How To Treat The Soil For Snail Farming | 2022 guide

This article will focus on the Soil Preparation for Snail Farming.

You undoubtedly already know how crucial it is to treat the soil for snail farming if you’re a snail farmer.

Even if you’re new to snail farming, soil treatment is critical to your farm’s success.

In any sort of snail housing, the soil is a critical component.

If you don’t adequately treat the soil before stocking the snails, you risk exposing them to a variety of pest attacks.

As additional insects assault your snails, your snail farm will continue to suffer losses.

Read also: What Snails Eat and Drink: Useful Guide On How to Feed a Snail – 2022

So, in this essay, I’ll show you how to select the ideal soil type for snail farming.

You’ll also learn why it’s important to treat the soil in your snail farm regularly.

Finally, I’ll show you five (5) extremely successful soil treatment methods for snail farming.

The majority of the strategies I’ll teach you are simple to use and will cost you very little money to treat the soil on your snail farm.

Here are some reasons to treat the soil in your snail farm before you dive into the various methods.

Why do I need to treat the soil to grow snails?

As you may be aware, the soil plays a vital role in snail farming.

Snails spend a large portion of their time on the ground.

They eat the soil and take the majority of the water it provides.

During the dry season, snails lay their eggs in the dirt and dig into it to relax.

You can see how important the soil is to them with all of these actions.

However, having soils in your snail farm poses a significant difficulty.

The soil is also a good breeding ground for hazardous creatures, insects, and pests.

When you allow these organisms to flourish, they will assault and eventually kill your snails.

As a result, treating your soil to get rid of those hazardous organisms is necessary.

Read also: Equipment Needed For Snail Farming In 2022

Treatment of the soil for snail raising has several advantages.
It keeps dangerous insects including ants, beetles, centipedes, and termites out of the soil.

Snails are also protected from bacteria and infectious diseases by treating the soil.
This is critical because when snails become ill or infected with a disease, there is no recognized therapy.

Snail growth is ensured by treating the soil.
To lay more eggs, snails require a toxic-free environment.

You can save administration costs and enhance profits by treating the soil in your snail farm.

In snail farming, proper soil treatment minimizes mortality.
Regular soil treatment also keeps your farm clean and sanitary at all times.

Let’s look at how to choose the best soil for snail farming now that you know how important dirt is in snail farming.

How to Choose Good Snail Farming Soil

When selecting soil for snail farming, think about what is ideal for the snails.

Snails, in general, dislike being in soggy places.

As a result, clay soil is not an ideal choice.

This is because clay soil becomes wet during the rainy season or when the snail farm is watered.

In the dry season, on the other hand, the soil dries out and compacts.

As a result, your snails will find it difficult to dig into the dirt.

If you’re thinking about using sandy soil, you’re making a mistake.

Because the soil has a low water-holding capacity, this is the case.

Read also: How To Hatch Snail Eggs In 6 Simple steps – 2022

As a result, your snails’ soil cannot contain enough water, which is a major issue in snail farming.

Some farmers prefer the sandy-loamy soil, which is nevertheless productive.

Sandy-loam is a silt, sand, and clay mixture with a higher concentration of sand.

So, which soil is ideal for snail farming?
Loamy Soil is the greatest type of soil for snail farming.

This is because loamy soil contains more decomposed organic matter than other soil types.

READ UP NEXT: How To Get Rid Of Insect Pest In Snail Farm

The snails’ growth is aided by the organic matter in loam soil, which retains some beneficial nutrients.

Some Loam Soil Characteristics for Snail Farming

Because it has good properties that are conducive to snail development, loamy soil is the best soil for snail farming.

Because of the abundance of sand in loam, it drains well.
Loam soil, on the other hand, holds water better than sandy soil types due to the presence of clay particles.

Rich nutrients, such as calcium, are better absorbed by loamy soil, which is beneficial to snails.
Snails can easily deposit eggs on loamy soil since it is not too compact.
Because the loam soil is not acidic, it is not toxic to snails.

Snails prefer loam soil because it provides a healthy environment for them to thrive.

So, when choosing the soil for your snail farm, keep these traits in mind.

Because you are not a soil expert, it may be difficult for you to recognize these loam soil features.

As a result, this tip will assist you in identifying appropriate loam soil for snail farming.

Any loamy soil that favors the growth of tomatoes, cocoyam, and green vegetables should be avoided.

These plants thrive in loamy soil, and you can now tell which ones they are.

