The Ultimate Guide to Managing Slugs and Snails

This article takes an in depth look at how best to prevent slug and snail damage in your vegetable garden.


Once you understand slugs and snails, it becomes much easier to keep their numbers down in your plot. Here are a few key snippets of information to take on board:

They need moisture: Damp soil means they can move around easily, dry soil means they are less active at surface level. If the winter is mild, they can remain active all year round.

They need shelter: Many will bury themselves in the soil, either to shelter from frost or to find moisture during drought. Other favourite shelters include hiding beneath objects like stones, watering cans, pots etc and in amongst weeds and foliage.

Some are more active beneath soil level (hence those slug-eaten potatoes) whilst others are more active above ground.

Many species will not bother your veg at all as they eat decaying material (and are great for the compost pile!)

Some species are more prone to feasting on vegetable plants and tend to choose vulnerable plants, which includes: older dying leaves, germinating or newly transplanted seedlings.

They do have some favourites in the veg patch, which include: pak choi, very young carrot tops and celery, lettuces and spinach


How to Keep Numbers Down

There are so many things that you can do, but what we’d really like to emphasise is that if you struggle with slugs and snails in your plot,  the best thing to do is to take a multi-pronged approach. By doing so, you will find that your plants do much better and that slugs and snails become easier to stay on top of through the growing season.


What About Slug Pellets?

There are basically two types of slug poison found in slug pellets. The first is Metaldehyde which is used in most non-organic pellets. The second is Ferric Phosphate, the type usually found in organic pellets.

Metaldehyde is a “low toxic” poison which makes the slugs swell up with water retention and then they die. Although it falls under the category of “low toxic” it is usually labelled as “harmful to pets & children” and all advice points to keeping it from getting into our drinking water as it is poisonous.

Ferric Phosphate, which tends to be ‘certified for organic use’, is basically an iron overdose that damages the slug’s digestive system and kills it. It is often purported to be harmless to children, pets and animals, although there is some contradictory advice out there.

Needless to say, we would not advise using slug pellets, but you are, of course, free to make up your mind and we would encourage you to do your own research before you decide to use them.