You are right Mart, those pesky snails are small and they can go in and out as they like :'( I found an empty snail shell and just realized I had been ignorant of their sizes ..... how stupid of me No. 1 pest ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) To protect my last 3 surviving romaines on this bed I had covered them with cut off plastic bottles. Whether it is effective or not I'll know by tomorrow morning. Snail Protector. ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) I guess it is a little tedious of having to remove it every morning and putting them back in the evening. Guess it is the best way for the moment At least now I know for sure it is snails.
Another idea for slugs, read some where to put a strip of copper in the ground around the plants. supposedly slugs will not cross it it melts them. I have tried the crushed egg shells, did not work for me because my dogs (again with the dogs) ate the shells.
I was thinking you had them in egg cartons on a table in you back yard.The line of salt around it on the table not on the carton.I know salt will kill plants and go into the earth.
Sjoerd had a post with a slug trap that I am going to be looking for. Check it out is his posting "Making Friends And Influencing People". It looks like it would be real successful with slugs and snails.
KK et al, this thread is as interesting as any mystery novel... I can't wait for the next chapter. I hope it is a good one. Fingers crossed for you.
Feather, that was what I wanted to do at first but was unable to do so when I couldn't find my old copper sheets for copper tooling. Egg shells, sorry I wasn't able to collect that much egg shell on such notice ..... maybe I should start collect some for future use Anyway thanks for the useful tips. Yes Glendann salt will kill them and the plants too!! Thanks for the thought. Jewell I did read about the trap that Sojerd posted, teh problem I had with snails is only localized to one bed of romaines which I am trying to grow in this hot and humid equatorisl climate. Moreover this kind of gadget is not available in this part of the world ..... I think .... and I am not ready to invest $$ until I am very sure I can grow the romaines lettuce normally Thanks for the concern. Thank you very much Daisybeans, I really do hope the next chapter would be eating the romaines ... hehehe!!!!
I found something that you could perhaps use against slugs and snails KK. We have a hairdressers shop opposite our cottage so I go over and collect all the hair clippings from them on a regular basis. I sprinkle these liberally around any plants I want to protect and it's amazing how well it works. Snails and slugs don't like hair as it sticks to their underparts and therefore they can't move. The birds like the hair too for nest building and enjoy the free meals the caught slugs and snails make.
It is difficult to put a barrier around your plants because the little beasties will just dig down in the soil a bit or under a leaf or stick and crawl into their shells during the day. you can look right at them and not see them right at the base of your plants! I grow a lot of hostas and I think I've tried all the home/organic slug and snail remedies, except for the hair one. I have found that sprinkling oyster shell around the base of the plant works best for me. It's cheap and you can buy it where they sell poultry feed. Like with egg shells they get cut climbing over the sharp edges and the powdered part dehydrates them. Eventually it will add calcium to your soil.
Great idea GT. Good luck KK NG. I know what a problem the little critters can be. Hope you will be eating some soon.
Eileen I did consider hair but I don't like the idea of working with strangers hair .... it gives me the creep!!! Thanks for the suggestion. Thanks Gardentoad, I am now collecting egg shells for future use. Thanks Jewell, those little critters are now my enemy no.1
There was a terrible storm this morning which floored my very old, tired okra and caused the bitter gourd trellis to slant at an angle. The 3 remaing romaines on the bed on the higher ground which was attacked by snails suffered damaged leaves and too was floored. I had to practically peel them from the ground and add some earth around each one to make them stand up again. Now they look OK after some sunshine. The surviving 3 romaines ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) Surviving romaine. ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) The rest on the lower ground were fine
I lost another romaine to the slimy critters. Snail eaten romaine ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) In a rush last night because it was raining, I quickly covered the 3 remaining romaines in this problem bed not realising that one was not done properly. The wind blew the cover off and the snails had a party.
Another suggestion Hi KK Ng, Thank you for all your nice step-by-step pictures! Your posts read almost like an exciting thriller which, we all hope, will have a happy ending. I'm really sorry about all the problems you've had with your lettuce being eaten - apparently by slugs or snails. We've had a LOT of problems with slugs and snails in our area. And many gardening people have really tried all kinds of different solutions to solve this problem. I've read about so many different solutions to the problem. Some of them don't seem to work. Others may perhaps work, but then again you can't be sure. However, have you tried the following solution that some gardeners have used with great success? This is a 'biological' solution that doesn't require you to use any chemicals, which is important to me. I know that this solution has been used by many gardeners in Switzerland. They claim that it has a success rate of 100%. Maybe you've already heard about this really simple solution. But now I tell you about it, and then you can try it, if you like. You simply take a plastic bottle and cut it in half. Then you take the lower half of the bottle (with the bottom) and cut the bottom of. Now you have a plastic tube. In the one end of this plastic tube you cut it so it now has sharp spikes (triangles). Then you place the plastic tube over the plants. You'll probably have to dig the tube a few inches/centimeters down in the ground. I've made one of these plastic fences myself, but I've still not gotten time to test it. But according to the gardener that showed me this method, it works really, really well. It's just a suggestion that you could try out, if you like. Another, more drastic solution, is to make a kind of metallic fence that surrounds your garden plants. The fence can be made of plates made of galvanized metal. But before you place the metal fence in the ground, it's important that you bend the top of the metallic fence (the plates) so that the slugs and snails can't climb over it. Some people also use soap or other substances that make the metallic fence so smooth that's practically impossible for the snails to enter your garden. In order to prevent the slugs and snails from digging their way under the fence, you can either dig the fence down in the soil, or you can use a raised container to grow your plants. Some gardeners also use electric fences to keep the slugs and snails out. But personally I think that's going a little bit overboard, if the other solution works fine. Besides, many gardeners also try to make sure that they have some natural enemies of the slugs and snails, in their gardens. These natural enemies are for example hedgehogs, frogs and sequence beetles. These animals eat the eggs of the slugs and the snails. There's another solution that many gardeners claim really work. They use nematodes in their garden. Nematodes are parasites that kill the snails and the slugs. The nematodes infect the pests with bacteria and then they die. But since some of the slugs and snails are cannibals and thus like to eat their dead companions, the nematodes spread quickly to other slugs and snails. And finally, on YouTube I saw an interesting video on how one gardener from Great Britain with great success has defended his garden against slugs, snails, birds, butterflies etc. This gardener has simply used some re-cycled, woven nylon net to make a tent that protects all her vegetables. What's really important is that he has buried the net in the soil so that the slugs can't get under it either. He claims that this "tent" kept all his vegetables from being attacked by pests. I know that some of these solutions may sound a little bit complicated. But then again, as you know, it's really disappointing when you see your vegetables and other plants being eaten by these pests. I hope you can use one of these suggestions, KK NG. Best, Anette
Hi Anette :-D , Thanks for taking the trouble for all the suggestions, really appreciate it. Right now I am trying the above method and it had been 3 days since and my 2 remaining romaines are still there in this bed. The only difference here is that I did not jaggered the top edges but I think it is an effective way. If the romaines are still ther tomorrow, then I will post a photo and 4 days should prove the point right? I think height here is also important because I don't they can climb on these plastic surface Till tomorrow, I am still keeping my fingers crossed.