But getting some loamy soil from a nearby garden and putting it in your pen isn’t enough.

If you do that and then immediately introduce your snails to it, it will be devastating.

This takes us to the phase where you must treat the soil to eliminate all hazardous organisms.

Before introducing the snails, there are numerous ways to treat the soil.

In the next section, you’ll learn about the most effective soil treatment methods.

What are the various soil treatment procedures for snail farming?
Now that we’ve arrived, I’ll demonstrate some of the most effective soil treatment techniques for snail farming.

All living creatures in the soil will be killed by these ways, as well as the advice I’ll provide before they’re introduced into the pen.

Some of the procedures may take a long time to complete, while others may be simple.

The goal is to guarantee that you correctly treat the soil, eradicate any pathogens, and provide a pest-free environment for your snails.

So, here are several methods for treating the soil for snail farming.

1. The use of decomposable organic pesticides

The use of organic pesticides is the first way I advocate for treating the soil for snail farming.

It must, however, be an organic insecticide that decomposes quickly in the soil.

Neem oil or neem tea is an excellent example of an organic insecticide.

In the Hausa language of Nigeria, it’s called ‘Dogon Yaro.’

If you apply chemical insecticides, the snails may be harmed or even killed.

You should also use organic pesticides sparingly.

Even while they aid in the killing of insect larvae and other soil organisms, too many of them might be detrimental.

The stages of treating the soil with an organic insecticide are as follows:

Snail farming soil treatment with organic pesticide
To begin, locate a suitable area for collecting good loam soil.
To clear the site of plants, use a shovel or any other appropriate snail farming tools.
Then, using a shovel, harvest some loam soil and bring it to the farm using a wheelbarrow or headpan.

Spread a huge bag or nylon on the ground, then cover it with loam soil.
Spread the soil on the nylon with the shovel once more.

Using a backpack, spray the entire surface of the spread loam soil with the organic insecticide.
To ensure that the pesticide goes into the soil, use the shovel to mix the dirt once more.

Use another large sack or nylon to cover the dirt for at least 5–8 hours before introducing it into the pen if you have one. It’s fine to keep it exposed if you can’t cover it.
Allow at least 24 hours for the soil to settle in the pen before adding snails. Before stocking, moisten the soil with some water.

2. Heated soil treatment for snail farming

In reality, this is one of the most effective ways to prepare the soil for snail farming.

We all know that fire is one of nature’s most destructive forces.

As a result, heating the soil aids in the destruction of all live organisms and eggs present.

When it comes to using heat to treat the soil, there are two options.

3. Using a pot or a drum to cook

The third method is to openly burn the earth.
These two ways are dependent on how much soil you want to remediate and how patient you are.

How to roast the soil in a pot to treat it

Make sure to follow these instructions while utilizing this form of soil remediation for your snail farm:

To begin, gather the resources you’ll need to carry out this job. A large pot or a metallic drum, some fuel for starting a fire, and a tripod for supporting the pot are among the materials.
With the tripod in position, gather some firewood and build a large fire.
Place the tripod on top of the large pot or metallic drum.
Pour the loamy soil into the pot from a farm or land with lush plants.
Allow the soil in the pot to heat up as you keep the fire going.
Continue to mix the soil in the pot with a long wood stick, an aluminum spoon, or a shovel to ensure that the heat is well distributed.
Remove the pot from the fire when the soil has become extremely hot and the heat in the pot is uniform. Alternatively, you can scoop the soil from the pot into a wheelbarrow or headpan with the shovel.
Place the wheelbarrow right into the snail pen after putting enough soil into it. Make sure the soil is transferred while it is still hot. *** Allowing the soil to cool first may encourage insects to lay eggs in it, rendering your efforts ineffective.
Cover the snail pen and set it aside for 24 hours to allow the dirt to cool.
Finally, make sure the pen is adequately watered before adding the snails.
*** Please use wooden hutch boxes or trench pens to prevent your goods from melting due to the hot soil.

Allow the dirt to cool for a few minutes before adding it to your snail housing if you’re using plastics.

soil-treatment-on-a-large-scale-for-snail-production how to treat soil by burning it publicly soil-treatment-on-a-large-scale-for-snail-production
You can cook the soil all at once if you don’t have the time or patience to prepare it in batches.

This procedure is extremely useful when dealing with a big amount of soil.

There are only a few simple steps to follow.

