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.
Threaded Mode
