How to Get Rid of Snails and Slugs by Plasmana
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Snails and Slugs are probably the most devastating insect to the gardens and plants.


Killing snails and slugs with pesticides (so called molluscicide pellets) may be very effective, however it is also devastating to the wildlife, your pets, and your family. When the snails and slugs natural predators eats the contaminated snails and slugs they will too get contaminated and get very ill and sometimes die. If your curious domestic pets and young family members sees those bright blue pesticides, they are very likely to eat it and end up getting very ill. However they are some recent technology that manufactures now make snails and slugs pesticides with animal repellent in it, it repels your pets from it, but it is still damaging to the natural predators if they eat the contaminated snails and slugs.

So on this instructable, I will show you a few ways how to get rid of snails and slugs without using those dangerous snails and slugs pesticides.


Please note that I am only 15 years old and I am not very good at grammar so if you find some parts of the instructable confusing, please let me know and I will try fix it.
 
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Step 1: Snail and slug removal

The most effective (and green) way of getting rid of snails and slugs is hand picking them from your garden... Yes, I know that sounds like a disgusting job to do, but it is much better than killing the wildlife with pesticides.

If you never have done snail and slug picking, be prepared for the shock of how many snails and slugs that lives in your garden (when I first started doing snail and slug picking, I was amazed how many snails and slugs that lives in my garden, there was like hundred's of them)!

Through my experience of snail and slug picking, the best ever time to pick them is a few hours after sunset after a rainstorm although some snails and slugs come out at night or in a rainstorm during the day.
The reason the snails and slugs like to come out at night is because it is cool, fewer predators, and less chance of drying out, if the snails and slugs are out in a sunny day, they would get too hot and dry out and die.

When you go snail and slug picking, put the captured victims in a bucket with some soapy water so they cannot climb out of the bucket while you are doing snail and slug picking, and put the lid on after you are finnish picking them, otherwise they will try get out of the bucket. Also if you are squeamish about the slime, wear rubber gloves or use a long-handled dandelion digger or a pair of long tweezers.
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tareko says: Apr 18, 2013. 4:12 PM
Thanks for sharing this instrucable.
I don't know about the slugs. As for the snails, here is - trust me - a delicious way of getting rid of them:

http://receitasbemboas.blogs.sapo.pt/12014.html

(Just run the url on Google Translactor)
yeticrist says: Jan 24, 2013. 7:09 AM
FYI. Most snails are generally helpful. They eat slugs.
curlie says: Nov 5, 2012. 2:28 AM
make a beer trap a small container buried just so it is level with the soil pour about i inch of beer old is ok and they get drunk and drown cool hey
expatty says: Aug 22, 2012. 3:46 AM
Hens also like eating slugs and snails ... but they will also eat your plants too. So before you plant this years crop let the hens turn over your patch for a couple of days.
Not having a hen could be a flaw in this plan but nothing is perfect ;-)
Going off to check on the garden now!
Ninjjutsumaster says: Nov 21, 2008. 3:50 PM
Ive heard that copper tape will keep away lemon slugs lemon slugs are actually one of the only snails that damage plants Lemon slugs have static charge so when they touch the tape zp! They shock themselves on an electric fence it dosent kill though
shellykb1 says: Jun 24, 2012. 9:30 AM
I have found that the best way to deter snails and slugs is to place Pecan Hulls under the plant. Place at least an inch of pecan hulls at the base of your plant, place it as far out as the plant leaves reach. Be sure to throw some in the middle of the plant around where the leaves come out of the ground so the snails don't sneak in there. The reason that pecan hulls work is because the snail and slug will cut themselves on the sharp edges of the hulls. they can not crawl over the hulls without cutting themselves. It's the best ever!!! natural, it also keeps the ph of your soil a little more acidic if needed and they really enrich the mulch. I just wish that it would kill them. Because snails and slugs multiply like rabbits!! or worse.

Marcos says: Feb 18, 2012. 1:03 PM
I've had great luck with galvanized steel. I had a strip of it, a couple of inches wider than my lettuce bin, so I put it underneath, with about 1 1/2" of galvanized sticking out all around. No more slugs or snails in the lettuce. I also have a bin made of galvanized sheet metal I salvaged. No slugs or snails there either, just the occasional caterpillar. If I find 'em early, my greens are safe.
Vermin says: Jul 8, 2011. 10:55 PM
Slugs do not have a static charge. There may be an electrochemical reaction between the slime and copper though.
9.6 Volts says: Jan 31, 2010. 5:10 AM
I'm rather curious about what electricity does to snails...
Scott_Tx says: Jul 18, 2008. 4:20 PM
You can put out a small tray of beer too. Snails are natures booze hounds.
bob.smitty says: Aug 14, 2008. 12:31 PM
actually, it's the yeast in the beer that attracts them, the alcohol that kills them...
shellykb1 says: Jun 24, 2012. 9:20 AM
I believe that it's the sugar that attracts the snails and the salt in the beer that kills them.
mole1 says: Jul 15, 2011. 4:44 PM
Not in my experience... I've had them drink shallow dishes dry and leave weaving trails back into the greenery. The alcohol in beer doesn't kill them. They need to get drunk, lose their grip, fall in and drown. So about 4 inches of beer in a smooth sided container deep enough that they can't hook their tails over the lip will work. By the way, slugs prefer beer to German wine about 400 to 3. Go figure.
copycat42 says: Sep 15, 2008. 6:54 PM
funny, it's the alcohol that attracts me. :)
bob.smitty says: Dec 5, 2008. 9:58 AM
Me too. That's why I'm at war with snails, forcing people to waste beer... :)
crafty_crayons says: Oct 15, 2008. 12:40 PM
lol not me
windstalker1992 says: Jan 31, 2012. 2:37 PM
if you cant stand picking them off everything consider this:

