Mee too. You can only control them. You never get rid of them. I got tired of the high price per lb from home depot etc. So I went online and got sluggo snail bait in a 25 lb bag. Not cheap but much better than the 1 pound box. You will need to shop the web and factor freight. Also you will need a hand broadcaster. Or spread it by hand. The active ingredient is iron so it is very safe. There is a type of slug go that adds a poison but is not needed. Your neighbors have the snails too so they may want in on the buy. I've heard of the giant snails invading South Fl. Very nasty. Be aggressive as the snails can create great damage to your orchids but with sluggo they can be easily controlled. Good luck...

I bought some Japanese trapdoors, but most of them died. Found empty shells all in pond. I did find one still alive in pond when I drained it in April. This one is in the bog filter. The trapdoor that is in the pond looks like they did when I got them. This one just looks different for some reason. The trapdoors all have algae growing on them, this ones shell is so clean looking. I have a gazillion of the ones that look like ramshorn (like coils of rope). This one looks too thick to be a ramshorn. I haven't seen anything that looks like eggs of any kind though. I also have the pointy ended ones. I bet I have thousands in the bog filter. Can I have too many snails?? Glenda

no, I don't have a water softener. There might have been a tiny bit of salt in the water though. They convinced me at the pet store that a little salt for fish stress would be good but I have only added half the recommended amount maybe 2x with all the water changes I have done in the past almost 2 months that the tank has been set up. But I still don't understand how this area has problems with the snails. Or maybe she didn't know what she waas talking about.

Hello Hellena, Your English is just fine! And welcome to the GardenWeb, we are glad to hear from you. If you go to the bottom of the forum page, you'll find a box marked 'search' and you can write in "slugs". There have been a great many postings on the subject -- there are more than a couple gardeners who despise the critters. What kills slugs also deters and usually kills snails. Meanwhile, there are a couple things you can do. Right now, go through the garden and check *under* every possible hiding place, including under stepping stones, boards, pots, benches, etc. You will likely find more than a few slugs that think they are hidden. Slugs will hide under loose leaves, so pick up and compost dead leaves as soon as possible. Once, I found dozens of slugs that had slithered inside a hollow plastic edging -yuk! Drop the slugs into a container that has ammonia mixed into water (about a cup [1/4 liter] of ammonia into 1 quart [1 liter] of water). The ammonia kills the slugs quickly. You can pour the slug-filled ammonia-water onto your compost pile or - in the spring and summer- dilute with another liter of water and pour around a perennial; the slug-bodies will decompose quickly. Plants like ammonia and think they are getting a treat, but it does encourage growth so don't give plants ammonia-water in the fall or winter. Every slug you find now will be one less slsug eating in your garden next spring. In the spring and during the growing season, you can drench the plants slugs like best with very strong coffee. Make the coffee about 3 times stronger than you would want to drink, let it cool and then put it into a sprayer. I use the bottle sprayer that originally held window cleaner. Spray the plant both on top and beneath each leaf until the coffee runs in dribbles. The coffee grounds should be mixed with a bit of soil and then put around the base of any plant that prefers slightly acidic soil. The problem with coffee -besides the expense- is that it has to be re-applied after every rain. You should also get into the habit of carrying a spray bottle every time you go into the garden. Fill it with equal parts ammonia and water -or even only ammonia, and spray any slug you see, including the ones on the plants. You may never completely get rid of ALL the slugs, but you can certainly get rid of most of them! BTW, I don't think stepping on slugs is cruel. But I do think the damage slugs cause by eating my plants is just plain mean, so I don't mind killing slugs. I hate to touch them, so I wear disposible gloves. If you have the space, and like to experiment, try edging the garden with a border of heliotrope. I've found that while heliotrope plants never seem to be bothered by slugs, the new leaves can be cut into tiny pieces; steeped overnight in water; and then poured onto plants that slugs normally eat. It doesn't seem to kill the slugs, be apparently slugs don't like the smell and stay away. If you are desperate, a 3" to 4" [75-100mm]-wide edging of thin copper flashing, laid flat around the bed, will deter snails. Copper flashing is used by folks building or repairing roofs; it's very expensive (but much cheaper than the copper edging sold by garden stores), but you might be able to find a craftsman who will sell you the scraps at a low cost.