One thing which does not make gardens attractive has slimy snails in them. Unfortunately, as a gardener, you may have to deal with getting rid of pests for a healthy garden. Among many other pests, snails are commonly found. You can tell you have snails by looking at the leaves, seeing if it has any holes in them. One way people have found to get rid of snails is to use beer traps.
A beer trap is an effective way to get rid of those nasty snails from your garden.
Snails and slugs are attracted to beer because of the yeast in them. Therefore, you can use beer to create a trap and lure the snails, causing them to drown. Snails have the ability to smell the beer from as far as 100 yards, so you do not have to worry about them finding the beer trap.
How Do You Make a Beer Trap for Snails?
If you do not know how to make a beer trap, keep reading. Making a beer trap is an easy process, and so is implementing it. It would be best if you had some plastic containers, preferably ones with caps. The best kind of containers you can use is yoghurt or butter containers. The container needs to be a bit deep for the trick to work. In addition, you also require some beer. Some people become worried if only alcoholic beer is needed. However, snails are attracted to all sorts of beer, so you can use whichever is available.
Next, you need to make a few big holes in the containers for snails to get in. The containers need to be buried around one inch in the ground. You can place these containers in areas in your garden where you find the most slug population.
You can then go ahead and fill the containers with some beer. The beer will attract the snails, and they will go inside the container only to drown in the beer. You can check daily to see if you have trapped any snails. In addition, you can use these beer traps during the night and check in the morning.
Does Beer Attract Snails?
The reason why people use beer in beer traps is that it attracts snails. Not many people would have believed you if you had thought about this notion a few years back. However, snails and slugs are also attracted to the smell of beer because of the malt or yeast in it.
What Other Liquids Attract Snails?
Apart from beer, there are other liquids that you can use to attract snails. For instance, snails are also attracted to milk. Or, you can use some wine in the beer trap if you cannot get your hands on any beer. Moreover, another way to attract snails is to create a mixture using yeast. Generally, snails will be attracted to sugary products.
What Else Can You Put in a Beer Trap?
If you do not like the idea of putting beer in your traps, you can always choose other ingredients. Turns out snails are attracted to lots of different things, and you can add them to your trip to make it more appealing.
You can put salad leaves, cabbage or spinach. In addition, any kitchen leftover greens can also be a good choice when it comes to beer traps. Most people, however, make the mistake of putting seasoned food in beer traps. It is important to avoid anything seasoned because it can attract rats to your garden. Therefore, it is essential to only resort to plain leaves and vegetables.
How to Make Beer Traps Effective
In addition to creating a good beer trap, what matters is how you implement it. For instance, you need to create an environment for snails that attracts them. Snails enjoy being mostly in dark and moist environments. You can put the slug traps in dark places with less sunlight, so the snails are more drawn to it.
Moreover, place the beer trap in a place where there are no natural predators of snails. Naturally, snails will avoid an area where their natural predators are like birds and hedgehogs. Therefore, the slug trap should be well hidden from the predators so the snails do not feel threatened.
What Other Ways Can You Get Rid of Snails?
The obvious way to get rid of snails is to use pesticides. However, if you wish to avoid using chemicals, you can also adopt other methods to keep your garden free from snails.
The first thing you can do is to let nature take its course. This means that you must encourage natural predators in your garden. Animals like birds and hedgehogs love feeding on snails, and you can encourage them by installing birdhouses and leaving food for hedgehogs.
In addition, if you have a few snails, you can simply handpick them. Most people do not like the idea, but you can always wear some gloves! You may have to collect snails while it is a bit dark out, as that is when they usually come out.
You can use some methods to prevent snails from harming your plants, such as creating a barrier using eggshells or coffee. The eggshells are uncomfortable, and snails have a hard time walking on them. The smell of coffee will also keep these buggers away.
Summary
A way to get rid of snails from your garden without using chemicals is beer traps. Beer traps work by attracting snails to the beer, which they eventually drink and drown. Apart from beer, there are other liquids you can use, like milk, wine, or yeast. In addition, you can also use greens like lettuce, spinach, or cabbage.
When using beer traps, you must place them in areas where there is shade and which are safe from predators like birds and hedgehogs. There are other methods of getting rid of snails, like handpicking them, creating a barrier using eggshells or coffee.
