Many gardeners who have community garden plots or home gardens on the ground floor would have encountered slugs and snails gnawing at their plants, or worse, denuding them. The presence of these gastropods is a recurring event in my garden and I’ve looked at different ways on how to get rid of slugs and snails from my property in Singapore. The snails I usually find are the African Land Snail, Luminescent Land Snail, Humphrey’s Land Snail and Allopeas Snail but we do have a diverse number of snails in Singapore.
My former flock of chickens would eat the smaller snails and slugs but my current resident flock turn their beaks up at them. So I’ve had to explore other ways of dealing with them that don’t involve slug or snail pellets, something which I’m not terribly fond of because I don’t like the use of poisons in my garden or the likelihood of making my chickens or any wildlife sick.
Aside from pellets, other tactics that gardeners swear by include copper tape, beer traps/pub, wool pellets, diatomaceous earth, coffee grounds, brambles, and using a plank as a lure, where they can be found and dealt with later. This is a good time to mention that crushed egg shells are not as effective as once thought, because gardeners have found that snails and slugs just crawl over it.
There are however, non-chemical, humane strategies that you can consider, either through preventing or by baiting/trapping, and then relocating. They may come across as the enemy but they are ecologically beneficial. Their diet consists of fungi and rotting leaves and other vegetation, and as detritivores and some say decomposers, they help in breaking down plant waste, cycling nutrients back to the soil. While they are not particularly welcome to our vegetable garden especially, we don’t need to use a take no prisoners approach.
If you grow the unique bat faced cuphea (Cuphea llavea) in your garden, you may encounter issues with snails munching on the leaves, flowers, and stems of this prized plant. Snails can quickly damage and weaken bat faced cuphea with their voracious appetites. Fortunately, there are several effective methods to get rid of snails and protect your bat faced cupheas.
Understanding Snail Behavior
Snails are gardener’s pests that can attack a wide variety of plants including vegetables, flowers, and ornamentals. They are prolific breeders and come out at night or on cloudy humid days to feast on vegetation. Snails particularly enjoy munching on young, tender plant tissues and seedlings.
The sticky slime trail that snails leave behind allows them to glide easily over surfaces They hide under boards, stones, debris, and dense groundcovers during the day. Snails thrive in damp conditions and multiply rapidly in overly moist soil.
When snails attack bat faced cuphea, they chew irregular holes in the foliage and flowers, stripping leaves down to the veins. This damage stunts plant growth, causes unsightly damage, and can even kill the plant if the infestation is severe. Controlling snails is crucial for growing healthy bat faced cuphea.
Remove Snail Hiding Places
The first step is to eliminate debris, weeds, and dense groundcovers where snails hide during the day. Keep your garden free of piles of leaves, boards, stones, or other potential snail shelters. Removing their hiding places makes gardens less attractive to snails.
Hand Pick Snails
Go out at night with a flashlight and gloves to hand pick snails off your bat faced cupheas. You can easily spot the silvery trails they leave behind. Drop snails into a bucket of soapy water to dispatch them. Crush larger snail eggs clusters you find to prevent them from hatching.
Use Barriers
Ring bat faced cuphea stems with a copper strip or aluminum flashing. The electrical charge of these barriers gives snails an unpleasant shock when they try to cross over deterring them. Diatomaceous earth sprinkled around plants also deters snails as the sharp particles irritate their soft bodies.
Set Beer Traps
Sink shallow containers of beer into the soil around bat faced cuphea. Snails are attracted to the yeasty smell but will drown after falling in. The beer traps lure snails away from your plants.
Apply Slug Baits
Scatter snail and slug bait pellets on the soil around bat faced cuphea according to package directions. Iron phosphate or metaldehyde baits attract snails but are toxic when consumed. Avoid spreading bait liberally, as it can harm beneficial insects.
Use Coffee Grounds
Sprinkle used coffee grounds around bat faced cuphea. The caffeine and coarse texture of spent grounds deters snails. The grounds won’t completely eliminate snails but helps protect plants. Reapply after rain or watering washes the grounds away.
