Here's a link to a site in FL that says they are INDEED exotic, native to South America. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/central/Home/Watershed/snails/Snails.htm It seems they would not survive winter in NJ, but life has a way of getting around rules and assumptions. We never thought we'd have an over-wintering population of water hyacinth in Arkansas, and now it's poised to take over.

If your looking for the corkscrew vine make sure you ask and double ask I too ordered the shell plant with the pic of the corkscrew vine and got the snail vine, it's very impossible to know what your getting tropical 9 nursureys said they carry both I tripled asked them to make sure it is the corkscrew vine I'm just waitting for it to come into stock also daves garden can clear up the difference between the two confusing sister plants. I'm getting my first seed pod and if someone wants to trade the snail vine(only lavendar colored flowers and no scent for the corkscrew vine. Very intersted kllauer76@hotmail.com

I've been battling snails for years! They de-head and kill all my seedlings grown from seed. I tried Sluggo and other products like it and didn't like it's side effects on my plants. The plants tend to turn VERY dark green and get crisper and wrinkled. It doesn't kill the plants, just mutates them for a few weeks before they recover and grow normal again. I wonder if it's the iron in the sluggo product? Last year, I tried several holistic methods and had success with a couple. They sell little tiny shot-glass sized plastic cups and I buried them to the rim and filled with beer. I bought beer and also made my own mash with yeast, water and honey. The store-bought beer worked pretty well but some plants were still being chewed off. I tried surrounding the seedling stems with sand paper and that worked until it rained. The grit washed off the sand paper quickly. I tried putting leaves from mint plants surrounding each seedling stem. I sprinkled garlic and cayenne pepper on the ground. Those 3 things did not work at all. But placing pennies vertically around each stem worked 100%. The pennies placed horizontally worked too, until it rained and soil washed over the copper and the snails crossed the barrier. It took 3 or 4 pennies placed vertically in a square around each stem to ensure the seedling survived. My garden is 150 feet long and it will be annoying as all get out, but I will be planting pennies this year, along with each plant. I'll use Sluggo outside the garden, a couple feet away from the perimeter.

Are you concerned about it? Time for one of my over-the-top rants lol... At what point did people begin to have unreal expectations for produce? Years ago, no one would even have worried about such cosmetic 'problems'. The advance of chemical poisons though, has instilled an unsustainable idea of 'perfection'. Apples perfectly round, red, and unblemished. Kale leaves without holes. Spinach without frayed edges, etc... etc... Personally, I don't see a problem with that spinach leaf. We share this planet with many, many other species. It is completely unrealistic to think we can live in a world where bugs, and the damages they cause, do not exist. Sure, if you have a ground hog that is wiping out all your efforts, then do what you feel is right. However, thinking you can wage chemical warfare (as if Sevin is the answer for everything) using poisons against other living creatures - specifically the ones someone personally finds distasteful - without unintended consequences, is irrational. There are years when a pest can cause extreme damage, even to the point of total destruction, but in reality, the damage cause by pests is usually minimal, and it's most often completely cosmetic. A gardener who understands that they are sharing this world with other creatures is going to have the patience and insight to find peace with hungry critters. They will also be in a better position to CALMLY find alternative methods to real issues. Sharing 1/20th of one leaf, on a whole (mostly unblemished) spinach plant, with a slug or snail is not a serious issue. Anyway... I'm sure you aren't concerned... rather you're probably just curious.