Slug problem
 

My little brother recently got a Dracula orchid and yesterday I found a slug at the bottom when watering it. Two leaves have yellowed and fallen off since we got it (I assume this is because the slug is eating the roots and there is not enough energy to keep all the leaves). How should I go about taking care of this given that this orchid is very sensitive and has a spike forming?

What I've done in my case; Handpicking and getting them (trap them), distract them with other sources of food, put it near the bottom of the plan lettuce leaves and cucumber slices, is a handy remedy and you won't touch the plant.

If that's only a problem on one plant, the solution is easy: put it in a container filled with water and let it sit for a while.
Slugs will rush to the surface to avoid drowning, and you can easily pick them up.

This is a great solution since most slug baits are toxic, including toxic to humans. I used this same method to rid a Phalaenopsis of a nest of fire ants that decided to move in.

-Keith

I have read that beer in a shallow saucer will attract and kill them.

As far as the plant's recovery is concerned, I think that it will be OK as long as the leaf loss doesn't get worse. I have found Draculas to be tougher than they look... follow the advice on getting rid of the slugs so that there isn't more damage, and the plant likely will recover nicely. As far as spikes... hopefully that wasn't damaged, but if it was, most Dracs will produce more if the overall conditions are good. (Cool is good, they'll tolerate warm days if they can cool off at night, good water, very little fertilizer)

I do use Sluggo (Iron phosphate formula) - not completely non-toxic to pets but low toxicity. Definitely less nasty than metaldehyde. Also vigilance.

Thank you for this ingenious solution. I tried it for about 10 minutes, but it never came to the top. This leads me to believe that I killed it when I pinched it in the butt with a tweezer the first time I saw it. Thank you again for the help.

---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 PM ----------

Thank you for your advice. I am new to Dracula orchids so I don’t really know what to expect. I have it in a terrarium and am feeding it distilled water; I think it must like it because luckily I found two more spikes when trying to kill the slug. Thank you once again for your help.