How to Kill Snail Eggs in Plants

Hand Removal

• 1

  Look around the plant for fallen plant material, rocks, boards, pots or other debris. Examine the debris for masses of white eggs. Pick the egg masses off as you find them and either crush them or place them inside a water-filled container.

• 2

  Wait until the sun goes down, and use a flashlight to examine the plant for adult snails. Look on the plant as well as around them for the adult snails.

• 3

  Pick the adult snails up with a pair of tweezers or chopsticks as you find them. Place the snails inside a container filled with water and a few drops of dish soap.

• 4

  Repeat the process once a day until the population of snails dwindle, and then reduce the process to once a week.

Non-Chemical Control

• 5

  Keep the area near the plants free of debris and trash. These provide hiding places for snails.

• 6

  Place a 6- to 8-inch-wide band of copper around plants. If the snails try to cross the copper, their slimy discharge reacts with the copper and creates a harmless electric shock.

• 7

  Place a shallow pan in the ground so the lip is just barely below soil level. Fill the pan with beer to attract snails to the pan where they will fall in and drown. Substitute the beer with 3 ounces of water and 1 teaspoon of baking yeast. Examine the trap daily, removing dead snails and adding more beer as needed.

Chemical Control

• 8

  Wait until the sun goes down and put on protective clothing.

• 9

  Sprinkle snail bait that contains iron phosphate around the plants. Iron phosphate has a low toxicity level to humans, animals and wildlife.

• 10

  Reapply the iron phosphate snail bait at two-week intervals as needed.