Getting rid of bush snails?

[naoki]

u_bada, are we talking about the same snail, Zonitoides arboreus? Here is what Dr. Hollingworth said about Sluggo (iron phosphate): "We did not do any greenhouse tests using iron phosphate pellets, but in the laboratory they did not attract or have an effect on snails."

Leafmite, with spent coffee, the concentration of caffeine is probably fairly low. It could still suppress the root growth (there are some data about the concentration at which this negative effect shows, but I forgot the details). To kill bush snail, 1-2% of caffeine was required. This is 10-20g of pure caffeine in a liter. This is at least 25x the concentration of brewed coffee!

Ioana, they won't die from submersing them under the water (just trying to make sure). They crawl out, and climb out from the bucket. So make sure they don't crawl into other plants nearby.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Regarding the iron phosphate type baits, they are not as as safe and non-toxic as advertised. To be clear, they are definitely a "chemical" control, and while some "organic" gardeners have embraced this type of product, this is a poison.

This is because a powerful chelating agent, EDTA, is added to them (yet is not on the label). Iron phosphate without EDTA is ineffective, but with it, IP is a poison (and has caused pet deaths; please read Iron Phosphate Slug Bait Warning )

Try metaldehyde bait (a brand in USA is Ortho Bug-get-a). Very effective on snails, and the pellets have bitrex incorporated into them to make the pellets too bitter to eat to mammals.

As with all chemicals, use either iron phosphate or metaldehyde with caution, and assume the products are poisons and can kill you or pets if misused. I have used metaldehyde, with caution, in a back yard that is also used by my dogs and wildlife, never had an incident.

[u bada]

Thanks for the info guys... it's funny how so many products when submitted (if they ever make it) to scientific prove they don't do at least half of what we buy them for... sigh...

as for toxicity, good to know iron phosphates with edta aren't so safe after all. Certainly controlled use is the name of the game with that one...

that said, I've tried both the metaldehyde, iron phosphate (as well as diy things like beer in gardens, kinda attracted garden type snails, but in the tanks the bush snails never showed up to the beer filled dishes)... and it was the iron phosphate that to my experience worked the best. And certainly with my growing tanks, it really has kept the snails at bay for probably a few years (yes the same snail species, naoki). So just my experience... again, could by the nematodes introduced as well. not sure. I'll give the coffee idea a try one of these days.

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

I've done the caffeine treatment. Worked great. Took awhile to filter out the binders from the tablets. Made enough to fill a small pail and dunked the whole root system in. Let it sit for a minute and never saw another snail

[naoki]

What concentration did you use?

[Deena]

I've used Corry's Slug and Snail Death before and it worked well on the slug infestation we had. The slugs have somehow gotten into my orchid pots and there were holes appearing on the leaves. Corry's is a powder that you spread around and on the base of the plant. The slugs and snails eat it instead of the plant and die. No more holes after this incident. Not sure how well it works on bush snails but theoretically it should work just as well.

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

Originally Posted by naoki

What concentration did you use?

400 mg per half gallon. Just some generic caffeine tabs at Walgreens. Use a coffee filter to get all the binders out.

---------- Post added at 10:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 AM ----------

Slugs & Snails | Oregon Orchid Society

[u bada]

thanks for the info, Deena! good to have other options...

thanks for sharing your experience, vpsihop, as to caffeine... what was said as to it's negative affect on roots/ root growth?

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

Slugs & Snails | Oregon Orchid Society


http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...icwdm_usdanwrc

Hopefully those work. I haven't read anything on stunted growth. I tried it on my psychopsis and it's doing fine. Still putting out flowers and new growth.

[naoki]

With Dr. Hollingworth's experiment, even at 0.1% (=1000 ppm), it didn't completely kill the snails. It is surprising that you got to eliminate them at 200ppm. I tried at 1% (10000ppm), and I didn't eliminate them completely, and saw SEVERE phytotoxicity and lost lots of orchids. Dipping the pots may be more effective. I have just drenched.

Here is an example of caffeine phytotoxicity: https://www.researchgate.net/profile...836c992565.pdf