If you’re new to gardening, you may not know that creatures like snails and slugs love eating your plants, especially the young and tender ones. They can seriously spoil your fun.
See also – Lettuce Problems and Solutions
I decided to mention this particular creature early on because they are the main reason I started my rooftop container garden.
@rooftopveg Beat the snails by growing off the ground #vegetablegarden #organicgardening #containergardening #rooftopveg #legumesurletoit #containergarden #legumesurletoit #lettuce #lettucegrowing
♬ Riders on the Storm – The Doors
Growing plants traditionally at ground level, snails will easily find your plants. But in the vertical environment of a container garden they’re much easier to control. It’s like a giant obstacle course for them.
People say snails and slugs are pests, I say nuisance creatures. They’re not your enemy and they have their place in your garden ecosystem. But unfortunately, they can wreak havoc with your edible plants.
If you’re growing lettuce on a balcony, you will have very little to worry about unless your children want snails as pets!
Below are two small kale plants. The one on the right is the result of one tiny snail eating all the leaves and leaving tiny balls of green snail poop on the soil surface. The plant survived!
The preferred menu of slugs and snails is not your tender young lettuce but decaying vegetable matter. Having too tidy a garden means they have nothing else to eat.
@rooftopveg Are Your Plants Being Eaten And You Don’t Know Why? #growinglettuce #vegetablegarden #containergardening #springgarden #organicgardening #balconygarden #rooftopveg
♬ Jaws Theme – Jaws
By gardening high off the ground, you’ll drastically decrease the chances of snails and slugs finding your plants and markedly increase your pleasure of tending and enjoying your garden.