Snails and slugs have always been a headache for amateur gardeners and farmers who grow organically. These slimy little creatures reproduce quickly and in large quantities, feeding on the leaves and roots of your carefully cared for plants. Small and delicate seedlings can be quickly ravaged by snails and slugs. Fortunately, there are several effective and natural methods to prevent these animals from feeding on the plants in the garden. The following article explains in detail one of the most common methods: how to use beer to get rid of snails in the garden.
Steps
Step 1. Find a suitable container for the beer trap
Killing snails with beer is an easy process - it simply involves luring the snails into an open container, containing beer, in which they fall and drown. Suitable containers for making these beer traps include plastic cups, yogurt pots, and the bottoms of plastic bottles.
- The container must be deep enough for slugs and slugs to fall in and prevent them from crawling out. The deep containers also prevent the beer from evaporating in the sun too quickly.
- The container must be airtight so that the beer does not simply seep out into the surrounding soil. For example, ice cream cartons are not good because they tend to spoil too quickly.
Step 2. Bury your beer trap container in the garden soil
Bring the cup and a hand transplanter into the garden. Start digging a hole for the container until it fits snugly with the mouth of the cup right at ground level (snails should be able to fall into the cup easily from ground level). Fill the hole with soil if necessary so that the container is firm and stable.
- The location of the beer trap is important. It needs to be placed close enough to the garden so that snails are attracted to beer rather than plants.
- If you have a small garden, a single beer trap is often enough. However, you may want to consider placing several traps around the perimeter of a larger garden.
Step 3. Fill the container with beer
When the container is placed in the ground, fill it about 80 percent with any type of beer. Snails and slugs are attracted to both yeasts and carbohydrates contained in beer; they will fall into the cup and drown.
Step 4. Remove snails from the beer trap every day
Check the beer trap every day for snails and slugs. You can remove the cup from the ground and pour all of its contents out, or you can remove the dead snails with tweezers to use the beer again. Top up with more beer when evaporation has lowered the level.
Step 5. Adjust the position of the snail trap in order to protect pets
Of course, this type of snail trap can induce curious cats and dogs to consume beer; it can also attract wasps and other unwanted animals. If this is the case, use some system to prevent this from happening, for example by using a plastic bottle and limiting access only to snails.
- Cut out an opening in the bottle, using sharp scissors. The opening should have a rectangular shape, and be positioned approximately halfway up the height of the bottle. The opening should be wide enough to allow access to snails.
- Bury the plastic bottle until the bottom of the opening is aligned with the surrounding ground. Pour the beer through the opening until it almost reaches the level of the opening itself.
- Put the cap on the bottle. With this solution, snails can still fall into the beer through the small opening, but the beer is less accessible to pets and unwanted ones.
