Snails.....
 

:hello
I was doing my morning inspection of the orchids and I found 2 tiny snails on the bamboo skewer in one of my catts. Is this bad? What do I need to do to get rid of these pests? Or are these okay to let hang out?

Thanks!
Katie :)

Snails and slugs are very bad to have around. They eat your plants. Ray has posted a few treatments on his Home Remedies web page.

First Rays' Home Remedies

I'd squish them or flush them. They're egg layers, difficult to erradicate, and munch on healthy plant tissue.

I HATE snails, even the small ones can do some damage. They really seem to like the green tips of roots. I just use some snail "bait" from the garden center.

I use 'beer' snails love it & drown in it!

If we could choose the manner in which we would die, I'd choose that. :)

Thanks for all your responses! I think I'm going to repot on Wednesday into fresh media and do a thorough cleansing of the roots and leaves. Then I'm going to use the coffee technique and treat all my orchids. Last but not least, I'm gonna use the potatoes on all orchids to ensure they are gone!
I'll keep you updated on how it works!
Thanks - Katie :)

I presume you are referring to the very tiny Orchid snails. There are mixed feelings as to what damage they cause but I have seen a university study showing them eating orchid roots. When I had them as gifts on a purchased vanda, I treated with coffee dregs two or three times a week apart and have not seen any since. There is a university study about caffeine as a toxin for these but I could not follow up on it nor contact the prime investigator to confirm how he made up his caffeine mixture. The concentrations he used were much higher than in coffee but there is anecdotal information that coffee works to which I have added.
Nick

Holy Smokes. Just figured out who the snail culprit is! It's my new project plant "Miltonia". What's up with that? Seriously, no lie, the potato was BLACK when I picked it up off the Miltonia this morning. NASTY! so i've quaranteened into the bedroom for the time being...Now what to do? It's in a basket full of some type of moss. Should I go out and buy new moss and replant? Suggestions?

Thanx-Katie :)

OKay - I replanted my miltonia in new sphagnum moss...I also bought Ortho Bug-Geta
Ortho Bug Geta Snail & Slug Killer, 2 lb # 0464060 by Scotts Lawn Care

Has anyone ever used this product? Any suggestions about how much to sprinkle on each plant?

Thanx-
Katie

Hey there Katie. I sprinkle on the surrounding area, but not the plants. I didn't think you could/should put on the pots themselves????

i use it but i dont put it on the plants....i put it around the pot on the benches and under the benches, anyplace where moisture accumulates.....i have been afraid to put it on the pots themselves....gl

Hey Maria and Dounoharm --

hummmm.....not on the plants eh? Okay, so I grow indoors so it really wouldn't be a great idea to sprinkle it in the kitchen then.....Maybe I will return it then and try the coffee technique. The problem is that the snails are in the hanging plant....Although I just entirely repotted...So maybe coffeeing everyone will clear up the problem...

Thanks for your help!
Katie :)

I have put that exact product in the pots with my orchids. I say no ill effects except that a few in sphag started to mold. The ones in bark did just fine. But I like the results from your potato experiement. Sorry to hear about the critters but I like those results. Can you further explain what you did?

Hi Royal -- I basically just sliced pieces of potatoes and placed them on the top of the media in the pot. When I woke up the next morning the entire potato slice was covered in slugs! It didn't rid the plant of them all but I think it helped? I was also told you can use strong coffee and coffee grounds. I will try that next if the repotting and physan hasn't worked it's magic! I'm worried about trying that slug product pellets b/c the problem is in spagh.....I'll keep you updated!
Thanks guys!
Katie :)

You might try a few pellets, if you only leave them for a night or two it may have time to do the trick. I guess if you left a potato in the pot for good it would mold too.

If you grow indoors all the time and the plants have been there for a while (? how long) it would be unlikely that you have garden snails or slugs. If the critters are very tiny, they are the orchid snails and can be killed with coffee. If you have the garden slugs and snails, then I think you could put the slug poison onto the medium surrounding the plant. If I get a chance, I'll try to find the file I have on orchid snails and post some references.
Nick

orchid snail
 

If I get this right you should see the abstract of an article about caffeine for orchid snails and a picture of what I am referring to. The snail in the picture is on a 3/4 inch wide plant label for size reference.
Nick
sorry, the article was too big (a pdf file) so I could not upload it.
Nick

Awe its so cute!! What a bummer they cause problems :( That is so gross that the potato was covered in slugs!! I would have gotten ill...

