Snail on a partially eaten leaf
Snail on a leaf
Snail in its shell on a leaf
Contents
Find all our tips in the application
Protecting crops from snails
Contents
Find all our tips in the application
The snail is a member of the gastropod family ("belly" and "foot" in ancient Greek). Species found in France include the Burgundy snail, the little grey snail and the wood snail.
This mollusk has a shell that it builds up as it grows, thanks to the calcium present in soil and plants. It feeds on plants and organic waste. Although not always welcome in our gardens, the snail contributes to the balance of our ecosystems. They are both targets for predators and soil cleaners.
Snails are hermaphrodites: the same individual produces both eggs and sperm. Two individuals must mate to ensure their descendants.
Contributing factors
Snails like temperatures around 15°. Like slugs, they are most active in autumn, spring and summer. In winter, they hide under stumps or stones.
Composed of 88% water, molluscs need a humid atmosphere to secrete sufficient mucus and move. Rain, dew and watering are all incentives for them to come out.
How it works
In dry weather, the snail huddles in its mucus-bathed shell. It takes advantage of the cool, damp night to venture out into the garden.
It moves slowly, but is a real acrobat, capable of climbing walls, stalks, wires, fences... With its tongue, called radula and equipped with over a thousand tiny teeth, it grazes on the young shoots of lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries and any other plant it comes across.
Once its meal is finished, it goes back to hiding in the shade.
Symptoms
The snail is devastating to seedlings, leaving nothing after its passage. A lover of tender leaves, it doesn't spare freshly transplanted seedlings either.
The gastropod leaves behind traces of slime that give it away. But even without this clue, it's easy to identify the culprit. The stems are truncated, the leaf blades have holes along the edges, and the fruit inside has been eaten away.
After being devoured, the plants are weakened and harvests diminished.
Treatment
To keep the snail population away and under control in your home, you can take effective, nature-friendly measures.
Snails have many predators. Keeping wild areas in your garden, planting berry bushes and hedges helps attract birds and insects that love these gastropods. You can also provide a shelter or leave a pile of branches and leaves to attract hedgehogs, which are fond of snails.
If you want to get rid of snails without killing them, make a nest for them out of tiles or a plank. Once they've taken refuge there, move them away from your crops. Gastropods don't like onions, garlic or common thyme. By planting them between your rows of vegetables, you'll keep the molluscs at bay. Finally, water in the morning to prevent the humidity from attracting snails.
You can also slow down the progress of snails. Mulch the base of your plants with coffee grounds, ashes or broken eggshells to prevent them from reaching your plants. The only drawback is that you'll need to renew the protection after each shower.
If these solutions prove insufficient, you can use iron phosphate granules, which are lethal to snails.
