I have been seeing this mark, very visible in the morning and at night too... It is like dots of aluminium paint... If I pop out and have a look around 9pm or 10pm I will never miss the sight of trails made by snails...... They eat the leaves of our french marigold, on daily basis. It is a battle of wits, man against snails!!!, over french marigolds... haha... They have consumed not less than twenty of our baby 4 inches tall marigolds!!... I keep on germinating and planting.... I havent given up yet.
So far, we had not gone to the extent of using poisonous baits yet.... Something like 30 - 40 little snails had been hand-picked from their cool resting place and destroyed... Yes, we are fighting sovereignty over this little vegetable garden and the marigolds .... Over months, we are still here, and they are still here too, snugging under rocks and pots and come out and rule the night!
So far, we had not gone to the extent of using poisonous baits yet.... Something like 30 - 40 little snails had been hand-picked from their cool resting place and destroyed... Yes, we are fighting sovereignty over this little vegetable garden and the marigolds .... Over months, we are still here, and they are still here too, snugging under rocks and pots and come out and rule the night!
night shot
without flash.
lighter part at the front is due to the street light.
Updates
Update: I suppose thats the last marigolds, snails will chew.I had place the poison pallets
sround the rest of marigolds.
So Lets See. ........
Hi Bangchik
ReplyDeleteThanks for the confident comment about the birds coming to pollinate. I think they heard you - this morning I saw a great tit swooping around for the first time ever! I also saw lines of slug/snail trails just like yours. I think they do it to provoke don't you? They've obviously been having a midnight feast somewhere. Don't give up, hand pick. This year I've watered in nematodes and I'm using copper rings around the most precious things - so far, so good.
I don't like snails either! That's an interesting photo- I've never seen a snail trail like that!
ReplyDeleteWhew, glad you figured out what the trail was. Picking them off is a first 'good step' but I understand you may need to resort to something else if they over-run your garden. The photo looks almost surreal or something 'sciencey-fiction' related! Jan
ReplyDeleteNice post!! I always try to hunt the snail whenever I see the trail in my yard.
ReplyDeleteHappy hunting!
ReplyDeleteThe things we do for blogging...like going out in the middle of the night to look for snail trails..haha! I never knew they created trails! Sorry about your marigolds. Your post on chives. I grow these for their pretty white flowers as they bloom later(mid-July-August for me), and also for my Vietnamese spring rolls. I appreciate your visit to my garden and leaving a comment. And very funny that I'm your 24th Follower as you are mine :) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Bangchik, snails eat up leaves very fast and I dislike them too. Lucky for me, the snail only show up once in one of my pots. I only discovered it after most of the leaves were gone! Ai ya... I have to throw that thing out from my compound into the drain. And, I just said sorry snail and bye-bye ;-(
ReplyDeletethere's an easy, relatively ethical, non chemical solution to snails. They love beer. Put out a saucer of beer overnight and in the evening you will find dead snails in the beer with smiles on their faces.
ReplyDeleteI like that you have been able to caught the trail of the snail on photo.
ReplyDeleteAnd soon you will have sweet corn - I love that.
MB
>Friends, Bloggers and Blotanists..
ReplyDeleteSnails are efficient compost machines, they chew and they give back something to the soil, just like earthworms. The trouble is they chew plants we treasure most..... french marigolds!!.. haha..
Catherine suggested that trails are made to provoke us... haha, maybe, but I think it makes the journey back to their den a lot easier...
As we were leaving Latif's house today, we dropped at the the local nursery. Three bags of pink colored poison pallets for 10 dollars (RM).
So, tonight is the night, to settle score with the snails in a never ending battle of wits.., MAN AGAINST SNAILS OVER FRENCH MARIGOLDS!!
CHEERS!
~bANGCHIK