Encourage Natural Predators
Welcome snail predators like ground beetles, fireflies, frogs, lizards, and birds into your garden. Creating suitable habitats for these creatures promotes natural snail control. Avoid pesticides that would eliminate these helpful predators.
Change Watering Schedule
Water bat faced cuphea early in the day so the foliage dries by evening. Damp soil and leaves at night creates ideal conditions for snails. Drip or subsurface irrigation also leaves soil drier compared to overhead watering.
Use Snail Resistant Plants
Choose snail resistant companions like California poppy, society garlic, and sea thrift around bat faced cuphea. The fuzzy, tough, or aromatic leaves of these plants are less appetizing to snails, providing a protective barrier.
Practice Crop Rotation
Rotate bat faced cupheas to different garden beds each year. Moving plants to a new spot helps disrupt the reproduction cycle of snails and prevents severe infestations.
Maintain Good Garden Hygiene
Keep your garden free of decaying vegetation, fallen leaves, and weeds where snails thrive. Properly space plants to allow air circulation and avoid over-mulching. These good gardening practices create a less hospitable environment for snails.
Controlling snails requires diligence and using multiple methods for the best results. Combining physical removal, barriers, natural predators, and baits will provide effective snail control and keep your bat faced cupheas flourishing. Be patient, as reducing snail populations takes time. With a snail management plan in place, you can protect bat faced cuphea and other treasured plants in your garden from damage.
Are snail pellets safe for cats, dogs, birds and vegetables?
There are a couple types of snail pellets commonly found on the market. They contain Metaldehyde or Iron phosphate and many want to know if it is dangerous for cats, dogs, birds, wildlife and vegetables.
Metaldehyde pellets have existed for a long time and are still easily available in Singapore nurseries. It is highly toxic to animals, not advisable for use around edible plants and it has been reported that once it leaches into waterways, it is difficult to fully remove chemical residues. Overall this is harmful to pets, wildlife and vegetables and not a good idea in my opinion.
Iron phosphate pellets are said to be a safer option compared to Metaldehyde, and safer for cats, dogs, birds and other wildlife, but it can still kill earthworms. Also, it is important to note that dogs get sick after consuming lots of iron. Also, you are exposing yourself to it if it gets on your skin or if you accidentally breathe it in.
But an even safer alternative is not to use these snail pellets altogether. There has been talk about how a caffeine solution is effective but unfortunately this can also kill beneficial insects which your plants need. While it is natural and of organic origin, it is hostile to the ecosystem and I would not recommend it.
Why a beer trap is not a good idea
It’s not the beer itself but the yeast in the beverage which attracts them. In fact, it is so effective that several gardeners warn how its smell may attract even more of them to your garden. Rather than giving yourself even more problems and being unnecessarily cruel, why not try other methods?
Bat Face Cuphea Plant (Cuphea llavea) And Cutting Propagation
FAQ
How to care for bat face Cuphea?
What is the best fertilizer for Cuphea?
How do you save Cuphea?
How do you care for a bat faced Cuphea?
For best results, provide plants with: Organic soil. Full sun or part shade, depending on where you live. Regular water. All-purpose fertilizer. Bat-faced cuphea is fairly low maintenance. You can perform some light tip pruning or pinching if plants become too leggy.
What is a bat face Cuphea plant?
Native to Central America and Mexico, bat face cuphea plant (Cuphea llavea) is named for its interesting little bat-faced blooms of deep purple and bright red. Read this article for helpful informatio
How do you grow a bat face Cuphea?
The easiest way to grow cuphea flowers is to purchase bedding plants at a nursery or garden center. Otherwise, start seeds indoors 10 to 12 weeks before the last hard frost in your area. Plant bat face cuphea in full sunlight and the plant will reward you with color throughout the season.
How do you plant a bat-faced Cuphea?
Combine bat-faced cuphea with red or purple flowers or foliage to complement the flowers. Plant bat-faced cuphea in annual beds, along the edges of borders or paths, or in containers – including hanging baskets – where its unique flowers can be appreciated up close.