Many novice gardeners do not even know how many “enemies” ordinary cabbage has: moths , fleas, and slugs. The last uninvited guests in the absence of a fight with them can easily leave you without a cabbage crop. 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 especially for you!
Who are they?
Slugs are atypical gastropods. Evolution deprived animals of a protective carapace - its soft body is protected from drying only by mucus, which is constantly produced by the creature's secretory glands. For such a slippery surface, the mollusk was called a slug.
You can recognize it by the characteristic cream or beige color, a pronounced head with two horns. The fact that the slug has visited your heads of cabbage can be guessed from the recognizable silver path on the leaves - these are traces of mucus secreted by the mollusk.
Because of their insecurity, they prefer to settle in shady and humid places - these are the upper layers of the soil, wood, plant debris, humus, etc. Naturally, high temperatures, as well as direct sunlight are destructive for him - a good natural method of dealing with slugs on the cabbage. The mollusks are most active in the evening and at night, when the sun sets over the horizon, the air cools - then they go out to feast on white-headed victims.
About the dangers of slugs
Why are so many gardeners so worried about ways to deal with slugs on cabbage? The reason is a certain harm to defenseless mollusks:
- Small slugs are extremely gluttonous. And at the same time white cabbage is not their only favorite “dish”. They are not averse to feasting on color, broccoli, Beijing. Insects will not refuse strawberries, wild strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes and potato tops.
- Slime by its activity not only makes the cabbage leaf inedible, but also causes significant damage to the plant - the paths of its mucus clog the respiratory tubules.
- Slugs are also carriers of harmful viruses and microorganisms. In this case, the disease sometimes affects not only one cabbage, but also plants growing on neighboring beds of plants.
The fight against slugs on cabbage folk remedies
Our ancestors knew how to cope with mollusk pests with improvised means. We will present you their effective methods:
- Tobacco, sulfur, ash . These substances should be scattered in special grooves dispersed around the entire perimeter of the bed. The smell that they exude is unpleasant for slugs, and getting the product on their body causes a severe burn. However, the method has one minus: after the rain, the "protective strip" must be updated.
- Mulching . More modern way. Cover the bed with foil so that the path to the mollusks remains clear. Condensation, humid atmosphere will draw slugs into this trap at night. But the greenhouse effect during the day, under the sun, will certainly cause the death of pests.
- Bitter pepper, lime . Line the bed with grooves with one of these components. Slime, falling on particles of lime or pepper, gets a severe burn, leading to its death.
- Table vinegar or mustard powder . Stir 1/2 cup table vinegar in 10 l of water - the substance can be replaced if desired with mustard powder (150 g per bucket of water). The fight against slugs on cabbage is simple - treat with a planting solution, paying great attention to the tops of heads of cabbage.
- Nettle It is detrimental to slugs due to its stinging effect that affects their delicate body. Wrap the planting legs with fresh nettle leaves - experienced gardeners believe that this 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 tool for compost heaps - salting the beds is not very useful. Sprinkle powder over the silvery slime paths and soon you will no longer meet uninvited guests.
- Soda ash . The easiest method is to sprinkle the clam collection powder. They will die in a few seconds. For processing plants, it is better to prepare a soda solution: 50 g of soda, 20 g of laundry soap shavings in a bucket of water.
- Ammonia Fighting slugs on cabbage with ammonia is quite dangerous for the plant - in no case spray the solution on its leaves, roots, stalk, but treat only the soil. The solution is simple to prepare - 2 liters of ammonia per 10 liters of water (continuous processing, for a sample one can limit itself to 1 liter of solution).
Needles, vinegar, mustard will also help protect plants from pests.
Chemicals
If you are determined to decisively combat slugs on cabbage, then we present to your attention effective chemicals:
- Thunderstorm . The tool was created specifically for the destruction of slugs and snails. The active substance here is metaldehyde. Appearance - granules of a bluish tint. The mollusk eats them willingly, and the impact of the components on its body leads to the death of the pest. For birds, mammals, earthworms, the tool remains harmless.
- Meta The drug is also based on metaldehyde and is effective if it gets into the body of a mollusk. You need to find places of a large accumulation of pests on the bed and scatter the product near them. The approximate consumption is 15 g / 15 m 2 .
- Metaldehyde . The purest substance itself is also an excellent pest killer. But in such a concentration, it is a strong poison, including for humans! Therefore, a solution of metaldehyde should be processed cabbage at least 3 weeks prior to harvest. If the substance is in granules, then several pieces should be scattered under the landing legs.
Traps
Some gardeners believe that an effective fight against slugs on cabbage is the arrangement of simple traps:
- Lay out pieces of plywood, slate, wood near your favorite slug habitats, under which it will be convenient for mollusks to climb. Now you will only need to bypass these traps and collect slugs comfortably settled under them.
- Place jars of liquid on the cabbage bed - kvass, fermented compote, beer. The smell will definitely attract slugs, but not only them - beneficial insects can also fall prey to such a trap.
Slug lovers
You can go in an unconventional way and attract animals to your site for which slugs will be an excellent treat. Such predators primarily include frogs and toads. You can invite amphibians by constructing huts for them from branches and leaves. Also, a frequent guest in the garden plots - hedgehog - does not disdain shellfish.
Preventative measures
In order not to go over to measures to combat slugs on cabbage, the easiest way to prevent their appearance is:
- Plant sprouts of cabbage at some distance from each other - otherwise the "roof" of densely arranged leaves will be an ideal place to live for mollusks. In the case of frequent planting, slugs will be more difficult to detect.
- Cover early grades with foil. High temperatures that provide a greenhouse effect are harmful to the pest. But for later varieties, this method is not suitable - it can lead to rotting of the roots.
- Water the plantings with water heated in the sun to high temperatures - this will not harm the plant, but for the delicate bodies of slugs it is destructive.
- Make sure that the bed is not surrounded by tall thickets of grass.
- Regularly and on time, apply mineral fertilizers (superphosphate, potassium salt) - they can simply be scattered around the bed.
- Make a border along the perimeter of a bed of coarse sand, crushed eggshells, crushed shells, sharp nutshells - the tender belly of the slug will not overcome these obstacles.
There are many effective ways to deal with slugs that we introduced you to. However, it is still calmer and easier to prevent their appearance on the beds.