Strawberries are sweet, juicy and delicious. So it’s no wonder that snails are also attracted to them. However, they eat the strawberry leaves and cause holes in the fruit that attract other insects. Here’s how to protect your strawberries from snails.
How to protect strawberries from snails?
Slugs can do a lot of damage to strawberries. If your crops are not protected, the snails can destroy your crops. Fortunately, you can keep the pests in check with simple methods and effective home remedies.
Just keep the pests away
Snails thrive best in moist environments with old foliage and mulch to hide.
Remove weeds, dead leaves, and debris from the strawberry beds that the snails may be hiding under. Although mulch is recommended for many crops, you should also remove it and leave the soil bare.
Watering your strawberries daily will create the perfect, moist habitat for snails. Instead, water your strawberry plants 1-2 times a week to keep the pests away and get a larger harvest.
Coffee grounds against snails in the garden
Many gardeners use coffee grounds as fertilizer in the garden as they provide beneficial nutrients and improve the soil. But few know that it also deters snails because they hate caffeine.
It is best to use fresh coffee grounds, as they are more effective than used ones, and spread them over the strawberry beds or sprinkle them directly around the plants. You can also mist the plants with cold coffee for extra protection.
Make a garlic spray
Garlic has long been used as a companion plant to many other plants as it deters pests and is also effective on snails.
Mix 1 head of garlic and 1 liter of water in a blender or food processor. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes and filter the liquid, removing the pieces of garlic. Pour the solution into a spray bottle and mist the strawberry plants and the soil around them. The strong smell of the garlic keeps the snails away.
Protect strawberries from snails: with citrus peels
Place citrus peels around your strawberry plants so the slugs will be attracted to them instead of your plant, as strawberries aren’t the only fruit they like.
Slice an orange or grapefruit and scoop out most of the flesh, but leave some on the inside of the peel. Spread the skins out a few feet from the strawberries and leave them overnight.
In the morning, if you find the shells filled with snails, you can throw them away along with the pests.
Drive away snails with oatmeal
One of the easiest ways to keep snails out in the garden is to make an oatmeal trap.
Place about a cup of plain, dry oatmeal in a container or can and place in the yard. The sweet, grainy scent of the oatmeal attracts slugs from around the garden, and they die fairly quickly after eating. Check your traps daily to refill and remove dead snails.
Beer traps to combat snails
One of the most popular methods gardeners use to get rid of snails is by setting beer traps. Because beer contains yeast and sugar, the snails are attracted to it, but they die due to the ethanol and the fact that they drown in the container.
You’ll need some yogurt or margarine tubs, which you bury in the ground around the strawberry plants, with the rim of the tubs level with the ground. Fill the containers with beer and check them regularly to refill and dispose of dead snails.
Instead of beer you can also make a mixture of 250ml water, 1 tbsp flour, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp yeast as this will also ferment and produce the same effect.
Snail barrier for strawberry beds
The exclusion is also an effective method to protect the strawberries from snails.
- Diatomaceous earth: Sprinkle diatomaceous earth near the strawberry plant so that it forms a barrier for the snails. When the pests get close to this barrier, their skin becomes irritated and they are unable to get past it. Note that diatomaceous earth is only effective when dry and for this reason the area should be sprinkled again after rain.
- wood ash: You can also create a barrier by sprinkling wood ash around the strawberries.
- copper tape: Copper tape against snails is commercially available, which causes unpleasant symptoms when it comes in contact with the snail’s slime. This reaction prevents the snails from approaching the strawberry plant.