How do I get rid of pests eating my basil plants?

Question

I am in Florida and I have half a dozen basil plants sitting in containers on a cart in my back yard. They're not on the ground, but two kinds of pests are getting to them anyway. One kind is eating half circle shaped bites out of the sides of the leaves, and the other kind is leaving a weird silvery snake shaped trail on top of the leaves.

What are these pests and how can I kill them?

Answer 1

Sounds like snails or slugs with the silvery trail and you can buy a safe for veggies organic slug/snail killer or put a container of beer near the plants to drown them.  Safer Garden makes an organic safe for veggies insect killer that I use which effectively works to kill pests.

Answer 2

Ah, the proverbial problem with growing food plants!  It seems our pests enjoy some of the same food as we do! The downside is that it's not always possible to spray or powder our food plants without damaging them for us as well.

My suggestion would be to contact your county agricultural agent and ask him.