HOW TO ELIMINATE THE SNAILS AND BABIES OF OUR GARDEN AND GARDEN.

Hello friend of the farm this time I'm going to talk about the snails and slugs that destroy our garden or crops and how we can fight them using organic products, but first we have to identify them and know a little about this plague. Snails and slugs are herbivorous molluscs with nocturnal habits that move thanks to a film of mucus or slime that they produce and leave sticky remains where they pass. Snails and slugs tend to look for dark, cool and humid places to shelter, go out to feed at night and prefer new and tender shoots, although they also attack the roots. That is why the younger plants and plants are usually its main objectives.
The attack of limacos causes great losses in gardening and agriculture. These mollusks scrape with the radula (structure with which the snail scrapes the food to feed) and prefer the green leaves instead the slugs prefer those that are already withered or fallen, although they also eat tender stems, part of the seeds or buds, making room for fungi. If the attack is more severe, perforations and irregular edges may appear.
This damage is very similar to that caused by many insect larvae; however, it can be differentiated by direct observation of snails and slugs in the garden or by the trace of mucus they leave (especially the slugs), which in many cases stains the leaf, diminishing the quality of the harvest.

SOURCE

DAMAGE AND SYMPTOMS OF BABY AND SNAIL IN CROPS
It is easy to detect them since they are large and easy to see. They usually leave when the environment is hot and humid: at night, when it has just rained, the garden watered, when the day is cloudy. So if you have seen damage to your crops, be attentive to these moments so that you can identify the plague and end up with the most possible ones, that is when most of them leave their shelters and accumulate in the garden. Even so, if the environment is rather dry and you find refugees, you can detect their presence if you see large leaves and numerous rounded holes (they are very voracious) and traces of mucous or drool they release.

SOURCE

HOW TO COMBAT THEM
Many times these animals are very aggressive with our garden and they become a pest, hindering the growth of our plants. We must control that plague consciously, not exterminating all snails and slugs, as these are beneficial to preserve the balance of that environment.
If they are not still a plague in your garden, but they are also eating some plants, we recommend you wait for the night and go out to pick them up with a flashlight leaving them in a place that does not get in the way. It is very important to clean your garden well and remove all the extra plants so they do not serve as shelter.

SOURCE

HOW TO ELIMINATE THE PEST OF SNAILS AND BABY
After manually removing all the mollusks that you can or sprinkling them with salt (that's how they die) you can combine several of the following methods to eliminate the entire population of snails and slugs in your garden:

SOURCE

SHELTERS-TRAP
You can place pieces of leaves that snails like under tiles or other objects, such as wooden slats, that shade them. The mollusks will take refuge down there and that's when you can take advantage of them to eliminate several at once. You can also wet daily with a solution of water with sugar and fold them about 10cm wide. Put them on the edges of your garden on the ground and cover them with a board. The slugs attracted by the sugar will go to sleep to that place during the day, therefore you only have to go look for them and take them out.

SOURCE

NATURAL ENEMIES
The natural predators of snails and slugs are snakes, toads, birds, turtles or beetles, keep this in mind when looking for ways to avoid or fight pests the lizards, the blind worm or the centipedes, which feed on their eggs You can capture them or buy them at a store specializing in biological control and drop them near where the individuals you want to eliminate are. If you put stones or tiles these animals will take refuge in them and it will be easier for them to continue to live in your garden feeding on the plague.

CREATING BARRIERS TO NOT ENTER THE SNAILS AND BABIES

SOURCE

Copper sheets: Place copper sheets or copper frameworks around the food plant. The snails will try to climb it to reach their goal and they will slip without being able to achieve it.

SOURCE

Wood ashes and diatomaceous earth - both are sold in the nurseries -, are sprayed on the plants attacked by snails and slugs and around them and, as it is very annoying for them to move on them, they will leave. Keep in mind that if it rains this method will lose its effectiveness, so you'll have to renew the barriers.

SOURCE

The crushed shells or eggshell are very effective to prevent the advance of snails and slugs. Put them around the plants. The salt dehydrates them, but be careful where you throw it because it could also affect the plants.

SOURCE

Mint or sage are very good to keep snails away from our garden and orchard. If we do not want to plant them, what we can do is use these products as fertilizer and it seems that this moves the snails away from the site, and it is good advice because it will act as a natural fertilizer.

SOURCE

ELIMINATE SNAILS AND BISCUITS WITH BEER
Use a plastic or glass container-the size of a glass-and bury it near the plants preferred by the snails (place it buried in a hole but that protrudes a few millimeters from the ground so that irrigation water does not enter). Filled with beer the glass and you will see how in a couple of nights you have a few snails and slugs drowned in it. This is because they are attracted to beer and, when they reach the glass, they slide down its walls and fall inside without being able to get out. You can also put at night a rag soaked in milk or beer and put it around the plants, you will find snails and slugs in it. You must remove the dead snails every one or two days.

SOURCE

MOLLUSC SHAKE
It can be pretty disgusting, but I've heard that this can be an effective method: if the mixture of dead slugs and beer is beaten, and that liquid is watered around the plants that have been attacked, those who remain alive will leave quickly. Another way is to let the mixture rest and stir for a few days and add nettle branches. Then, filter it and spray the plants and soil with it. In addition to driving away these animals and slugs, this mixture is a good fertilizer.

SOURCE

FERRAMOL
If the attack in your garden is very severe, and you think that if you do not act quickly and very effectively you can lose most of the harvest, you can also use this commercial product. Ferramol comes from materials naturally present in nature (active material: ferric phosphate) that is why it is authorized for use in Ecological Agriculture. You can buy it in any store of organic farming supplies or garden center.

TIPS:
Adult snails lay many eggs in moist soil, or under stones or containers, or yard waste. The eggs hatch in 2 to 4 weeks. Snails take 2 years to reach maturity.

SOURCE:
http://www.huertodeurbano.com/insectos/caracoles-y-babosas/
https://www.ecoagricultor.com/conoce-10formas-de-evitar-y-combatir-las-plagas-de-caracoles-y-babosas/

Thank you for taking a few minutes to read my article.