Will Alum kill bush snails?

[PuiPuiMolcar]

I have seen people from the fish tank community use alum to kill pest snail, but I have yet to seen it done on bush snails. Have anyone tried this method, and does alum harm orchids?

[Roberta]

Alum -potassium aluminum sulfate is quite acidic. I would hesitate to use it on orchids, certainly at any concentration that would bother snails. And bush snails are have very different habits than other snails. Use the Orchid Board search function with keyword "Coffee" to see some detailed discussion of using it on bush snails. Several people have found coffee to be very effective in getting rid of the bush snails, and with sufficient care, not hurting the orchids.

[skirincich]

I have heard that caffeine is toxic to snails and a solution can be made from spent coffee grounds.

[Roberta]

Found the thread with a lot of good details:
Bush Snails treatment

[PuiPuiMolcar]

Ok thanks all, I guess I will have to stick to coffee afterall. Just hope the small root orchids will handle caffine well.

[Leafmite]

I have used coffee on all my orchids and none of them suffered at all. Bush snails will cause quite a bit of damage, though so it is good to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Roots might need to heal for a couple of days as Bush snails will nibble on them. Do treat all the plants that might have been exposed to the bush snails or they will return.

I saw in another post that you have a Pleurothallidinae. They can be very delicate. If you think they have been exposed to the bush snails. after dousing them with coffee, wait a minute then flush them well with rain or distilled water. I lost a bunch of these delicate miniature orchids to bush snails...they ate them in the entirety. I did not have a chance to try coffee on them but you do not want these to be anywhere near bush snails (If they have not been, no need to treat them).

I have not had any success using coffee with any other type of snail or slugs but it works very well for bush snails. I keep other products on hand for the other types of snails.