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- Recent rain has brought the snails out. Slugs are there all year round, but the snails
only after this sort of cool rain and every year there rages the perennial debate about
which is the best way to control them.
- To do nothing is not really an option, since they will decimate your seedlings and any
young shoots and if you are reading this I assume you are a gardener and keen to preserve
your patch.
- The most toxic option is the blue pellet, active agent is methiocarb or
mesurol,
marketed by Bayer® Germany as Baysol™ and quite lethal to the central nervous system
of pets and wildlife who may graze the odd pellet. Effective at a wide temperature range
and does not decay rapidly. It is toxic to earthworms and the residue persists for a few
days in the soil.
- The next option is the green pellet of metaldehyde, marketed by Defender™ Garden
Products P/L as Blitzem™, moderately poisonous to pets and wildlife, it looses its
effectiveness very quickly as temperatures below 15°C, which it was for most of last
weekend and certainly most nights these days. Low toxicity to earthworms and persists in
the soil for a few days.
- The third option is a bran coloured pellet with an Iron complex active agent marketed as
Multiguard™ by Multicrop® Aust.P/L, which is harmless to pets and wildlife and is
only slightly temperature dependent, does not it loose effectiveness in humid conditions,
although the pellets do disintegrate quickly. Low toxicity to earthworms and when it
breaks down in the soils, releases a chelated form of iron to remedy
iron-induced-chlorosis.
- Of course there is the satay stick and go play ‘Vlad-the-Impailer’ at night,
with torch in hand. Leave the satay sticks of writhing snails in the garden as a mollusc
deterrent.
- Of course you could collect the snails squash and brew them in brine and then pour the
water and foam around your valued perennials and annual seedlings. My mate John Colwill in
Perth swears by this one. You could of course simply stamp on your catch, cook them,
liberate them in another neighbourhood…etc.
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