Orchid Pests: Snails

I attended Utah Orchid Society's monthly meeting this month and learned about harmful pests that love orchids! If I covered every pest that I learned about during their presentation it would end up being a very long post. I've decided that I will post on one pest a month until I've covered everything I've learned. I also recommend looking into groups like this in your area. I met some very knowledgeable, friendly people that love orchids as much as I do!

European Brown Snail

European Brown Snails are pretty easy to see and you can pick them off your plants easily. They like to eat the leaves of orchids and sometimes the actual flowers as well. Along with eating your orchid, snails also like to lay their eggs in your planting medium. To get rid of snails you will want to wash your plant and remove any on the surface of your orchid. Then you should also re-pot your orchid in fresh medium. If you don't re-pot the eggs in the potting medium will hatch and you'll have another snail problem. 

Bush Snail

These guys are much harder to see and like to live in the pods and root areas of orchids. You will see the same type of damage for both types. When inspecting your plants make sure to check the under-sides of leaves and any small places they can hide in. 

If you have such a bad infestation that washing your plant and re-potting hasn't helped or you want to protect your other plants there are products you can use. One product that is commonly used is called Ortho Bug-Geta snail and slug control. This product attacks the digestive system of snails and kills them. The huge down side being not safe for children or pets! So, before using this product decide whether it's right for your household. If you do decide to use this product, ensure that your planting medium is fairly dry. A lot of moisture can help snails survive a dose keep this in mind when using this produce. 

Another way to control snails is with phosphates, which is a good natural fertilizer for plants. If snails ingest it they will go "inactive" and will often find someplace to hide and just die. This is safe around kids and pets. A good way to get the snails to ingest this is to buy it in bait form, put it inside of some fruit, and set the fruit next  to your plant.

I hope this helps anyone dealing with snails attacking their orchids!

~Happy Planting!