I think I have snails in some of my orchids, but I don't really have the energy or the time to unpot them all and look for slugs. So you guys just pour coffee through the pots to kill the slugs and snails? did I understand that correctly?

I just gathered coffee dregs (leftovers) and poured then over entire medium to soak twice a week apart. Now that I have a pod coffee maker, I guess I'll buy some cheap instant if I need to do it again. I used coffee the strength that we drink it.
Nick

If you really hate snails...just add salt, sit back, and watch.

I used some of the straight left-over coffee from work and 1/2 instant coffee. HOpefully it does the job. It's not the big 'ole snails like you'd have outside, but rather I grow indoors. They are tiny black snails but they are so tiny they don't even have shells yet! I put my first coffee over it tonight. I will repeat every two days until they are gone! Unfortunately it's spread to at least one other orchid :(
I'll keep everyone updated!
thanks again,
Katie :)

Katie... how did it go with yours?

I've just found these same tiny tiny snails in my new Miltoniopsis :(

They had climed but the plant when I soaked the pot and I picked off the ones I could see (about 6 of them) then put a slice of potato on the medium.

I think I will try the coffee as well.

Grrr - I just saw one on my new Oncidium! It's tiny!

I guess it's time for a coffee break! And not the good kind!

I found just two on the potato this morning so hopefully I'm not too infested.

I can't work out from what I've read. Do you poor coffee through the medium, or do you just spray the surface of the medium with it?

Hope you get rid of them on yours Nicole.

I drenched my Vanda with as much as I could collect. Treated only once and no sign since (over 8 months ago)
Nick

Thanks Nick.

I've still not tried coffee, over 3 days I got snails on the potato every morning, but there were none this morning.

I'm going to give it a coffee drench anyway I think then more potato for a few days to check they really are gone.

Fingers crossed :crossfing

I just did a soil drench with permethrin for bugs in one of my paphs .....I used a different bug killer on my catts "cant remember the brand right off" and it did very well and no harm to the catts.Same method mix according to directions for use as a spray but then used it as a drench.

No bugs at all in the catts ..Had some aggravating little black things in the hydrotron that I just did not like.Thye would actually jump like fleas from one cat to the others.

Even though they were tiny things they sure could travel ..LOL

I am waiting to see if it does any damage to the one paph I used it on for a week or so and then I will use it on the others.

There is one snail bait which is Iron Sulfide - kills snails but not pets and birds. Look nasty and moldy as it ages but does help - Called Sluggo as I remember. Wonder if sprinkling instant coffee on the media would work? Have had those small snails some call them "Orchid Snails" but the other name I have read is "Bush Snails". Potato peels, apple peals, lettuce all attract them but its only to see if they are there. Catching them that way will only reduce the population. Sprinkle diatomacous earth around and on the pots - it scratches their bellies and they either die or leave. Lava Rock ground up on the floors keeps the little devils from crawling around as much - again scratches their bellies. You can add my name to the list of one that hates the things. Repotting Helps a lot but your really have to clean off old media to get full benefit.

I think mine might have been a one off... if that's possible. Maybe he hitched a ride from another plant at the garden centre. I put potato on the top all week and not one snails showed himself!
So I'll hold off on the coffee for now...
Hope you all have luck getting rid of yours (yeugh!).

You can also catch them the old fashioned way. Before you go to bed, grab a flashlight in one hand and a pair of tweezers in another, and inspect each plant that you suspect of being infested with snails. One of their more charming traits is that at least some species of snails/slugs are cannibals. If you squish one snail and leave it on the top of the potting mix, there's a good chance that a few of its neighbors will crawl up to feed on it later. When I first observed this, it kind of reminded me of a tiny mollusk zombie film.

You can also wrap pliable copper wire (found at any hardware store) around the base of the legs of the benches that the orchids sit on. It will prevent any new arrivals from crawling up to the plants.

Steve