How to Get Rid of Slugs in Cabbages Organically

Did you know there is a possibility of up to 200 slugs on every square yard of your garden?

Even worse, each of these slugs can produce 400 eggs a year. Slugs are hermaphrodites, meaning both males and females lay eggs.

With such a huge population of slugs, your cabbage plants are at significant risk. The slugs can strip your garden of all cabbages, making your farming a considerable loss.

Fortunately, you can fight back and effectively stop these slimy fiends from ravaging your garden.

In this article, I will show you various organic methods that effectively prevent slugs in cabbages. Read on.

Harden the Ground

Slugs avoid crawling on ground that’s too dry. Consequently, you can use sand, and gravel to help eliminate them.

For slugs to move, they do so with the help of a mucus substance from their body. Any surface that’s too dry makes it difficult for them to produce sufficient mucus.

Protect your cabbages by making it hard for slugs to reach them.

Avoid Organic Ground cover.

Organic ground cover provides shade and a convenient breeding place. As such, it's a conducive hiding place for laggards.

In addition, large volumes of mulch are great masking places for snails.

Tip: When dealing with snails in your cabbage, replace the large-piece organic mulch with smaller-grain mulches. You can also thin the mulch to about three inches.

Clean the Garden Area

Papers plus accumulated rubbish provide an ideal hiding place for snails.

Weeding your garden helps to keep garden slugs away. It deprives them of any hiding place under the long stalks of weed or leaves; therefore, they can’t reach your cabbages.

Plant Cabbages in Raised Beds

Raised beds of cabbage tend to dry up faster. The dry ground makes it difficult for snails to reach your cabbages.

If you are planning on planting cabbages, consider planting them on raised beds. It helps to minimize any possibility of infestation in your cabbages.

Introduce Ducks in Your Garden

Do you have ducks in your home?

Ducks can act as great predators to get rid of slugs in cabbages. They prey on terrestrial and aquatic mollusks .

Moreover, unlike chicken who might destroy your garden, ducks are safe for your brassica veggies.

So, introduce ducks in your garden of cabbages to help you eliminate laggards.

Introduce Predatory Slugs

Cannibalism is not always a bad thing!

Introducing cannibalistic snails can help you eliminate laggards in your cabbages. Some of the common snail predators include:

• Testacella

• Leopard laggards

• Rathouisiidae

• Rosy Wolf Snail

• Decollate Snail

• Two-Toned Gulella

• Ghost Slug

These predatory can eat other slugs in whole. Introducing them in your garden will help get rid of slugs.

Use Black Plastic Mulch

Black plastic mulch involves laying a black plastic film on your garden before planting. You can then cut tiny holes where you will plant your cabbages.

Black plastic mulches cause the soil to heat up and dry quickly. In effect, this makes it hard for slugs to hide in the soil.

Moreover, black plastic mulch prevents weeds from growing in your garden. When weed fails to sprout, it translates into minimal hiding and breeding places for slugs.

Erect Barriers

Slugs are very mobile. They can move several miles within a few days. It’s essential to ensure they don't get to your garden.

You can create a barrier of a two-foot wide path using:

• crushed eggshells

• wood ashes

• sharp sand

• crushed oyster shells

• sawdust

Copper strings or wire screens are other effective barriers.

When slugs touch the copper wire, they experience an unpleasant feeling on their skin. Consequently, they tend to keep off any copper wire barriers.

Caution: However, not every coper strip sold in the garden shops is effective. Ensure that the copper strip is at least two inches wide.

Use Beer Trapping

Do you know that slugs love beer?

Yes, I can term them the hipsters of the bug world. Consequently, you can use beer to trap as many of them as possible.

Make a hollow in your garden that can fit the can that you plan to use. Fill the can with beer up to 2/3 full, then let it remain overnight.

The beer attracts this creepy crawlies. As a result, they will fall into the can and die. You can then empty the can and replace it in the morning.

However, you will require to have several traps in your garden. At least have a beer trap after every square yard.

Wrapping it up

Slugs can adversely damage your cabbages. In addition, they lay many eggs and multiply fast if you don’t take quick action to eliminate them.

Organic methods of eliminating slugs are the most appropriate; they add no chemicals to your garden. Moreover, they are safe for you and easy to execute.

I have discussed several options above. Choose the method that works best for you to secure your cabbages.