# no more water soluble snail killers?



## Hugorchids (Aug 4, 2013)

I looked everywhere, is there no longer water soluble snail killers? I hate the pellets, the snails have to come to contact with them--i rather contact them!


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## NYEric (Aug 4, 2013)

I never heard of a water soluble snail killer. If you find one send it to me.


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## Hugorchids (Aug 5, 2013)

really?!?! well goes one...they're the maker of sluggo but they stopped, i think they were concerned it will pollute the waters. the mix with water makes it turn white and i have say it was damn effective!


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## abax (Aug 5, 2013)

Measurol or Mesurol...I forget which spelling is correct. It does the job
very well even on bush snails, but it killed a few small mounted Phals. in the process. It didn't distress larger plants at all. You just about have to wear
a HazMat suit to spray the stuff.


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## Hugorchids (Aug 5, 2013)

thanks abax, I wanted something easy to use, Measurol sounds too toxic. I tried the pellet stuff and they just mold up.


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## Secundino (Aug 5, 2013)

They are all quite toxic. If you have your orchids on benches, you can use the wellknown beertrap, on damp nights they work extremely well. 
I always use this method for ground orchids.
For the baskets/mounted one it is indeed difficult. Watering under water and then searching the critters... But I am slowly approaching numbers where time gets an issue.


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## keithrs (Aug 5, 2013)

Slug Clear works well.


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## Trithor (Aug 5, 2013)

As do most systemic insectcides


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## likespaphs (Aug 5, 2013)

Trithor said:


> As do most systemic insectcides



sorry but are you saying that most systemic insecticides work on slugs/snails? 
if so, i'll disagree.
if you're talkin' about something else, don't mind me....


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## NYEric (Aug 5, 2013)

Where do you buy "Slug-it"?


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## Hugorchids (Aug 5, 2013)

That's the $64000 question...slug it was an easy applicator, didn't burn and effective, killed bush snails that likes to hide inside pots and crevices, if someone can bring this back it will be a money maker for sure


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## NYEric (Aug 5, 2013)

I found something similar online called Slug Clear, sold in the UK.
Maybe Keithrs can give us a source.


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## limuhead (Aug 6, 2013)

I used to use a product called 'Slug Fest' or something like that. Liquid metaldehyde based, worked good for when I had a 4000 square foot nursery, but it is not for use in residential areas I am pretty sure. I also won't use it around my home because I have a dog. I just purchased a product called Snail and Slug Away made by Gro Power. It is a pellet that is 2% cinnamon oil. I haven't used it yet; but I have seen some signs of snail damage on a few plants that came from a seller on Ebay, which I isolated. I am going to bust it out this weekend; I will let you know if it works...


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## keithrs (Aug 6, 2013)

NYEric said:


> I found something similar online called Slug Clear, sold in the UK.
> Maybe Keithrs can give us a source.



I purchased mine from Ebay UK. Contact sellers before you buy. The EPA has outlawed liquid metaldehyde for home owners as it pollutes water ways and is almost impossible to remove from the water. Its has been linked to dead wild birds also. 

I have only used it once and it works good. I mostly use Sluggo Plus and Corry's but every so often I get an invasion of slugs(mainly spring time).


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## Trithor (Aug 6, 2013)

likespaphs said:


> sorry but are you saying that most systemic insecticides work on slugs/snails?
> if so, i'll disagree.
> if you're talkin' about something else, don't mind me....



Once every 6 months I apply a drench of aphicide. The following morning there are always a number of dead slugs on the greenhouse floor. I don't know what the cause is, but the event is time related to the aphicide application?


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## likespaphs (Aug 6, 2013)

what is the aphicide?


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## NYEric (Aug 6, 2013)

keithrs said:


> I purchased mine from Ebay UK. Contact sellers before you buy. The EPA has outlawed liquid metaldehyde for home owners as it pollutes water ways and is almost impossible to remove from the water.



thanks, I dont think polluting the water table will be an issue from an apartment 20 stories up!


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## Trithor (Aug 6, 2013)

likespaphs said:


> what is the aphicide?



Sorry, I don't know offhand, but will check in the morning. Perhaps it is the solvent/carrier or something else in the formulation which the slugs are sensitive to? I have often thought of applying it more often, but I am always concerned for my Bostons and the Gouldians in the greenhouse. It is a mission getting the Gouldians separated everytime I want to apply chemicals, and the Bostons kind of rule the property and become testy if I exclude them from the greenhouse for a few days.


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## Roth (Aug 6, 2013)

likespaphs said:


> sorry but are you saying that most systemic insecticides work on slugs/snails?
> if so, i'll disagree.
> if you're talkin' about something else, don't mind me....



The carbamate and organophosphate, definitely yes. When I use carbofuran, it kills all the slugs and snails. But they are for professional use, and some are even banned today ( parathion, aldicarb...). And most systemic insecticides were in those two classes 15 years ago.

Stuff like imidacloprid or the pyrethrenoids are not efficient however.


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## Scott Ware (Aug 6, 2013)

limuhead said:


> I used to use a product called 'Slug Fest' or something like that. Liquid metaldehyde based, worked good for when I had a 4000 square foot nursery, but it is not for use in residential areas I am pretty sure. I also won't use it around my home because I have a dog....


 
Are you talking about this stuff?:







Super effective against slugs, but evil nasty awful horrible - *I mean really bad!* - effects on pets and humans. We used to use this stuff by the case before it fell victim to the cost of compliance with modern labeling requirements. Not so great against some snail species unless used in conjunction with a carbamate molluscicide.


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## keithrs (Aug 6, 2013)

Has anyone use Deadlines force II liquid slug concentrate?


