Slugs and snails

Pest Night feeders that shred seedlings, leaves and tender roots.

What to look for

Ragged holes in leaves, silvery slime trails and seedlings that vanish overnight. They also hollow out potatoes, strawberries and lettuce hearts.

When: All year, worst in mild, damp weather and spring.

How to prevent it

• Water in the morning rather than the evening so the surface is dry at night.
• Clear debris, long grass and old pots where they hide, and keep beds tidy.
• Grow seedlings in pots and plant them out when they are tougher.
• Encourage frogs, hedgehogs, ground beetles and birds with a pond and log pile.

How to deal with it

• Go out after dark with a torch and pick them off, then move or dispose of them.
• Use beer traps sunk into the soil, emptying them often.
• Water slug nematodes (a biological control) onto warm, moist soil between March and October.
• If you use pellets, choose ferric phosphate ones, which are approved for organic gardening. Metaldehyde pellets are no longer legal in the UK.
• Protect seedlings with clear bottle cloches.

Crops it affects

🌿 Angelica🌱 Asparagus🌿 Basil💙 Borage🫘 Borlotti bean🌿 Bronze fennel🎃 Butternut squash🥬 Cabbage🌼 Calendula🥕 Carrot🌱 Celeriac🥬 Celery🌼 Chamomile🌿 Chervil🥬 Chicory🥬 Chinese cabbage🌿 Coriander🥒 Courgette🥒 Cucumber🫛 Edamame🥬 Endive🌿 Florence fennel🫛 French bean🌿 Garlic chives🥒 Gherkin🌿 Globe artichoke🌻 Jerusalem artichoke🥬 Komatsuna🥗 Lamb’s lettuce🌿 Land cress🍋 Lemon balm🥬 Lettuce🌿 Lovage🥒 Marrow🥗 Mizuna🥕 Mooli (daikon)🥬 Mustard greens🌼 Nasturtium🍃 Orache🥬 Pak choi🌿 Parsley🎃 Patty pan squash🍃 Perpetual spinach🟠 Physalis (Cape gooseberry)🥔 Potato🎃 Pumpkin🟣 Radicchio🔴 Radish🌱 Rhubarb🥗 Rocket🫘 Runner bean🥕 Salsify🌿 Savory🥕 Scorzonera🌿 Sea kale🍃 Sorrel🍀 Spinach🥦 Sprouting broccoli🍓 Strawberry🌿 Sweet cicely🍠 Sweet potato🌈 Swiss chard🥬 Tatsoi🌸 Viola and pansy🌿 Watercress🌿 Wild garlic🍃 Winter purslane

If you choose to use any treatment, use only products approved for UK home gardens, follow the label and avoid spraying open flowers. See all pests and diseases.