Snails - little tiny ones

[silverstoli]

It seems one of my most recent purchases came with a free gift! Little tiny snails. What is best to use to control the little guys. Of course I have picked off the ones I have seen, but they are tiny and I think some may be down in the bark.

I have a wonderful dog and most baits/poisons I've seen are toxic to pets.

Any suggestions for something lethal to snails but gentle for orchids and pets?

Thank you so much!

[78Terp]

Repot the orchid to get the media clean. And inspect the roots for the buggers and pick them out.

[catasetum-ian]

you can try soaking them in coffee..within about 15 minutes, the snails will start fleeing the scene =D

or, you can drench them in Mesoral, its a combination of mollusicde and pesticide. after draining them, should not be a problem for pets. unlike those snail baits pellet which are lethal

[lijun]

i read coffee kills 95 percent of snails on orchid. like 1-2 teaspoon for 100 ml, but it says when you place beer near the pot, the snails also go to the beer and stay dead inside. never tried any of this. mary if you ever try,.. pls let us know the result.

[silverstoli]

Thanks. I haven't tried the coffee yet. I have used beer before. I put a little in a large plastic bottle and put it on it's side slightly buried so that the mouth of the bottle was at ground level. the slugs did crawl in and die. This was successful in saving my Hostas. I would just pick up the bottle, put the lid on and throw it away and put a new one out.

My problem with that here is that all of my plants are up and hanging and I think the little snails are in the pot. I haven't seen any outside of the pot. So, I may have to try the coffee dip or repotting.

I've also read that a slice of cucumber or raw potato will attract them, then you can just collect them and get rid of them. I might try that tonight as that is something I can easily set in the pot while hanging and easily accomplished before going to bed : )

[ksriramkumar]

Interesting info. did not know about the coffee bait. keep us posted on how effective it is using potato and cucumber

[catttan]

Put copper coins in the pots - unless your dog also eats copper.

[catasetum-ian]

Put copper coins in the pots - unless your dog also eats copper.

what is the scientific explanation behind the copper coins?

[ksriramkumar]

From what I know, snails dislike the inherent electrical charge in copper. it could be a copper wire or coins placed in the pot. it would not climb over the coins.

[zainal abidin]

Good luck Mary let us know the outcome I'm so excited, whatever technique you use.