Snails like to eat lettuce, but aphids also like to settle on the round heads of lettuce. What you can do against such pests and how to prevent them is explained below.
Snail nets are a good help against the voracious pests
prevent pests
Weakened lettuce, in particular, is a target for diseases and pests. Therefore, you should care for your lettuce as follows and thus prevent an infestation:
- ensure sufficient nutrients by enriching the soil with compost before sowing
- ensure adequate ventilation
- Avoid waterlogging
- water regularly
- sunny location
In addition, you can protect your lettuce from pest infestation as follows:
- Set up snail fences or ditches
- Settle beneficial insects by laying out strips of beneficial insects
- Choose resistant strains such as Dynamite
Get rid of snails
The most effective way to get rid of snails is to collect them. If there is a heavy snail infestation, it is advisable to set up snail fences afterwards.
Some advisors recommend using the pesticide slug pellets. (7.49 €) This is not only very brutal to the snails, but also extremely harmful to pets. Therefore, this chemical pesticide is strongly discouraged if you have pets or small children.
Identify and control aphids
The faster you recognize an aphid infestation, the easier it is to fight the pests. Aphids can have very different colors: from black to green to reddish-colored insects belong to the aphid family. But an infestation can not only be recognized by the small beasts. In addition, it comes to:
- deformities on the leaves
- dripping
- ants
- sooty mold
Aphids can often be effectively combated with simple home remedies. E.g.:
- nettle brew
- Mixture of milk, water and rapeseed oil (2 liters of water to 500 ml of milk and three tablespoons of rapeseed oil)
- Soft soap solution (possibly with a tablespoon of spirit)
- water with neem oil
Spray the infested lettuce every evening (!) with the appropriate agent for several days until there are no more pests to be seen. Make sure your lettuce is not exposed to direct sunlight immediately after treatment as this may react with the pesticide and burn the leaves.
Stay away from chemistry!
Even if chemical manufacturers continue to stubbornly claim that their chemicals are not harmful to health, numerous independent (!) studies are constantly proving the opposite. So keep your distance from chemical pesticides. After all, you want to eat your salad without hesitation!