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In "the favorable coastal California climate" battling slugs and snails is
a 24-hr/day, 365 day/year undertaking. They were here before we were, and
there are lots more of them than there are of us. The battle ebbs and
flows, but is never ending. Based on 50 years of gardening in Santa
Monica, I have a few suggestions, build around a strategy of defense in
depth.
1. Establish a perimeter defense. No single bait or strategy
will keep every critter at bay. The first task is to prevent the
replacements from easily flowing in from the neighbor's yards. Lay down a
barrier of bait in all the likely entry points to your property, and renew that
barrier once a week all year long. Experience will soon show where the hot
spots are. In some places Sluggo or Escar-go works, other places the
less-expensive metaldehyde meal and powder works. Note: Metaldehyde
does not kill snails and slugs. It only stuns them for a few hours so
that they are unable to run for cover when the sun comes up. If left
exposed to the sun, they die of exposure. Thus it is useless as a bait in
pots!
2. Augment the perimeter defense with a local defense. There
will always be a few critters that penetrate the perimeter defense, so you need
to defend individual plants. My experience is that Diatomaceous earth is
totally ineffective, but copper strips several inches wide around each plant
works pretty well. Others seem to have opposite experience. Try
everything and see what works in your environment.
3. To the greatest extent possible, avoid giving the critters a place
to hide in your orchids. Pots are almost impossible to keep free of slugs,
and they come out at night and eat the buds and new root tips. Wherever
possible, (a) mount the orchid on a plaque, proving the least possible hiding
place, and (b) hang the plaque from an overhead support so that it does not
touch the ground.
Sounds pretty extreme, and tough to implement, but you are fighting the
enemy on his own home ground so extreme measures are necessary. I have
never heard of an "extreme" chemical solution to the snail/slug problem in the
coastal zone of southern California.
My own solution for orchids? Build a greenhouse. But the above
methods keep the garden reasonably pest-free. Now, if someone can suggest
a remedy for giant white fly.....
Giles Smith
Santa Monica, CA
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