Snails are one of the animals that many people find disgusting. They are slimy and, what's more, they bare whole flower beds in the garden. If they also appear in the flower pots on the terrace, countermeasures are unavoidable.
Snails also like to nibble on potted plants
How do the snails get into the flowerpot?
In most cases, the snails or their eggs are already in the purchased potting soil.
If you buy your flowers in large garden centers, snails can also be hidden in the plants. In the warm greenhouses, snails find optimal conditions to develop.
Slugs are also attracted by the scent of their favorite neighborhood flowers.
Favorite food of snails
If you want to keep snails away from your flower pots, you should avoid these flowers:
- dahlias
- tagetes
- sunflowers
- columbine
- lady's mantle
- marigold
- lupine
This is just a small selection of preferred foods. In years with exceptionally high snail populations, almost nothing is safe from them. Only targeted combat will help.
fight snails
The most common means of fighting snails is slug pellets. (7.49€) However, it is not only poisonous for snails, but can also be dangerous for pets. To be on the safe side, you should avoid the chemical agent and try home remedies.
- The easiest method is to collect the snails at dusk.
- Provide opportunities for animals to hide. It's damp and cool under an upside-down flowerpot. Here you always catch several animals at once when collecting.
- Snails love beer. However, not only they drown in beer traps, but also other useful animals. Please refrain from beer traps!
- Set up snail barriers, for example made of copper tape.
- protective coatings against snails; the flower pots are coated with the biological agent "Schnexagon". The composition of the remedy prevents snails from climbing up.
Prevention against snails
If you buy new flowers or new potting soil, you should check carefully whether there are snails or their eggs in the soil. Potting soil can be sterilized by heating it in the oven. From temperatures around 100 degrees, most pests die off.
It also makes sense to leave the natural predators of snails in the garden. Adult snails are eaten by hedgehogs, mice, toads, blackbirds and magpies. The eggs are on the menu of various beetles and centipedes.