If we take the comments that an unusually large number of undesirable creatures in this country prompts with great reliability as a measure, we must fear every time that a state of emergency is imminent. This was most recently observed in the example of mosquitoes, which are flying around the country in larger numbers than usual due to rain and flooding. “Mosquitoes are invading Germany,” warned one Picture and even national coach Julian Nagelsmann spoke of a “perverse” plague.
If you study the press these days, you have to be afraid and anxious. After the mosquitoes, the Republic is now looking for the next vermin, against which – as one can see in the World read – particularly reliable “mechanical murder” helps: slugs. It is, so the Berlin newspaper to remove a “real slime invasion”.
Now all of this may sound a little martial. But it doesn’t change the fact that the snails are particularly voracious this year. Thomas Riehl, 63, is a fruit growing consultant at the Kitzingen Agricultural Office and is the contact person for companies in Upper and Lower Franconia. He reports “major problems” and by this he means less the kohlrabi that has been eaten away in his own garden than the damage to agriculture, especially strawberries. “If the harvest is affected on a larger scale, it can cause major financial damage,” he says.
They have not yet seen anything like this at the Zehelein-Schemm strawberry farm in Diespeck in central Franconia. Snails are an issue every year, says Peter Schemm, and from experience they cover their plants with straw, which helps. He recommends that private individuals lay out rhubarb leaves. They say they attract the snails “like a magnet”. They sell a large proportion of their plants to hobby gardeners, who have reported an increased infestation.
The mild winter has allowed snails to survive that would otherwise have frozen to death
According to Gottfried Röll, there are not necessarily more slugs this year. The animals just feel particularly comfortable in damp conditions – and because it has rained so much this year, they are simply more active, and therefore eat more. Röll has been advising amateur gardeners for 33 years as a horticultural technician at the Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture (LWG) in Veitshöchheim. Every morning, the 63-year-old checks the fields on which the LWG grows all kinds of plants and checks their growth, weather influences and pest infestation. When it is dry and the temperature is cool, he finds “virtually no slugs”, but when it is raining and the temperature is relatively warm, he finds “a huge number”, particularly on lettuce, zucchini, pumpkins and bush beans – close to the ground, where the slugs live.
The rainy spring and start of summer in the Free State were “unbelievably good” for them. Added to that was the relatively mild winter, which some survived “who would otherwise have frozen to death in the winter.” He cannot say whether the floods in Bavaria, which led to wetter soils in some regions, have had an impact on the number of snails. However, there are regional differences simply due to the varying intensity of precipitation, says Röll.
In order to spare as many plants as possible, he advises private individuals to take care when planning their gardens “not to make things too comfortable for the snails”. If possible, water in the morning, otherwise the soil will stay moist for a relatively long time. Not too much mulch in the bed, use harder material around it, such as grit, on which the snails would secrete more slime, and put snail fences around their favorite foods, such as strawberries.
And of course, “collect, collect, collect”. And then? What to do with the snails? “Everyone has to decide for themselves,” says Röll. In many gardens, things are likely to get a little more aggressive at this point.