I’m a gardening guru & swear by my simple hack to stop slugs & snails eating your plants – all you need is an old towel
A GARDENING guru has shared the simple hack that he swears by to stop slugs and snails from eating your plants.
So if you’re fed up with creepy crawlies climbing all over your seedlings, then don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place.
The gardening enthusiast, who is known online as ‘Grow Den With Glen’, took to social media to share his simple and affordable tip – leaving many open-mouthed.
According to Glen, to stop slugs and snails from climbing all over the seedlings in your greenhouse, all you’ll need is an old towel – yes, you heard that correctly.
He said: “How to stop slugs and snails from eating your seedlings in your greenhouse or polytunnel.
“Now, like many people, I have learnt this the hard way – I have metal racking and plastic shelving in my greenhouse.
“These are amazing but slugs and snails find it really easy to access your seedlings, because they can slither their way up.”
Glen shared that using an old towel will do the trick, as he added: “A quick fix is an old towel or tea towel, but just make sure it has a rough, or fluffy material, not a flat surface tea towel.
“As you can see, my sweetcorn seedlings and my sweet peas, which are a slug and snail favourite, haven’t been touched and if you drape them over the edges slightly, it stops them from climbing up.”
If you haven’t got any old towels or tea towels, you can buy Egyptian Cotton towels from Dunelm from just 96p, as well as a variety of options in Poundland for only £1 each.
The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @thegrowdenwithglen, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly amassed 88,100 views.
Social media users were thankful for Glen’s cheap but effective tip and many took to the comments to express this.
One person said: “This is a great tip!”
Another added: “Thank you, I needed a solution.”
Genius! Off to Poundland to get some cheap towels!
TikTok user
A third commented: “THANK YOU what a great idea!! I’m doing this tomorrow!!”
Whilst another gardening enthusiast wrote: “Wow amazing tip! I’ve never heard of this one!”
Common garden pests
Common pests in the garden don’t need to be a cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work on getting rid of them and preventing them from returning.
Aphids (Greenfly, Blackfly)
Aphids are extremely common and can impact plant growth. They have tiny soft pear-shaped bodies, and are usually green or black. You may spot them clustered on the stem of soft shoots – look under leaves in particular – or may find a sticky substance on your plants that gives away aphids have been there sucking at the sap.
Whitefly
These small white-winged insects are related to aphids, at just 1 or 2 mm in length, and look very much like white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly in clusters when you disturb them. Their lifecycle is only three weeks long, which means an infestation can occur very rapidly.
Slugs
An unmissable, squashy-looking body plus small sensory tentacles on its head. Slugs move along on one muscular foot. They range in scale from surprisingly small to terrifyingly large; limax cinereoniger species can grow comfortably beyond 20 cm in length.
Cabbage Moth Caterpillar
Cabbage moth caterpillars happily make their way into the heart of the vegetables, The caterpillars are distinguished in shades of yellow or browny green with no hair.
Mealy Bug
Mealybugs are tiny oval-shaped insects that have a white, powdery wax coating. There are several different species, many of which have what looks like legs coming from their sides and back end. In their earliest stage of life, it’s entirely possible to mistake them for fungus and not recognise them as insects at all.
Thrilled with the hack, one gardening novice beamed: “Genius! Off to Poundland to get some cheap towels!”
Meanwhile, someone else advised: “My grandad used to do this but washed the towels in really salty water first.”
MORE SIMPLE TRICKS
At the same time, many other gardening fans shared the tips and tricks that they swear by for keeping slugs and snails at bay.
One gardening guru explained: “I’ve just lined my greenhouse with tinfoil. Makes it warmer and the slugs hate it!”
They don’t like bubble wrap either
TikTok user
A second shared: “Or you can smear Vaseline around the top of the pots and sprinkle salt on the Vaseline.”
A third advised: “Or put a copper band around the stands – they don’t like copper.”
As well as this, someone else claimed: “They don’t like bubble wrap either.”
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Tips for keeping pests from your garden
- Plant companion plants such as peppermint to repel rats.
- Place Garden Netting Pest Barrier, over your flowerbeds.
- Fill open-top containers with beer and place in soil to repel slugs.
- Spray plants with Neem Oil, to repel ants, flies, and spiders.
- Dust your flowerbeds with Diatomaceous Earth.
- Mix 1 tablespoon dish soap, 10 drops peppermint oil, and 4 cups water and spray on flowerbeds.
- Place eggshells around your plants to protect from slugs and snails.