One of the most unpleasant problems that gardeners have is slugs on cabbage, and not everyone knows how to deal with them. These pests can either spoil the crop or completely destroy it. However, effective struggle is possible.
Description of the pest
From a purely biological point of view, slugs are gastropods, lacking a shell that would protect them from external influences. The slug has a soft, elongated body that is constantly under a layer of mucus. It is produced by special glands.
When a slug moves, and this happens by contracting its torso, a layer of mucus remains behind. When wet it is transparent, but once it dries it takes on a silvery tint.
The body color of the slug is beige or brown and fairly uniform. The head is clearly defined and “decorated” with horns that look like tentacles. For a slug, this is a sensory organ.
The mollusk lives in the upper layers of the earth, plant debris, woodpiles and other places where humidity is high. The slug does not tolerate high air temperatures well, and therefore is forced to hide in the shade from the direct rays of the sun. They appear mainly at night, when the life-giving coolness sets in, and they eat cabbage leaves.
Slugs are very harmful, because if they appear, they can cause irreparable damage to the entire crop. They love all types of cabbage:
- white cabbage;
- broccoli;
- colored;
- Brussels sprouts;
- Beijing
The pest is not picky, appears only at night and can feed on other garden crops: tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers and strawberries. In some cases, they can even handle potato tops and grape leaves. But slugs don’t like mustard. The mollusk will find a saving place for wintering in cabbage heads that were not harvested in the fall.
The danger of a slug is not only that it devours plants in the garden. It is also a carrier of harmful bacteria, viruses and dangerous diseases, which negatively affects productivity, so the pest must be destroyed.
Mechanical way of fighting
There are many ways to get rid of slugs on cabbage. The mechanical method of control involves manual processing of cabbage. Of course, it won’t be possible to gather everyone, but you still shouldn’t neglect this method. If you take into account the habits and preferences of slippery mollusks, work efficiency can be increased significantly.
First of all, you can lay out traps that are made from buckets, slate sheets, remnants of boards and old bags. The arsenal should be located near the beds that are being cultivated. In the evening, you can organize a raid: there will be many “criminals” on the surfaces of the decomposed materials. By placing shellfish in salt water, you can quickly destroy them: salt is harmful to them. This method can be used repeatedly.
When choosing a method for dealing with slugs on cabbage, you can use a trick. Since it is quite difficult for them to crawl on surfaces with ribs and convexities, barriers can be built from crushed stone, egg shells and other available materials on the approaches to the garden and beds. This will prevent slugs from getting to the cabbage.
Superphosphate can be used to prevent slugs. It quickly absorbs mucus, as a result of which the movement of the mollusk will become impossible. If you dig ditches filled with water around the plantings, this will help repel the pest. This protection of cabbage from slugs is effective and simple.
Chemicals
To remove pests, you can also use chemicals, but in most cases this is ineffective: the mollusk is reliably protected from their influence.
There are some products that are generally recognized as assistants in the fight against slugs: preparations for snails and slugs, the main active ingredient in which is metaldehyde.
So, how can you treat cabbage against slugs?
The names are as follows:
- "Storm". The form of the drug is granular, the color is blue.The pest eagerly consumes the granules scattered in its place of residence, after which the entire population dies. Interestingly, the drug is effective against snails, but has no effect on worms. With “Thunderstorm” the plant will be protected.
- "Meta". This is cabbage protection with contact-intestinal action. The composition should be sprinkled directly on the ground between the rows. Requires preliminary preparation. It is advisable to know where the concentration of slugs is highest. When spilling the drug, you should be careful: metaldehyde is dangerous to humans. In some cases, this drug in powder form can be used to pollinate the head of cabbage, and not just to poison the pest. Such manipulations can be carried out no later than three weeks before harvest. This product can also be found in granular form. If you know what to do, this option can be convenient: by placing 3-4 granules under each bush, you can count on the slug crawling over the granules to burn itself and die.
The immunity of these mollusks to the effects of chemical methods makes combating it difficult, but possible. To remove slugs, you can use combined methods and folk remedies. We fight the pest comprehensively.
Traditional methods
Mechanical methods are difficult, since the pest is active at night, when it is difficult to see. Making traps helps save cabbage from slugs and snails, and the use of chemicals does not guarantee the elimination of a pest that is immune to them. All that remains is to fight with folk methods:
- The ground under the treated cabbage can be covered with cellophane.Since mollusks love a warm, humid environment, they will certainly crawl out and die during the day, because the resulting condensation will heat up and become hot.
- You can deliberately leave compote, kvass, and beer for fermentation. I don’t always fight slugs this way. After the process is completed, the liquids are poured into small containers and placed along the plants. Attracted by the bright smell, the mollusks will fall into this container and die. Once you remove the container, you can forget about the shellfish.
- It is necessary to water the plants with water whose temperature is not lower than 40 ABOUTC. This temperature kills the slug. Pour warm water over the head of cabbage and it can be saved.
- The heads of cabbage can be sprinkled with a mixture of ground black pepper and various seasonings: salt, ginger, mustard powder. You can dust the head of cabbage with ash and tobacco dust. Having diluted them in water, the bush can be sprayed.
Many gardeners have a question about what to spray cabbage with. To answer it, you need to carefully analyze all the measures taken, and after evaluating the result, draw conclusions about the most effective method, regardless of whether it is spraying or not.
Preventing slugs
In order not to take measures to get rid of the slug, you can take care in advance to prevent its appearance.
The following measures can be taken:
- regularly mow the grass on the side of the road and in the area;
- remove all debris left after construction work;
- conduct active weed control;
- ensure ventilation of plants by planting bushes at a sufficient distance from each other.
Timely measures taken to combat slugs on cabbage and effectively organized pest control will help protect the harvest. Knowing how to protect cabbage from slugs can help you preserve your plants. Eat cabbage for your health!
