Oh no, a slug ate some of my flower buds ...

[Lars Kurth]

I was almost in tears when I walked to the greenhouse today. I forgot to close the shutters yesterday and a big fat slug got into my greenhouse and went straight for the Cycnoches buds: so no flowers this year on C chlorochilon, barthiorum and cooperii. Still have buds on Jumbo Cooper and some of the others don't have buds yet.

[Susie11]

How awful for you. I spotted a tiny garlic snail on my phrag last week. I almost died, I'd no idea that they even existed but after looking online and speaking to a nursery I now have some slug and snail pellets. My phrag has two spikes forming so I would have been devastated if anything had happened to them.

[Bud]

I am so sorry Lars...Id use freshly cracked egg shells and put them around the media of the pot , slugs die from them and I dont know why...also if you put sea salt on the path the slugs will travel in from...like the shutters sill...but just make sure sea salt doesnt get inside the pots.

[glengary54]

Lars - fortunately for you it was the Cycnoches, they bloom later in the season and if a spike is damaged or eaten they will most times push out another spike. If you are sure that the spike will not produce flowers because of the damage remove it to encourage a new spike.

Good Luck

[isurus79]

Oh man, that is terrible news! I've had to deal with the same problem before and it is never fun. Another good way to repel slugs/snails is with used coffee grounds. Spread them around on the ground and the caffeine kills the bad critters. It also smells good and does no harm to your plants if it makes contact with them. I guess you have to be a coffee drinker though!

[Orchidreamer]

Oh that is awful! Last week, with the humidity hovering at nearly 100% outside, I noticed huge 4-5" slugs on the sidewalk...and to my horror, there was even one on my Rhyn. gigantea, which is hanging a couple of ft off the ground. Luckily, it was crawling and hadn't started eating...it was heading for the tenderest new leaf

[Lars Kurth]

With a bit of luck I will get another set of buds: my chlorochilon flowered twice last year

[Kelo]

It really is a gut wrench when you see buds you were longing to see being eaten by something or other.