Chemical Warfare for Bush Snails

[kc6847]

Found them munching on my miniatures and I’ve had enough. I’ve been religiously tracking them down nightly and I still can’t get rid of them from my humidity domes.

Treatments I’m considering:
- slug-fest metaldehyde, probably my most likely option but price is hefty and not sure about the efficacy since most of them hide away from contact
- measurol (if I can even find it here in the US)

Treatments I’m not considering:
- caffeine, tried it and it did nothing, literally saw a snail eating a dendrobium bud I sprayed the night after first application, also messy to work with due to pill fillers, possible phyotoxicity especially with miniatures and in the concentration it reportedly works at according to the paper done on bush snails vs caffeine
- solid snail bait, too limited reports of efficacy for bush snails
- copper wire, likely not efficient on miniatures

Please let me know if anything else has worked for you guys.

 

[Ray]

I have not found a liquid metaldehyde product that is meant to be diluted and sprayed; most are pellets. However, Deadline Force II is a gel that contains “a powerful attractant”, so maybe that’s your best bet.

 

[big923cattleya]

I use a pelleted snail bait outdoors when snails and slugs are a problem. You just put it down dry and moisten it with a spray bottle of plain water. For the next few days, I find dead snails and slugs underneath the plants. My Hosta's and young day lilies thank me for it. I might only have a few snails compared to slugs, but nevertheless, I find them dead as well. I only have to re-treat when I find damage building up again. I think it woks great. Good luck.
I don't have them inside.

 

[Ray]

Most slugs and snails can be controlled with iron phosphate baits. "Bush snails" cannot.

 

[kc6847]

I have not found a liquid metaldehyde product that is meant to be diluted and sprayed; most are pellets. However, Deadline Force II is a gel that contains “a powerful attractant”, so maybe that’s your best bet.

I will check that one out, but slug-fest is the only sprayable liquid formulation to my knowledge which is why I'm considering it as my top choice. University of Hawaii did a test in 2002 and reported success with it but it seems like the only way to kill them is through direct contact.

 

[PeteM]

There are threads online on other forums.. maybe in here as well that mention using physan 20.

In the past few months I’ve started adding a bit of physan 20 premixed solution to my daily standard fertilizer mix once a week and I have been seeing less snails in general in my collection. Specifically in the vandas, which is more difficult to treat with pellets.

 

[Bob in Albany N.Y.]

Kevin, please let us know what you use and at once strength and frequency. Most of us have this problem at least to a certain degree once we acquire large collections.

 

[My Green Pets]

I submerge the entire plant up to about 3/4 of its height, then pick the snails off that have crawled to the top.
I haven't found a product yet that will eliminate them. Apparently the old Sevin Dust ingredient, carbaryl, did a pretty good job of reducing their numbers. But alas, Sevin has been reformulated in my area, and no longer contains this ingredient.

 

[kc6847]

I bit the bullet and got some slug-fest, I'll see how it turns out. I looked around and found hollowed-out cattleya seedling root tips, hopefully this stops them.

 

[southernbelle]

Most slugs and snails can be controlled with iron phosphate baits. "Bush snails" cannot.

What gets them?

 

[PeteM]

I wanted to add this. Ferroxx Slug & Snail Bait. Read about it in the AOS magazine a year or two ago and ordered it to replace the more aggressive bait as it’s safer for mammals. I’ve used it to suppress the population when I start to notice them. Seems to work, but had to order a larger quantity as it was only available for commercial applications.

 

[Ray]

What gets them?

Metaldehyde, Mesurol