Snails on citrus
UC IPM names citrus as especially susceptible. Snails climb the trunk to feed on young bark, leaves and fruit, and shelter in skirts of branches that touch the ground. UC IPM and the University of Florida pair a copper band round the trunk with pruning the skirt clear of the soil, which keeps climbing snails off the canopy and away from low-hanging fruit. In southern California citrus groves the predatory decollate snail is used as a biological control. UC IPM says it has not been seen eating citrus leaves or undamaged fruit, but it takes years, not weeks, and it can only be released legally in 12 California counties.
At a glance
- Damage
- Irregular holes in leaves and fruit, slime trails, bark gnawed on young trees
- Type
- Chewing
- Settings
- Garden, Field
- Threshold
- No garden threshold
- Release
- Rumina decollata
- Rate
- 3–5 decollate snails under each shrub, or 100 per 1,000 sq ft of planter area (supplier guidance); legal only in 12 southern and central California counties
How to confirm it
Look with a torch after dark or in the early morning: snails will be on the plants or climbing trunks and walls. By day, look under boards, ledges, ivy and low, leafy branches. A shell 1–1¼ in across, yellowish to horn-coloured with chestnut-brown spiral bands, is the brown garden snail. A tall, cone-shaped shell with a blunt, broken-off tip is the predatory decollate snail: leave it alone.
Identification, lifecycle, degree days and every control option are on the full Snails profile. Not sure it is this pest? Answer four questions about the damage.
Work it out
How many do I need?
Carries Rumina decollata and citrus through so nothing is re-entered. Open the calculator →