|
With the 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.
|
