Hi,

this is the absolute worst year here in Fl for snail ...millions of
them everywhere, I think I'm somwhat getting them under control...

Been in RGO, since 1995. Posted maybe five times, now 7 posts in two days.

Coffee mixture in your water.

Never could figure out the 2% concentration.(remember, I'm a graduate of Fl
schools-have to take my shoes off to count above 12 +GRIN+). We just dump the
remainder of morning coffee (probably 2-3 cups) in the 55 gallon barrel from
which we run our watering/fertilizing/fungicide. Haven't seen a snail in a
year. Plants seem more wide awake, too. LOL.

Caffeine can repel or kill snails that might otherwise eat and ruin plants,
Agricultural Research Service scientists report in the June 27, 2002 issue of
the scientific journal Nature.

In preliminary experiments at his research greenhouse in Hilo, Hollingsworth
applied a 2 percent solution of caffeine in water as a spray to the coconut
husk-chips material in which orchids are grown. This growth medium, called
coir, was infested with the tiny snails. The scientists found that the caffeine
spray killed up to 95 percent of the snails.

In another experiment, the researchers showed that growth medium treated
with the 2 percent caffeine solution had only 5 snails, when checked 30 days
after the spray was applied. That's in contrast to the 35 snails that they
found in growth medium that had been treated with a standard dose of
metaldehyde, a common molluscicide.


Hope This May Help Someone,

Karen and Jerry

Camp Lot A Noise Tropicals (C. L. A. N.) http://www.clanorchids.com
Orchid Species, Hybrids, Supplies, Photos and Books
Chat (941) 352-2483 Fax: (941) 351-2483 X 123 Order Only 1-800-351-CITE