Root tips disappearing - chewed off!

[debrasoon]

I find it is usually sluhs n snails. N believe me they can climb!!! I have seen them climb up my wooden supports onto eye level n higher plants. Slug pellets do the trick pretty well n u hv to sprinkle.a few in the pots. Plus all over the soil the slugs crawl through.

[tellmewhy]

I am having the same issue, the new roots on my Phal and my dendrobium cane and leafs.

[tellmewhy]

[LizB88]

Last summer I had a snail problem and the beer trick worked well for the ones that had not made it into the media, however by accident I killed them all when I gave my cymbidiums a shower with Epsom salt because I was having some yellowing of the leaf. So far I have not seen any signs of them.I also put salt around the pots and that has help with the snails.

[reliablefool]

ugh...I just found out that I have at least one orchid infested with those little bush snails. T_T No idea where to start.

[MattWoelfsen]

Tellmewhy, your plant damage was something I experienced two years ago. Somewhere near you, in a tree or on a pole is this hornets nest/hive. These hornets love orchid leaves because they have a lot of cellulose. Thinking I had slugs or snails or chipmunk or squirrels eating my orchids, it turned out to be hornets. Once I got rid of the nest, my orchids were spared further damage. Unfortunately it took a year for the orchid to eliminate the damaged leaves.

[My Green Pets]

Tellmewhy, that's exactly what mine look like! I found a little snail under a pot today and removed it. Wonder how many more of them there are?! If they so much as think about eating my spikes…cheeky little bastards!

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by tellmewhy

Attachment 103708

That is a classic snail & slug damage.

---------- Post added at 01:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:48 AM ----------

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

Tellmewhy, that's exactly what mine look like! I found a little snail under a pot today and removed it. Wonder how many more of them there are?! If they so much as think about eating my spikes…cheeky little bastards!

Flash light hunt every evening for a few days and you will get at least a few big ones.

Do you have pots sitting on the ground??
Snails and slugs are common in the garden and they will keep coming to the plant pots.

You want to put your pots elevated.

Also, try soaking the pots for a loooong time like for hours. Plants won't suffer, but the snails will either come out on the surface or die.

In the meantime, check the pots early evening into 9 ish.
Basically, once it gets dark in the evening, do the hourly check. If you have lots of them, you will find them every time you check. and even better, check every half an hour if that's not too much hassel.

I wonder what's eating your vanda roots though since they are hanging in the air.

[lepetitmartien]

If the snail is big enough, you'll see teeth marks.
A caterpillar will "regularly" chew, making his diner from one position then moving a few steps and resuming (those on leaves are a good example)
Insects like cockroaches (or else) will nibble irregularly. it'll be munched, chewed on, no clean cut.

Anyway, you have some serious chase to make.

Maybe if it's cokroaches you can use plaster/sugar - mix of powder only- or borax/milk concentrate -this one makes little balls- sweets (if the place is adequate, dry enough, and not accessible to kids/animals), they nibble on and die of plastering.

[My Green Pets]

Here are some photos taken this morning of the chewed-on Vanda roots...

A. Root inside the basket eaten back to the white


B. Damage is along the side of this root, not the tip


C. Nice little bite taken out here


And on my Bulbo echinolabium's newly grown leaves, some irregular munching as well:





Both Vanda and Bulbo are hanging in baskets with no contact with leaves or branches besides the hanger. Booo to these pests! Any thoughts?