used your trap method though. I have lots of pots (mostly plants I am growing rather than decorative ones). Last saturday morning I spent at least an hour going through all the pots, looking between, under, in etc and got quite a haul, nearly as many as in the night patrol the night before (it was raining so plenty about).

I now have the bit between my teeth now. OK so the damage is done to the plants, but at least there will be a few less to eat other plants. After murdering Hostas, Dahlias, French Beans,Cannas and others, they have now started on my onions and Shallots (leaves of). Grrrr!

[autumn leaf]

I, too, have joined the slug/snail hunting brigade.  OH and I have been out with torches every night for the past two weeks.  I have given up throwing them into the neighbouring field or the copse at the back of our garden (where they simply start the long trek home).  Now we have become ruthless and pop the nightly haul into a plastic container liberally sprinkled with salt.  We cremate the resulting gloop and try not to think of such things as karmic debt! :-\

[manicscousers]

I've just bought a book, called 50 ways to kill a slug, serious and silly ways
apparently, warm soapy water kills them off,if you put them in it,  I'm going to try it  ;D

[Multiveg]

A combination of methods is required. This year though, I've become a bit of a wimp with all that rain and so I stopped hunting them - big error that! Though was hanging out washing when spotted a snail - picked it up by shell - it was laying eggs!!!!

[Garden Manager]

Not done as much as i'd like to have done in the past week, either due to being too tired or latterly feeling under the weather. the trouble is the best time to go hunting (or 'Snailing' as my dad calls it in jest) is around midnight. It takes around 3/4 hour to do a thorough search of key areas alone so such a hunt means late to bed!

Frustrating as there have been a couple of nights recently when it has been nice and wet, with plenty of the little blighters about no doubt. Now of course the weather has dried up (no not complaining - honest!), so conditions are now less favourable. I guess its now stalemate in the war untill we next get some rain. Typical! Would be nice to get a few more because no matter how many I round up more seem to come from somewhere, all after my plants. A recent victim of the slime army's attack has been a brand new Day Lilly. It had just come into flower when the snails decided the flowers/flower buds made a nice snack >:(. So much for a long flowering period! ::)