Look closer at the pot -- do you see tiny trails of shiny mucus going up the container? Snails dislike gritty surfaces, so container walls are ideal for them to climb. You could try mulching plants with something sharp like lava rock.

Or, they arrived as eggs with your potting medium or mulch.

And baby snails can be the size of a grain of sand - pretty hard to spot.

The most effective and safest slug & snail control I know is iron phosphate bait pellets. Just sprinkle them around whatever you're trying to protect.

I got mine at Home Depot.

All my plants are in pots and I find the snails during the day when watering - on top of the soil in the pot.

Do your pots have bottom plates/saucers to catch excess water? The slugs could be hiding in the gap under there when not feeding.

They do. I find them all over on top of the potting soil, under the trays, etc.

Just wondering do they appear out of thin air? Where do they come from?

Your question was already answered -- read the posts. They are good climbers and can travel pretty far, or they arrived as eggs in the potting mix or with the plant you purchased. I don't understand why you are so mystified by this... :)

Could it be that I don't buy or believe that is the only source?

Could it be I don't believe that is where these are coming from?

Could that be?

Thanks for playing.

Bless your heart.

Good luck!

Good Bye :-)

Wow, great pics!

Thanks to Google Image search 😉

Well... Gumby may not be happy, but as a really old, long-time gardener I learned something today: I didn't know that snails laid their eggs in soil.

It always amazes me how fast these buggers can travel... and how far.

It is my understanding that, thanks to some entrepreneurs in the Gold Rush Days, California has been blessed with very large snails meant to be Escargo on wealthy Prospectors tables.

And, I've found that putting out the snail bait in the Fall really deminished the next year's snail population. Also, there are the midnight garden raids with a flashlight and baggy.

Kate

I thought you might enjoy this photo of a snail who took a "ride' in the salad spinner:

How I missed this big guy when washing the lettuces is beyond me.

Kate

Snails are so cute - just not on my veggies!

Several years back, I created a terrarium in a large aquarium with white snails and a couple of common slugs for our afterschool kids to enjoy. I had literature on snail physiology and habits to go with, to make it educational. Within weeks, they ate all the plants, laid eggs that quickly hatched, and overran the tank. They even ate the silicone seals on the tank! We went from a handful to hundreds - so I learned a lot from firsthand experience.

😄 😆 😂

Snails certainly do lay eggs in soil. One often finds the clusters of pearly spheres in the ground. And some people make a business out of it. Google snail caviar. https://dorsetsnails.co.uk/caviar/

Escargot roe? I don’t know...

tj