Understanding the Habits of Slugs and Snails

2/23/2006

Business Wire

Understanding the Habits of Slugs and Snails is First Line of Defense for Home Gardeners; Pacific Northwest and California Gardeners Share Challenges

Combating slug and snail activity in Pacific Northwest and California gardens can seem like a full-time job for homeowners, unless the proper control strategies are in place. These pests can destroy unprotected plants including flowers, fruits, vegetables and ornamentals from late winter through fall. Understanding just how much damage they are capable of, when and how they threaten plants year round and how to remedy the problem is the first line of defense for gardeners.

Slugs and snails have surprisingly ravenous appetites despite their small size. Adults can eat 40 times their weight daily and completely devour new bedding plants within 24 hours. Each season presents a set of challenges created by these hearty eaters.

Late Winter - "False Spring" Days

Warm false spring days in late winter can inspire Pacific Northwest gardeners to plant bedding plants before the threat of frost truly disappears. This warm weather also invites slugs to emerge early and puts unprotected gardens at risk. In central and southern California, where there is less rain and humidity, snails are active this time of year. They are particularly attracted to roses that become available in January and February.

Spring - Slug and Snail Fest

Protecting plants during the critical growth stage in early spring is imperative. Slugs hatch in the Pacific Northwest and snails are already in full swing in southern California. Applying snail and slug bait around seedlings and young plants will enhance their survival rate.

Summer - Watering Creates Feasting Opportunities

Gardeners who frequently water their plants during the summer must be prepared to follow a treatment method to battle an ever present slug population. Slugs love tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons as much as people do. Marigolds, another summer favorite, are also extremely prone to slug attacks.

Fall - Breeding Season

When the rain returns, slugs breed in moist cracks and holes in soil. Snails and slugs both breed in areas that provide shelter, such as mulch and leaf mounds. Since slugs and snails are hermaphroditic, some have the potential to lay up to 500 eggs each year. It is best to bait just prior to when eggs are laid and again just when the eggs hatch.

Mike Darcy, garden expert and host of radio and television gardening programs in the Pacific Northwest, explains that META(R) based slug and snail baits employ a unique, specific mode of action in which mollusks' mucus producing cells are irreversibly destroyed. Unlike with other baits, slugs and snails that ingest META(R) cannot recover, even in wet conditions. Baiting with META(R) based products increases the survival rate of fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants because of META(R)'s high efficacy rate in all conditions. Darcy offers the following application tips to keep gardens snail and slug free with META(R):

--Read all package directions before baiting.

--Regularly bait for slugs and snails, especially before and after rain.

--Evenly spread pellets three to four inches apart to prevent clumping or piling, or spread meal lightly over damp soil.

--Apply bait right before dusk on wet or damp soil, just before slugs come out for their nightly feedings.

--Find snails and slugs where they hide, such as around stacks of firewood, mulch piles, dense ground cover, flower pots, damp and shady shelters, debris, weeds and ivy.

Thomas Brancato of Lonza Inc., manufacturer of META(R), notes that consumers who look for the META(R) brand seal of approval on slug bait packages at retail stores can be assured of the following stringent standards:

--META(R) formulated baits specifically target snails and slugs and do not harm beneficial organisms such as bees, earthworms and carabid beetles.

--Baits contain an EPA approved agent to deter product ingestion by dogs.

--The pellet size is adjusted to create optimum baiting points on the soil surface.

--The product is mold resistant.

--META(R) is rapidly degraded into C0(2) and H(2)0 by microorganisms.

Snail and slug baits that contain META(R) as an active ingredient include Corry's and Deadline, which can be found at home improvement and home and garden centers.