Slugs and Snails

Every grower, inside and out, will have horror stories to tell about slugs and snails. They are a nightmare for greenhouse growers of orchids. They emerge at night from who knows where and chomp on leaves, roots, new growths and their favourite – new inflorescences. They love humidity and are incredible at hiding themselves away from even the keenest of eyes. As an indoor grower they aren’t too much of a problem, and they are best left for a blogger who grows in a greenhouse.  However, I grow on the first floor, and they are quite capable of climbing in through open windows, and they are frequent hitchhikers in newly acquired plants. You will usually know they are about because you’ll find slime trails in the morning round your plants and if you’re unlucky, stuff will have been eaten. You can often trace the slime trails back to their source and find the hiding places so the pests can be disposed of. Once again, vigilance is important here as one slug left unattended can do quite a lot of damage. If you put plants outside over summer, you’ll inevitably bring them indoors with your plants during autumn. I don’t generally recommend people put orchids outside for exactly this reason.