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## limuhead (Aug 6, 2013)

The Slug Fest I used came in a 2.5 gallon plastic jug and was about 200 bucks. The secret is to put molasses in it, then it kills them all. You are right, big time nasty stuff, had to suit up and still made me dizzy...


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## abax (Aug 6, 2013)

The alternative to really toxic chemicals is Diotomaceous Earth scattered
around on benches and floors. I have friends who have sprinkled it on the
tops of pots and watered just enough to get the powder into the potting
medium. It worked just fine, but it ain't pretty. DE is sold just about
everywhere as far as I know. Lowes has it.

Metaldehyde is very nasty stuff and illegal in some states.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Aug 7, 2013)

Metaldehyde is disgusting, leaving dead slugs in a pool of slime. Iron phosphate kills them more slowly, but out of sight, and kills far more slugs. Diatomaceous earth never worked for me...I've seen slugs just slime their way over it as if it was nothing.


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## Erythrone (Aug 7, 2013)

I am a very happy Iron phosphate user!


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## Scott Ware (Aug 7, 2013)

limuhead said:


> The Slug Fest I used came in a 2.5 gallon plastic jug and was about 200 bucks. The secret is to put molasses in it, then it kills them all. You are right, big time nasty stuff, had to suit up and still made me dizzy...



It sounds like the same product we use now. Just this morning I donned the tyvec bunny suit and respirator to apply 40 gallons of mixed solution in the greenhouse. Oddly, orchids grow so much better when the slugs don't get a chance to gnaw the green tips off the roots.


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## abax (Aug 8, 2013)

I love "bunny suit". Thank you for making me laugh. I can't get a tyvec
suit small enough for me, so I look rather strange anyway with the suit on...
add the frog mask and I'd scare the hell outta anybody who happened to
see me! The next time I have to suit up I think I keep saying bunny suit to myself to keep my sense of humor intact. Thank you Scott. btw, do you use a back pack for
spraying???? A back pack sort of adds the additional touch of elegance, yaknow.


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## Scott Ware (Aug 8, 2013)

In a "Ghost Busters" sort of way, I suppose! I have to tie something around the ankles or the footies start doing things on their own. It's a great invention -take it out of the sealed pouch, wear it once, and then wad it into a plastic bag and put it in the trash.

I use a 50 gallon Dramm tank sprayer on a cart with a 150 ft hose. Got it for a steal at the Farwest show in Portland a couple years ago. It's really great for applying drenches as well as normal spray applications.


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## abax (Aug 8, 2013)

I really like the idea of a sprayer on a cart that one doesn't have to lug
around. I have a Spot Shot for fertilizing my plants and I love that I can
roll it. Yeah, I have to bind the ankles as well...and the arms of the tyvec.
I use the back pack because I have a tree nursery and we have back packs
all over the place for spraying weeds around the trees. Might as well use
what we have handy.


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## goldenrose (Aug 9, 2013)

I'm soooo glad I don't have a problem with slugs, just couldn't use the product choices talked about here. Has any one tried lava rock as a mulch around the base of the plant? It comes in 2 different sizes that I'm aware of, the rough surface the slugs don't like, suppose to be a better deterrent than DE and permanent, no need to reapply!


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## keithrs (Aug 9, 2013)

goldenrose said:


> I'm soooo glad I don't have a problem with slugs, just couldn't use the product choices talked about here. Has any one tried lava rock as a mulch around the base of the plant? It comes in 2 different sizes that I'm aware of, the rough surface the slugs don't like, suppose to be a better deterrent than DE and permanent, no need to reapply!



Doesn't work... Slugs just hide I those holes that lava has.


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## NYEric (Aug 10, 2013)

I pulled a plant today that had rotted underneath a bigger one, so I missed saving it. when I unpotted it I found at least 10 snails chomping on various parts.


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## Trithor (Aug 10, 2013)

How do you get a snail epidemic in a NY city apartment ?


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## Secundino (Aug 10, 2013)

Snails climb up 20 stores...to much snail killers outside on the ground!


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## goldenrose (Aug 10, 2013)

Secundino said:


> Snails climb up 20 stores...to much snail killers outside on the ground!


:clap::rollhappy::clap::rollhappy::clap:


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## NYEric (Aug 11, 2013)

They came in inside potted plants and the cats ignore them.


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## Secundino (Aug 11, 2013)

Beer.oke: Believe me. And it should be easy to get it up to your appartement.

And one reason more to hate cats. Don't know why cats _love me._


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## keithrs (Aug 11, 2013)

Secundino said:


> And one reason more to hate cats. Don't know why cats _love me._



Because there trying to sucker you inoke:


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## orcoholic (Aug 11, 2013)

NYEric said:


> I pulled a plant today that had rotted underneath a bigger one, so I missed saving it. when I unpotted it I found at least 10 snails chomping on various parts.



Everyone's invited to Erics tonight for escargot.


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## chrismende (Aug 12, 2013)

OK. I use Sluggo and just tolerate the mold. I just scratch it apart when it looks ugly. It does work! We usually accidentally dump too much on spots. If not for that human error, the individual little pellets don't look so bad molding away. I'd rather any day use something annoying but non-toxic!
I'm going to try some beer among the Masdevallias soon. I haven't tried that in a long time. And never in my greenhouse. I will report in if I catch some nasty creatures in the soup!


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## Secundino (Aug 12, 2013)

The nasty one will be the soup itself ... not nice to look at.


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## keithrs (Aug 12, 2013)

Well stopped by nursery today and asked if they had any liquid slug bait other then cinnamon oil. They had Deadline. Apparently it's diluted to the point where you just squirt it around the plant you want to protect. I don't know how well that works for orchids in pots. I wonder if putting it into a sprayer would work better? And FYI from what the rep said... Metaldehyde is illegal for retailers or nurseries to use on plants for sale!?!


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