Garden pests are a pain and Cannabis certainly has no shortage of pests. So for today’s pest profile we’re going to discuss slugs and snails, common pests you may find yourself dealing with in a Cannabis grow.

What are they?

Slugs and snails are invertebrate organisms with the major distinction between them being the snail’s shell. Both of these organisms love to eat leaves, and Cannabis leaves are no exception. While a few of these creatures won’t devastate a crop, an infestation of them can, and that’s why vigilant monitoring is important.

What to Look For

In addition to spotting the organisms themselves among your plants, they can be detected by the chiseled holes they leave in the foliage (which are sometimes mistaken for caterpillar damage) as well as the slimy trails they leave behind.

How to Treat/Prevent

There are a variety of methods for controlling slugs and snails. You can pick them off by hand and kill them, or you can use natural predators such as frogs and toads. These pests are also fond of beer so you can set up an easy pitfall trap by burying a can up to the lip and partially filling it with beer. Some growers also recommend laying out eggshells, lime, or diatomaceous earth around the plants to stop slugs and snails.

So that’s the skinny on slugs and snails. Make sure to check out the rest of the articles in our Pest Profile series.

Happy Growing!