Snail found in collection

[JanS]

As far as worrying when you found a snail or two, I think it is important to note what kind of snail you have. From my experience the most destructive and hardest to get rid of are the little "bush snails" or "orchid snails". They are tiny and breed right in the orchid bark, so are very difficult to get rid of. They are a huge problem in Hawaii - here's a short but good article about them:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/MP-1.pdf
I am also attaching a photo of them.

I have also had damage by larger snails and slugs that we have here in Southern California. Those leave a visible shiny slime trail and, while they can do a lot of damage, don't seem to breed in the orchid pots and so are much fewer in number. So when you find signs of one or two, you can usually find them or lure them with beer, etc. and your problem is over...at least for the time being.

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by JanS

As far as worrying when you found a snail or two, I think it is important to note what kind of snail you have. From my experience the most destructive and hardest to get rid of are the little "bush snails" or "orchid snails". They are tiny and breed right in the orchid bark, so are very difficult to get rid of. They are a huge problem in Hawaii - here's a short but good article about them:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/MP-1.pdf
I am also attaching a photo of them.

I have also had damage by larger snails and slugs that we have here in Southern California. Those leave a visible shiny slime trail and, while they can do a lot of damage, don't seem to breed in the orchid pots and so are much fewer in number. So when you find signs of one or two, you can usually find them or lure them with beer, etc. and your problem is over...at least for the time being.

I have no idea what species they were, but they were the smallest snails I've ever seen, really tiny, and they were yellowish/light brownish in colour. The description in the document is fitting, unless your picture is showing the bush snail, then the shell looked different i.e. upright. Maybe they simply were hitchhikers?

The Phrag in question is pushing itself out of the pot, so I doubt there are any snails left in the substrate.

I'm wondering if I actually managed to get the only two snails it had, and possible eggs were removed when I repotted it (if they were indeed pests and not innocent snails).

[bil]

You'd need to google this and research it, but I am sure that I have seen molluscicides, some designed to be sprayed on trees. If I had a problem like bush snails, I would pick my least fave orchid and give the pot a good soak.