Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Some of my seedlings have been repeatedly hammered by slugs.

I've tried nightly slug hunts and beer baits but there still seems to be heaps of them.

So this is my latest response.



I'll still do a slug hunt in case there are any slugs in the gravel around the base of the seedling. Now I just hope it is slugs because I've been seeing a few grass hoppers around the place

Yeah slugs suck, they hide so well in media where you can't see them. You should be a bit better with the fine media, not as easy for them to hide.

Best of luck with it!

I suppose your beds are a little long to wrap it around the whole edges.

One trick I got from Samrota, have you tried flooding the bed, so the slugs come to the top, and pick them all off?

Only by accident

To do that I have to be in the GH and it takes a time to flood the bed. I'll give that a go when I get a chance.

You can also sprinkle pool salt on the surface of the bed.
They hate it reacting with their foot

When I try to remove them they seem to be able to make the pebbles sticky and they slip away, so I get lots of clay pebbles stuck to my fingers and no slugs?

I think I must have a bit more dexterity because about 7 times out of ten I get the slug but I've also got a pair of forceps and an awl which I use to get the difficult ones.

Just keep plucking and count your blessings you don't live here Stuart .

Has anyone ever experimented...
Stick a stainless sheet either side of the bed and connect a power source... eg 24V...
Just wondering if a voltage field might upset them...
..
.

Actually there was one video on YouTube where someone uses wires and a 9V battery to give them a shock. I had my doubts but it looked interesting and I was going to see if it worked but haven't tried it yet. Here's the video (complete with sound effects) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBeKS64_xc

Maybe with the addition of a few beer traps you could keep numbers down.