Snail found in collection

[SoCalOrchidGirl]

Hi everyone,

I found a snail in one of my cattleyas and I am going to try the hydrogen peroxide treatment. My question is, since I found it on one plant, should I treat all my plants in my collection as a preventative measure? Also I have 4 plants putting out new flower spikes, all are at beginning stages and I don't know if the hydrogen peroxide will damage the spikes.


Thanks for any advice in advance!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I recommend buying yourself a jeweler's loupe. A 10x is good enough. Higher magnifications will not hurt you. Start looking for snails.

[bil]

Do slug pellets cause problems for orchids if they fall into the media and break down?
I had some snails attack some of my phals. I just scattered slug pellets and the problem went away immediately. They LOVE those pellets.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by bil

Do slug pellets cause problems for orchids if they fall into the media and break down?
I had some snails attack some of my phals. I just scattered slug pellets and the problem went away immediately. They LOVE those pellets.

No, they cause no problems in my experience and that is what I use on all my orchids. They also cause no problems if they fall onto the leaves of Cymbidiums, although I would try to keep them off any open flowers.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

No, they cause no problems in my experience and that is what I use on all my orchids. They also cause no problems if they fall onto the leaves of Cymbidiums, although I would try to keep them off any open flowers.

Excellent. Thanks for that. I don't like using chemical megadeath, but if I didn't here, growing any fruit etc would be impossible. In the spring an ARMY of snails heads in from the campo, and while my garden isn't huge, I use pellets by the kilo. In the days after spreading a kilo of so around, all the paths are littered with snail shells. The first year I had planted out some young marigolds, and the next morning there was hardly a leaf to be seen.

That gets old FAST.

[JanS]

Well, I must disagree with some of you - in the past I did manage to kill some orchids by sprinkling anti-snail pellets on the bark in their pots. I guess it depends on what kind of pellets you use. I don't take that chance any more. I used to have a huge problem with these tiny snails that spread from one orchid to another and ate the newest root tips at night. The pellets did not get completely rid of them and, as I said, killed a couple of plants in the process. I then tried submerging the orchid pots in water for an hour or two, which made the adult snails crawl up out of the bark into the open for me to murder them, but that didn't kill the eggs ... so more snails in a week or so. I tried caffeine (using dissolved NoDoz tablets) and that was a waste of time. Finally, resorted to REAL CHEMICALS! Malathion solution poured into the growing medium just like watering the plants did the trick completely after about 3 weekly applications. Do NOT spray it on new growth or flower spikes, though, as it will burn them. Roots seem to take it OK. I do this now a few times a year just as a preventative measure and am gladly snail-free.

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I recommend buying yourself a jeweler's loupe. A 10x is good enough. Higher magnifications will not hurt you. Start looking for snails.

Great idea King!
I have an optivisor, they sell them on Ebay. I use lens #5. This is the most comfortable setting for my eyes. That is the number used by the doctors in Urgent care to place sutures. I bought mine to use to take the sutures out but since I have retired I use them constantly on my orchids. You can change the lens on the optivisor if you want a higher or lower lens.

[Kailyn]

A timely post for me. I just repotted a cym from home depot and found a single snail on the bottom of its root mass. the plant isn't suffering yet (in fact I think it has the best roots of all my orchids) but im assuming it is just a matter of time? And where there is one there is more? I rinsed the roots when i repotted but does anyone in Canada have a particular snail death method they prefer and we can get?

[bil]

Can you get slug pellets there?

[tucker85]

As far as I can tell, snail bait has not harmed any of my orchids. I only put a small number of pellets on top of the media. I've also used slices of potato to attract snails. Place a freshly cut slice of potato on top of the media, in the evening. Check it first thing in the morning, preferably before sunrise, and the snail will often be on the potato. You can just throw the whole thing out and put another fresh potato slice the next night. Try not to touch the snails and wash your hands afterwards because snails can carry diseases.