Combating slugs on cabbage folk remedies

Many novice gardeners do not even representhow many “enemies” do ordinary cabbage have: mole, flea, and slugs. The last uninvited guests in the absence of a fight against them can easily leave you without a cabbage harvest. If you want to understand what should be done to prevent their visit, as well as learn about the effective fight against slugs on cabbage, then this material is for you!

Who are they?

Slugs are atypical gastropods.Evolution has deprived animals of a protective shell - its soft little body is protected from drying out only by mucus, which the secretory glands of the creature constantly produce. For such a slippery surface, the mollusk was named a slug.

You can learn it by the characteristic cream orbeige color, pronounced head with two horns. The fact that the slug was on your heads can be guessed by a recognizable silver path on the leaves - these are traces of mucus secreted by the mollusk.

Because of their insecurity, they prefersettling in shady and humid places is the upper layers of the soil, wood, plant residues, humus, etc. Naturally, high temperatures, as well as direct sunlight, are detrimental to it - a good natural method of dealing with slugs on cabbage. Most strongly, the mollusks are active in the evening and at night, when the sun sets over the horizon, the air cools - then they go out to eat white-colored victims.

About the dangers of slugs

Why are so many gardeners so worried about how to deal with slugs on cabbage? The reason is a certain harm of defenseless mollusks:

• Little slugs are extremely voracious.And at the same time white cabbage is not their only favorite "dish". They are not averse to feast on color, broccoli, Peking. Insects will not refuse from strawberries, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes and potato tops.
• The slug, by its activity, not only makes the cabbage leaf inedible, but also causes significant damage to the plant - the tracts of its mucus clog the respiratory tubules.
• Slugs are also carriers of harmful viruses and microorganisms. At the same time, the disease sometimes concerns not only one cabbage, but also plants growing on neighboring beds.

Combating slugs on cabbage folk remedies

Our ancestors knew how to deal with mollusks-pests with improvised means. We present you their effective methods:

• Tobacco, sulfur, ash. These substances should be scattered into specialgrooves dispersed around the perimeter of the bed. The smell that they exude is unpleasant for slugs, and the ingress of money on their body causes a severe burn. However, the method has one drawback: after the rain, the "protective strip" must be updated.
• Mulching. More modern way.Cover the bed with foil so that the road to the mollusks remains clear. The resulting condensate, the humid atmosphere will attract the slugs at night into this trap. But the greenhouse effect during the day, under the rays of the sun, will certainly cause the death of pests.
• Bitter pepper lime. Fence a groove with one of these components. A slug, falling on particles of lime or pepper, gets a severe burn, leading to his death.
• Table vinegar or mustard powder. Размешайте 1/2 стакана столового уксуса в 10 л water - the substance can be replaced if desired with mustard powder (150 g for a bucket of water). The fight with slugs on cabbage is simple here - handle the planting solution, paying great attention to the tops of the heads.
• Nettle. Destructive to slugs because of its stingingeffect, striking their delicate little body. Wrap the legs of the planting with fresh nettle leaves - experienced gardeners believe that it will completely deprive cabbage of uninvited guests.

Universal remedies

We will also tell about folk remedies that will save not only cabbage from slugs:

• Salt. A good remedy for compost heaps is that salting is not very useful. Sprinkle with powder silver paths of mucus, and soon you will no longer meet uninvited guests.
• Soda Ash. Самый простой метод - посыпать порошком collection of shellfish. They die in a few seconds. For processing plants it is better to prepare soda solution: 50 g of soda, 20 g of laundry soap on a bucket of water.
• Ammonia. Fighting slugs on cabbage with ammoniaalcohol is quite dangerous for the plant - in no case do not splash the solution on its leaves, roots, stem, and process only the soil. The solution is simple to prepare - 2 l of ammonia per 10 l of water (continuous processing, for selective sampling, it is possible to confine 1 l of solution).

Needles, vinegar, mustard will also help protect plants from pests.

Chemicals

If you are determined to deal decisively with slugs on cabbage, then we will bring to your attention effective chemical products:

• "Thunderstorm". Средство создано специально для уничтожения slugs and snails. The active ingredient here is metaldehyde. Appearance - bluish granules. The mollusk eats them willingly, and the effect of the components on its organism leads to the death of the pest. For birds, mammals, earthworms, the remedy remains harmless.
• "Meta". The drug is also based on metaldehyde andeffective if it gets inside the body of the mollusk. You need to find places on the bed of large clusters of pests and scatter the tool near them. Approximate consumption - 15 g / 15 m².
• Metaldehyde. The purest substance itself is also excellent.means against pests. But in such a concentration it is a strong poison, including for humans! Therefore, the solution of metaldehyde should be treated with cabbage at least 3 weeks before harvest. If the substance is in granules, then you should scatter a few pieces under the legs of the landings.

Traps

Some gardeners believe that effective control of slugs on cabbage is the placement of simple traps:

• Вблизи излюбленных мест обитания слизней Spread pieces of plywood, slate, wood, under which the clams will be comfortable to climb. Now you only need to bypass these traps and collect slugs that are snug under them.
• Place on a cabbage bed with liquid cans- kvass, fermented compote, beer. The smell will definitely attract slugs, but not only them - useful insects can also fall prey to such a trap.

Lovers of slugs

You can go unconventional way and draw onyour plot of animals for which slugs will be an excellent delicacy. These predators primarily include frogs and toads. You can invite amphibians by building huts for them from branches and leaves. Also she doesn’t disdain shellfish as a frequent guest on the garden plots - hedgehog.

Preventive measures

In order not to go over to the measures to deal with slugs on cabbage, it is easiest to prevent them from appearing:

• Plant cabbage sprouts on somedistance from each other - otherwise the “roof” of densely located leaves would be an ideal place of residence for mollusks. In the case of frequent landing slugs will be harder to detect.
• Накрывайте ранние сорта пленкой.High temperatures that provide the greenhouse effect are detrimental to the pest. But for later varieties, this method is not suitable - it can lead to rotting of the roots.
• Water the planting of water heated to high temperatures in the sun - it does not hurt the plant, but for delicate little bodies of slugs it is destructive.
• Take care that the beds are not surrounded by tall grass thickets.
• Mineral fertilizers (superphosphate, potassium salt) are applied regularly and in time - you can simply scatter them across the bed.
• Make the border along the perimeter of the bed of coarse sand, crushed eggshell, crushed shells, sharp shells of nuts - the tender belly of the slug will not overcome these obstacles.

You can fight with slugs in a variety of effective ways with which we introduced you. However, it is still calmer and easier to prevent them from appearing on the garden beds.