This spring I had trouble with snails and slugs eating my newly planted beans. I performed an experiment in three separate slug infested areas to find a solution. Here are my results:
1. Copper pennies. This is a cheap version of copper tape. I'd read that pennies minted before 1983 have a high copper content and would give the slug/snail an "electric shock" when they slime over it. I gathered as many as I could find and circled my young sprout. It didn't work; the next morning the plant was gone. I could see a silvery trail over the pennies and after the first watering, I couldn't even see the pennies. FAILED.
2. Sluggo. Sluggo doesn't kill the slug/snail instantly, it takes a few days for it to work. After few weeks I found empty snail shells, but the plants were long gone. FAILED
3. Yogurt cups with Vaseline. I cut the bottom off a used yogurt cup slathering the top inch with Vaseline and buried the rim in the dirt (so they couldn't get under the cup). Watering didn't effect the Vaseline. I noted silver trail near the plant, but not on the cup. The photo on the left is after several pest free days. SUCCESS!
I planted stringbeans in little paper cups and put them outside in a cardboard box thinking that this would outsmart the snails. I was delighted when the beans started sprouting and grew a few inches high. Then one day I went outside and all the plants were gone! I found a several plump snails hiding in the box! I'm going to give this Vaseline trick a try for sure! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDiana, I know the feeling. Let me know if it works for you.
ReplyDelete