By Luke Sumpter

When growing cannabis outdoors for the first time, it doesn’t take long for reality to set in. Though idealistic visions of Shire-like aesthetics, huge energy savings, and the tranquillity of being one with nature may inspire you to start sowing seeds, you’ll ultimately have to contend with a variety of adversaries—both microscopic and visible to the naked eye—that see your cannabis plants as nothing more than their next meal. Among these prowling foes, slugs and snails rank as two of the most damaging. When left to roam of their own accord, these slimy critters make quick work of cannabis leaves.

So, what can you do about this problem? Below, you’ll learn exactly how slugs and snails affect cannabis plants, how to combat them when they appear, and how to prevent them from inflicting damage in the first place.


How Do Slugs and Snails Affect Cannabis Plants?

Do slugs eat weed plants? Yes. Do snails eat weed plants? You bet they do! Slugs and snails are gastropods that, alongside ocean-dwelling limpets and abalones, belong to the class Gastropoda. The word “gastropod” derives from Greek and means “stomach foot”—a term that describes the large muscular foot that runs along the underside of both slugs and snails.

Although they lack legs, these creatures are surprisingly mobile; snails can travel up to 200m in a single day. Snails and slugs also lack the large mouths of herbivorous mammals, but this doesn’t stop them from inflicting serious damage on cannabis foliage. Both of these life forms feature jaws and bands of thousands of microscopic teeth. Using a rasping motion, they’re able to cut off leaf particles to feed.

Are Slugs and Snails the Same?

Although they share similarities, several key differences separate slugs and snails. Most noticeably, snails lug around a coiled calcium carbonate shell on their backs—a form of evolutionary armour that provides defence against predators. Slugs, on the other hand, lack a hard exterior shell. Overall, snail species grow larger than slugs. The former can reach up to 25cm in length, whereas the latter max out at 15cm. Despite their shell, snails also move faster than slugs—at a pace of around one millimetre per second. Beyond these differences, both of these creatures primarily dine on vegetative tissue—including cannabis leaves.

Snail Pests

Signs of Slug and Snail Damage on Cannabis Plants

You won’t have a hard time identifying slug and snail damage in the garden. The key signs to look for include:

Irregular, ragged holes on leaves Scalloped edges on the side of leaves
Slime trails on leaves and nearby soil The complete disappearance of young plants

Slugs and snails can strike at any point during the growing season, and are more likely to attack if you unintentionally provide them with an attractive environment. However, older plants are more likely to survive an attack, despite a few holes in their foliage. Slugs and snails commit the most damage earlier on in the season, during spring, and have the capacity to devour entire seedlings.

How to Get Rid of Slugs and Snails on Cannabis Plants

So, if you do happen to see holes and slime trails all over your cannabis leaves, how can you go about keeping slugs and snails off your plants? Thankfully, slugs and snails are easier to tackle than more abundant and persistent pests, such as aphids and mites. Some solutions are as easy as picking them up and relocating them, whereas others involve introducing other life forms into the garden to consume these grazing gastropods. In what follows, we run through the top options to stop a slug or snail attack.

 Remove Them Manually 

Because slugs and snails are relatively large, many growers successfully defend their crops by hunting these critters down, picking them up, and moving them elsewhere. However, you’ll need to time things right for this method to be effective. Snails and slugs aren’t big fans of the heat and light of day. For this reason, they choose to emerge from slumber and look for food during the night and early morning hours. If you’re hoping to hunt them down, do so armed with a torch just before bed or as soon as you wake up in the morning. During the day, you can also preemptively target slugs and snails by lifting up pots, bricks, and any other nearby sheltered locations where they’ll likely be hiding.

     Attract Natural Predators     

If you have a slug or snail problem and don’t have the time to chase them around every day, then you can rely on nature to get the job done. By creating an environment attractive to natural predators, you’ll see your snail and slug population begin to drop sharply.

Dig a small pond to win the residence of toads and frogs; apply mulch to your garden beds to serve as a habitat for ground beetles; put up bird feeders to bring in the aerial anti-slug division. Moreover, if you have lots of dense undergrowth and a variety of lengths of grass in your garden, this will attract hedgehogs, which love to feed on slugs and snails. Another ally against them are slow worms, which are attracted by warm and sheltered spots, such as compost heaps, logs, and rock piles.

     Use Traps to Catch and Release     

If you don’t have the time or energy to walk around finding slugs and snails, you can make them come to you, and then trap them. Live traps are the most humane and sidestep the need to use pesticides or poisons. You can then release the critters somewhere far away from your garden.

Another, slightly more aggressive method is to rely on a substance that also attracts humans: beer. Insert a plastic cup into the soil near your plants so that the lip of the cup sits just above the soil surface. Fill the container half full with beer. Slugs and snails can’t resist the aroma; they’ll autumn in and meet a tipsy demise. The only problem with this method? Other life forms, including those beneficial for your garden, will also autumn in and meet the same fate, so only use beer traps if you really need to.

     Consider Nematodes     

Nematodes are microscopic worms that play a fundamental role in the soil food web. There are several types of nematodes; some eat fungi, others bacteria, some chomp plant roots, and others target slugs. Some species of nematodes live as parasites inside slugs and work as an effective biological control for this pest. There are plenty of nematode products available that involve simply watering them into the soil.

How to Deter Slugs and Snails on Cannabis Plants

You don’t have to wait to discover damage to your cannabis plants to start taking measures against slugs and snails. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Putting physical barriers in place and growing beneficial plants nearby can help to fend off slugs and snails before they sink their microscopic teeth into your marijuana plants. Discover these strategies in more detail below.

     Build Copper Barriers     

Slugs and snails really don’t get on well with certain materials, including copper. Upon contact with this element, these creatures experience something similar to an electric shock. If you’re growing directly in the ground, consider creating a perimeter of copper mesh or wire around the base of your cannabis plants. If you’re growing in containers or raised beds, you can purchase copper sticky tape and apply it to the rim of your beds or containers to serve as a protective shield. How effective this method is, however, is debatable.

     Cover Soil With Eggshells and     
     Diatomaceous Earth     

Eggshells and diatomaceous earth also help to repel slug and snail attacks. These sharp materials irritate their soft underbellies and force them to go and find a snack elsewhere. Eggshells are the most easily accessible. After cooking up an omelette, set aside the shells, crush them into a coarse powder, and sprinkle them around your plants. Diatomaceous earth—the silicon skeletons of a type of algae—has a similar effect.

     Add Companion Plants to Your     
     Cannabis Garden     

As their name suggests, companion plants serve to protect cannabis from a wide array of adversaries, including slugs and snails. You can look at companion plants as “sacrificial plants”—species that rank higher on the menu of desirable dinners for slugs and snails. Planting basil, lettuce, spinach, and cabbage close to your plants will divert hungry critters. Not only will these plants take the bullet, but they’ll alert you to the presence of slugs and snails before they work their way over to your weed plants.

Good Luck, Soldier

You’re now equipped with several strategies to deal with slugs and snails on cannabis plants, and to prevent them from making contact in the first place. Now, step forth onto the battlefield of your garden, safe in the knowledge that you can protect your weed plants from one of their most damaging predators.




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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: