FarmaCOPEia: DE and Eggshells for Slugs and Snails

Image via OpenClipart-Vectors of Pixabay

The last several years we’ve had a challenge with plant failure. Those we started in the house would thrive until they got big enough to be moved outside--then things went south.

They got plenty of sunlight. Plenty of water and were rooted in good soil. The culprit was slugs.
They never failed to be in the soil, at the roots, when the plants died. Quite frustrating.

Due to some health challenges, I’d not been able to keep up with my usual habit of regular research in organic gardening, but recently, a discussion came up with a friend about the possibilities of growing a good bit of ginger, one of the plants I’d lost repeatedly to slug-invasion.

Since my health is improving, and I’m able to be back at blogging on a mostly-regular schedule, I was excited to find some quality information on organic pest-control targeting snails and slugs.

The two most recommended weapons for snails and slugs are inexpensive and easy to come by. Broken (or ground-up) eggshells and diatomaceous earth, commonly known as DE. Both are said to work due to causing cuts and abrasions to slugs and snails. The shells or DE just need to be placed around the bottom of the plant or mixed into the soil, making a perimeter around the roots and base of the plant.

Image via congerdesign of Pixabay

Image via AS Phillips

​I admit to finding some info reporting the use of eggshells hadn’t worked, but most info I found listed it as successful. I didn’t uncover any negative results regarding the use of DE. 

DE also helps enrich soil with nutrients and won’t harm bees (or most other germinating insects, or earthworms. It’s listed as effective in deterring...

• Bad garden worms
• Bed bugs 
• Beetles
• Boxelder bugs
• Caterpillars
• Crickets
• Cockroaches
• Earwigs
• Grasshoppers
• Harlequin bugs
• Kissing bugs
• Leaf-footed bugs
• Leaf miners
• Lice
• Mealybugs
• Mites
• Pill bugs
• Sawflies
• Sow bugs
• Squash bugs
• Thrips

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Plants need calcium to grow strong and they get it from the soil. Eggshells are made up of more than 90% calcium carbonate, as well as other nutrients. They also help moderate soil acidity.

Because DE is a source of silica, it helps facilitate the transfer of nutrients from the soil to the plant. It also has a dehydrating aspect, making it an additional reason a variety of garden pests don’t like being near it.

If your garden has been slug/snail challenged, I hope you’ll find these organic alternatives worth a try in clearing the pests.

​I hope too, that if you’ve tried eggshells and DE for pest control and soil enhancement you’ll consider Your visits help me to earn a living doing something I sincerely love and hope you find useful!

‘Til next time,

Shalom