Snail Presence

[TWOYYS]

I Raise Nestor Flowers. Now That It Is Budding, I Have Noticed Very Tiny Hard Shelled Snail On The Bare Stalks. The Buds Are Forming And I Want To Know If Any Damage Will Be Done By The Snails. Any Idea How To Treat These Snails. They Are Very Tiny Barely Visible About A One-sixteenth Of An Inch. Read In Another Site That The Cheapest Way Is To Spray Diluted Coffee On Them But I Wonder What The Results Would Be. Any One Have A Cure Please Post A Reply. Thank You Very Much. I Am New To This Site. I Live In Honolulu, Hawaii. Thanks

if you are going to try coffee it has to be very strong, not sure if it even works. personally i would kill/ remove those you see. see 1 count 100. diatmaceous earth dusted or sprinkled on the surfaces will kill them . others may offer other suggestions. whatever u choose... do it quickly, they are ravenous.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sounds like bush snails, the curse of orchid growers. I use diatomaceous earth (DE). Dust the area and pot top, but use a mask or respirator, as inhaling the dust can cause something similar to silicosas. I dust my GH every month or two to eliminate snails and slugs, and a few other undesirable bugs. DE can be bought at a pool supply, is not very expensive, but comes in large bags unfortunately. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[taradale]

Rectifying this thread. I found a tiny little snail on the outside of Paph Wardii's glass vase (pics in this thread). I was wondering if the coffee worked? and if not - are there any other natural remedies. Unfortunately I can't use anything poisonous, the 'dales (my dogs) live on the deck also. I've heard terrible stories of animals that have come in contact with slug/snail dust. It's almost always fatal.

Thanks!!
Kath-
Moxie & Buster (the 'dales)

u can use the old beer in a low saucer thing, DE works great and once applied should be safe. it is used as a wine filter, as well as in pools. so its just in the application. while u wait for the coffee to brew those things can multiply. anyway kill the ones you see. just google coffee caffein snail, you should find the info. good luck

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I agree that the DE should be harmless to your pets once down. It kills bugs by mechanical damage, no poison here. It is mixed with grain for human consumption to eliminate weavels and the like. Cynthia

[taradale]

Found out something interesting things about orchid snails that I thought I'd pass on for discussion:

- 'If you soak your orchid pot for about 1/2 hr the snails will rise to the top and you can get a sense how infested you might be.' Do you think this is true? I soaked Freddy and Wardii yesterday and nothing rose to the top, except for perlite. Wardii was the one I found a tiny little snail on the outside of his glass vase. Freddy is in the same vicinity.

- 'Those 1/2 inch brown snails that meander around your garden - are not the offenders to your orchids. It's the tiny little ones, just a tad bit bigger than pinhead that are orchid pest and are different species than the brown snails' - true or not true?

Thanks!
Kath-

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

A different species for sure. Bush Snails are far from a 1/2". BUT, I never saw a slug or snail that didn't just love one part of an orchid or another. No such thing as a good snail/slug. Cynthia.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think the sliced apple face down on the pot, inspected first thing in the morning, technique would be a better determiner of snail poresence than soaking. Cynthia

[greg_s]

I have also heard that if you soak chewing tobacco in water and then spray the plants that could kill most plant pests. They o.d. on the nicotine apparently. Have not tried it but heard it works.

just a suggestion, soaking paphs in bud may upset the delicate balance necessary for good bloom. mine don't like sudden changes. i find the less i mess with the culture of my paphs the better the result. i rarely soak any of mine but i do keep the watering a a consistant level, allowing the plant to be slightly dry before watering again. i'm still pro DE for snails/slugs.

[taradale]

Thanks for the concern duhhdog. My paphs normal routine is to be soaked in the coffee pot for 15 mins for their watering, whether they're blooming or not.

BTW...Tallulah opened up during the last two nights...yeah!!

Greg, I read about the tobacco thing too. Haven't tried it yet. Ever since I found that one snail on the outside of Paph Wardii's glass vase I haven't seen any other ones. I've even gone out there at night with a spotlight to see if I could catch them in the act.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If your mix is airy enough, bush snails will live in the pot happily eating root tips, and never, or nearly never come up for air, so night hunting doesn't tell you much or help cut the numbers. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[Joseph Stanly]

Originally Posted by TWOYYS

I Raise Nestor Flowers. Now That It Is Budding, I Have Noticed Very Tiny Hard Shelled Snail On The Bare Stalks. The Buds Are Forming And I Want To Know If Any Damage Will Be Done By The Snails. Any Idea How To Treat These Snails. They Are Very Tiny Barely Visible About A One-sixteenth Of An Inch. Read In Another Site That The Cheapest Way Is To Spray Diluted Coffee On Them But I Wonder What The Results Would Be. Any One Have A Cure Please Post A Reply. Thank You Very Much. I Am New To This Site. I Live In Honolulu, Hawaii. Thanks

dear TWOYYS, You can buy Metaldehyde snail bait and dust it in side aswell as around the pots. Try a systemic insecticide spray at 2 ml per liter of water. Also keep stale beer in shallow containers , the slugs and snails are lured to wards it and it gets drowned.
J.Stanly, India

[eikon]

i have just found some small, 1/8th inch, snails at the base of my Onc. 'Lava Flow'. i guess that explains the holes in all the new growth ... i'll try DE...

[eikon]

what about salt? i know that this is one of the most effective snail killers around, but will it hurt the orchid?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Yes, it will hurt the orchid. Don't use salt. I read some where that metaldehyde does not kill the snails, but just stuns them leaving them to dye when the sun comes out and shines on them. I don't know if this is true, but I have never had luck with metaldehyde. I have found the DE to work well, the beer to work after a fashion, but not well enough to eliminat the snails, and I have heard that apple slices on the mix facing down and collected in the morning work. Maybe someone would like to try the apples and let us know how it works. Cynthia

[orchid_lord]

It may be a stupid question, but where can I find DE? I have also problems with snails. I waited 7 MONTHS from my cym (the one from my avatar) to make flowers, but the nasty pests came and ate almost all of my buds. The bad part is that I gave 70$ for it. I have already eliminated 2 snails manually .

any pool supply place, get the filter mask for yourself while you are at it. just follow the directions, lowe's has pool stuff too but not hd that i know of.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

There is a lot of discussion about sources of DE, some work and some don't. The stuff I bought at a pool supply worked really well, and killed every slug in my greenhouse. Others have found pool supply stuff to be useless. I bought some from a feed store, and it feels just too silky. I have some that a friend bought from an online sources that claims to work for snails, but she bought it for sow bugs and it didn't work for them. So, come spring, I will find three or more ant hills and test out these different diatomaceous earth samples for effectiveness. I will probably get a different brand of pool supply stuff to add to the test.

Mean while, protect your buds by a light dusting of pyrethrin on the flowers or a heavy spraying on the flower stem or rest of plant every 3 days . This discourages the slugs, and probably snails from eating the flowers. Don't use the pyrethrin on Paphs, flower stems maybe, but not on leaves. If you have a serious problem with slugs or snails, it is worth experimenting with DE, but you have to use a lot, and use a dust mask until it settles.

[Stuie]

Originally Posted by greg_s

I have also heard that if you soak chewing tobacco in water and then spray the plants that could kill most plant pests. They o.d. on the nicotine apparently. Have not tried it but heard it works.

Dont use Tobacco as its possible to pass on TMV virus (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) to orchids.