To begin, gather the required amount of loam soil and pile it right outside the snail farm.
To make a hole in the mound, use a shovel to open the center.
After that, fill the hole with firewood and light it.
Allow the soil to heat up for a few hours while you keep the fire going.
When the earth is hot enough, scoop the hot soil from the sides using a shovel.
Before you start transferring the soil into the pens, make sure it hasn’t cooled.
Allow the soil in the snail pen to cool for 24 hours before watering and stocking the snails.
3. Use wood ash to treat the soil for snail farming use-wood-ash-to-treat-the-soil-for-snail-farming
This method of snail farming soil treatment is simple to implement.

The procedure is nearly identical to method 1 above, which involves the application of organic pesticides.

The main difference is that instead of organic insecticides, wood ash will be applied to the soil.

After adding the wood ash, carefully mix the soil with a shovel and let it sit for 5–8 hours.
The next step is to shovel the soil out of the mixing point and into the pen.
Spray the soil with water and set aside until the next day.
Spray the soil with extra water the next day, and then add the snails.
4. Utilization of hot, boiling water
Sterilizing-the-soil-for-snail-farming-with-boiling-water
Using hot boiling water to treat the soil for snail farming is also an effective form of soil treatment.

Hot water can permeate the soil and kill insect larvae and pathogens.

I’ll teach you how to utilize hot boiling water to treat the soil in two different ways.

How to use hot boiling water to treat the soil for snail farming [Technique 1]
This form of soil treatment is both inexpensive and simple to use. Follow these steps to treat the soil with hot boiling water:

Obtain the items required for the procedure. Firewood, a tripod, a large pot or steel drum, and some large plastic basins are required. For the first method of soil treatment with hot water, you’ll also need some sacks.
With the tripod in position, gather some firewood and build a large fire.
Fill the large pot or iron drum with water and place it on the tripod.
Fill the sacks with loamy soil until they are half-filled while the water heats up.
As soon as the water begins to boil, scoop part of it into the plastic basins until they are 34% filled.
After that, plunge each sack of loam soil into the hot water in the plastic basins.
Allow 5–10 minutes for the soil to settle in the basin.
Drain the water after removing the sack from the hot water basin.
Your soil is as good as new at this point. Remove the soil from the sacks and place it in the pen, then add the snails once the soil has cooled.

Using hot water in technique 2
The steps for treating the soil with hot water in the second method are as follows.

Load the loam soil directly into each part of the snail enclosure instead of filling sacks.
Next, scoop a huge amount of boiling water into a large plastic bucket and pour it immediately into the snail pen.
After then, close the pan and set it aside for 24 hours.
Make sure not to overwater the soil so that it can drain adequately within 24 hours.
If the soil is still wet after 24 hours, leave it alone for a few more hours to ensure the snails can thrive.
5. Bonus tip: Before putting dried plantain/banana leaves in the pen, treat them.
treat-plantain-leaves-with-boiling-water-before-putting-in-the-snail-pen
Even after following the four ways outlined above to effectively treat your loam soil, you must also treat it.

plantain/banana leaves that have been dried

If you miss this step, all of your soil remediation efforts will be for naught.

The leaves are being treated because some insects like to deposit their eggs on them.

As a result, if you don’t treat the leaves before putting them in the pen, you’ll be introducing bug eggs and larvae as well.

Follow these measures to treat the dried leaves to avoid this from happening.

In a big pot, bring some water to a boil.
Squeeze some leaves into the saucepan while the water is still boiling on the stove.
To squeeze and stir the leaves, use a long stick.
Stir until the hot water has reached every area of the leaf, weakening it.
After around 2–4 minutes of this, remove the leaves from the pot with the long stick.
Bring the leaves to the pen area and spray them on the pen’s cover.
Please check for snails in the pens to ensure that the dripping hot water does not harm them.
Clear the leaves from the tops of the pans and place them inside each pen after 20–30 minutes of spraying.
Conclusion
As you may be aware, soil management is critical in snail farming.

This article walks you through the steps of properly preparing the soil before stocking it with snails.

To refresh your memory, below are the various soil treatments for snail farming.

Organic pesticides should be used.
Heat the soil to treat it.
Soak the soil in hot boiling water after mixing it with wood ash.
Finally, treat the dried leaves before putting them in the pen. I hope that these various techniques will assist you in better treating the snail-infested soil.

So, I’m curious as to what you plan to do next.

Which of these options are you planning to use to remediate your soil right away?

Are you planning to use the hot water approach or the heating method?

Please let me know in the comments section.

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Thanks.