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Bush snails MAY have come in to your growing area
in your mix. But, unless you have a very static collection, bush snails
will come in with new plants, commercial or otherwise. I collect about a
150 orchids a year, about 90% being bareroot. That means that with 15
plants per year coming in to my GH potted, I generally see bush snails about
once a year. I am fortunate by design, I use a mix that bush snails can't
enter. That means that they must roam for lack of a nice pot filled with
juicy roots to make a home in and never come up for air. I once had a
friend that bought a very large over grown basket of Laelia superbiens at an
auction, donated by an AOS judge. Like a good friend, he broke off a two
bulb piece for me. When I got home I found 3 bush snails on the two
bulbs. I also got a stagghorn fern at the county fair one year.
Found a few bush snails wandering around immediatedly after. I tried to
find the beasts under the shield, but to no avail, as the shield retreated day
after day until the plant was gone. The following year, picked up another
one of these from the same vendor, found another bush snail about, but this time
I had learned about diatomaceous earth (DE) from a pool supply (don't breath
it), scattered a good dusting about, and especially under the shield, and now
the shield is growing as fast as the last one disappeared. I consider
anyone useing bark as living on the edge of disaster, unless they have found an
effective way of bush snail elimination in their growing plants, and practice it
regularly. I have heard there are good chemicals, but don't remember
which. Any plants that I pot up to give away or otherwise transfer out of
my collection gets a good dusting of DE right into the pot and washed in.
Haven't seen any damage yet from this, but then maybe I haven't kept the plants
long enough to see any. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ
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