Protect your garden orchids from slugs with our new range of organic products

Protect your garden orchids from slugs with our new range of organic products

Perennial orchids, like most garden plants, may be subject to attack or infection by certain pests at certain times of the year. There are 3 main types of pest that concern garden orchids :

-       Slugs or snails;

-       Destructive insects such as aphids, caterpillars (moths), red spiders, mealy bugs ...

-       Small rodent mammals.

The 3 keys to effectively controlling major pests and diseases are good hygiene, regular inspection, and rapid action as soon as the first symptoms are detected.

Today we would like to give you some tips on how to deal with one of the most harmful pests, namely: Slugs. The problems linked to other pests will be analysed in a subsequent newsletter ...

Combating slugs effectively ...

A physical intervention may be sufficient in many cases. Slugs and snails are probably the most harmful pests, but inspection is often enough to find them and remove them.

Repelling slugs

It is also possible to repel slugs by knowing that crawling insects do not like to move over rough and desiccated surfaces. In fact, the mucus film they use to move on becomes dehydrated. This method involves placing different materials around the plants you want to protect that will repel the slugs. You can use, for example:

- Wood ash;

- Sawdust;

- Crushed egg shells.

If purely mechanical measures do not solve the problem, you can look to chemical or biological control methods.

Chemical control

Different brands of anti-slug treatments are commercially available in the form of pellets which are spread around the plants you wish to protect. However, these products are all composed of metaldehyde, a product which is highly toxic and presents a poisoning risk for hedgehogs, domestic animals, and humans. We do not recommend this method.

Biological Control - Using Auxiliaries

Nematodes - Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita - are invisible worms that parasitise slugs and are used to quickly and biologically control them. 

They come in the form of a powder which is mixed with water then spread over the infested areas. These worms seek their hosts which they then parasitise until killing them.

We offer two different packs for treating respective surface areas of approximately 40 m² or 100 m².

You can find more information in the instructions for use.