for potted plants you can put a dishlike thing under the pot so you can have liqiud in there without it getting into the soil in the pot and then fill that dish with the cheapest beer you can find.. the snail will crawl into it... and die
marimoto58 says: Sep 6, 2011. 12:21 PM
I realy cant pick them so i just use my salt and shake a bit on them. They just melt in seconds before my eyes.
Miss mollel says: Nov 15, 2011. 8:12 AM
Yesterday i forgot my sink pipe open in the morning and by the time i got home, at nearly 20hrs i was welcomed by a horrifying sight of water all over my room AND SNAILS all around the sink, BESIDE and INSIDE it. I wonder what brought them, if they were there all along, and how to rid them. Well, i picked them and put salt all around and pured litres of boiling water in it but this morning there were at least five of them still lurking in my sink
WHAT CAN I DO?? PLease help for i should go crazy if they stay there ONE MORE DAY
shipto says: Jun 11, 2011. 10:48 AM
I notice you pictured the slugs on lillies we have some of the same variety in our garden which have been eaten almost completely by lilly beetles this year, I would almost welcome some slugs easier to get rid of than these messier than any slug or snail little blighters
Screamo says: Sep 24, 2010. 7:33 PM
Yeah.... Me and my friend went slug picking and we put them in a shoe box, a few days later the box was covered with slime. i suggest salt :) unless your like a PROTECT THE WILDLIFE person.
tabbycats says: May 5, 2010. 7:52 AM
try the Slug Bell, pets, wildlife cannot access the pellets, it's efficient and attractive too
Hah-Wine says: Feb 3, 2010. 11:59 AM
angef says: Aug 25, 2009. 11:26 AM
Nice work! I was using beer in a special trap then found this a bit expensive. There isn't a trap out there as effective as crawling around on your hands and knees at night. I went out at night with flashlight and would get about 50 slugs a night. Then I realized they were coming from my lawn and that night I got 200. I have a very small yard and obviously a very big slug problem.
albylovesscience says: Aug 11, 2009. 3:37 PM
sweet at least you did not resort to just killing them
cd41 says: Feb 3, 2009. 8:10 PM
I was hoping there was nothing about spreading salt thats just cruel
twocvbloke says: Jul 5, 2009. 9:30 AM
I find salt to be a good deterrent against slugs that like to steal your cat's food, just run some along the bottom of your doors and in any air vents, as soon as the slug touches it, it backs off and turns away... :) Salting them directly though, that's just too messy, and probably quite painful... :S
PikminRed says: Feb 22, 2009. 8:55 AM
(removed by author or community request)
shellykb1 says: Jun 24, 2012. 9:22 AM
my only problem with using salt in the garden is that it changes the ph and can kill some of your plants.
joeysdreamgarden says: Aug 29, 2008. 2:02 PM
This is a great intructable! very clear and easy to follow. There is something that i'd like to add though, is to use leftover grapefruit or orange halves, you know if you cut an orange or grapefruit in half and scoop out the flesh or squeeze it for the juice, then place it flat-side-down near where the snails & slugs will be, then collect it at night when there should be plenty of snails and slugs feeding, and you can 'deal with' the offending creatures! Also, have you heard of 'beer traps'? Basically, you place a saucer or similar thing in the soil near where snails & slugs will be (near your hostas!), slightly sunk into the soil so the slugs & snails can easily slide in, and fill it with cheap & nasty beer. The snails and slugs will be attracted by the sweet smell and then drown in the alcohol. Your sister wouldn't like it though... good luck with the pest eradication! Cheers Joey
Plasmana (author) says: Aug 30, 2008. 5:29 PM
Thanks for telling me that! Yeah, I heard of beer traps, I might put that on my instructable...
Rotten194 says: Jun 18, 2009. 9:04 PM
Might be a little suspicious for a 15 year old... Hi, uh, could I get some beer? I need to... uh.... kill snails! Yeah, kill snails.
Plasmana (author) says: Jun 19, 2009. 9:04 AM
lol, thats funny
Derin says: May 7, 2009. 10:14 AM
A story: Our school was very bored on the 9 hour bus trip to Space Camp Turkey.Many people were bored of playing PSP.Then,we saw the huge "SPACE CAMP TURKEY" sign.Everybody started clapping and got off the bus.Then my friend found a snail on the concrete and said "We found life forms in space!!!".That made my day.
thepelton says: Apr 7, 2009. 10:42 AM
One way I heard of getting rid of snails is to put a plate filled with beer in your garden. They get drunk and drown in it.
PikminRed says: Feb 22, 2009. 8:47 AM
Also you can make a sticky salt barrier by smearing some normal school glue on a leaf or something and after you give the glue almost a minute sprinkle salt on top. It makes a good barrier for snails and slugs especially if you put it on the stem of a plant where they climb up. (This will not work if you have jumping, fat, eating, ninja snails!)
awang8 says: Jan 30, 2009. 9:15 PM
Hmm... This is pretty cool. Have you tried garlic mash? Snails hate it so it's good for barriers and if a snail eats it anyway the snail gets sick and dies!

Oh, and that Decollate Snail cartoon's funny!
Plasmana (author) says: Jan 31, 2009. 12:34 PM
Garlic mash? I never tried it, bit I will when summer comes... Haha! yeah...
rimar2000 says: Jul 18, 2008. 1:12 PM
¡Excellent instructable!
Plasmana (author) says: Aug 11, 2008. 3:11 PM
Okay, sorry, I found out that you are Argentinean...
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