Comments on: Slaters, Slater Bugs

By: joe

joe — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:48:24 +0000

Molasses drench 1ltr mollases to 4 ltrs warm water mix stiring well allow to cool and spray/ watering can over soil but unfortunately will kill whatever earthworms come into contact with it

By: peter

peter — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:40:56 +0000

While these crustaceans may feed on decaying vegetation they are an eternal pest amongst an orchid collection as they do chew the roots of these plants and I would be dearly greatfull to be rid of them all together.

regards Peter

By: Jules

Jules — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:25:00 +0000

Hi,
I am having success with 1/2 teaspoon PURE eucalyptus, teaspoon dishwashing liquid to 1 litre water in a spray bottle.
Due to drought I have heaps of multch around so I just pull it back from under plants and spray them. Try not to get it on the foliage if you can as it burns a little (but what is worse?)
Take Care
Jules

By: Liz

Liz — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 02:43:09 +0000

I also have a very big problem with these pets and my seedlings. A week ago I planted out pumpkin, cucumber, corn and tomato seedlings. Today all four cucumber seedlings are eaten off to ground level as are four butternut pumpkins – they have left the Jap alone – and three out of eight corn seedlings. The corn was 8″ tall! As I live in a very cold and dry environment, I have quite a deal of difficulty growing vegies due to the very short growing season – these pests has one wondering whether it is all worth it!?! Any and all suggestions as to how to rid the vegie patch of these pests will be most gratefully appreciated.

By: Rod

Rod — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 04:00:51 +0000

My Dad let the chooks (chicken in Australian) out for a few hours each day. He would tip over all flat pieces of anything in the back yard. Slater…..best chook food ever and high protean for egg production.
Waste not, want not.

By: Christin

Christin — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 02:11:10 +0000

Hi everyone, i too have a problem with slaters, they are in my garden and pot plants, there is no mulch at present in my garden as i had an investation of nematodes. i have just planted my beans and beetroot,slaters and ants everyhere, so just used ant dust and vegetable dust and hope it works. any natural ideas welcome.

By: Peter Burger

Peter Burger — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:43:55 +0000

1. Create slater shelters with, e.g., piles of wet crumpled paper, rags, melon skins wet side down.
2. Next morning lift shelter.
3. A splash of boiling water & the exposed slaters are no more.
4. And you have all the Coopers for yourself, Mez.

By: Fee

Fee — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:11:18 +0000

Hi,
Slaters ROCK! My son has just found one and would like to keep him for a few days.
What are the best kinds of vegetation and enclosure so he doesn’t die during the next few days of observation?
My son is fairly scared of creepy crawlys so it would be nice to tame that fear without the little guy dying on us ;p
Thanx in advance…
fee

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:37:43 +0000

Another things which is supposed to work are potato or orange traps.

Simply cut a large potato or orange in half, scoop out the halves (and use the insides as you please – by juicing the orange halves you should be left with the hollowed out skins), place these near the infested crop, check regularly and remove when full of slaters.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:31:34 +0000

I have a lot of Slaters in my Vegie patch as well as Portuguese millipedes and now some kind of witchetty looking grub, anyway I have been using water traps (adding something sweet to the water like honey, sugar, fruit juice etc is supposed to help as well but I have found water is OK) and have found they can be useful for the slater and the millipedes.

I simply buried a smallish pot saucer (about 15cm diameter and about 2cm deep) it is plastic and yellow in the soil to the rim, fill it about 80% full with water and cover with an upturned tray or plastic pot etc (they like dark and moist places), lifted slightly off the soil using soil mounded at the corners.

I can catch 100′s in a single night sometimes.

Apart form this it has been a case of picking out what I can and I am presently trying snail bait (I know it isn’t organic, but between the slugs, snails, slaters and millipedes I had to try something (I am disabled and only have partial use of my dominant arm, so can’t spend a lot of time/ effort in the garden sometimes – too painful).

Good Luck in whatever you try to all of you other slater sufferers.

Hope this helps…
Sharon

By: James - Rid Pest Control

James - Rid Pest Control — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:59:57 +0000

Wishworm.
I havent tried eucalyptus oil, as I am only allowed to use registered products.
Will always be interested to learn of any tried and true DIY methods to add to our green page on our web site.

By: Mez

Mez — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:01:40 +0000

I have had an ongoing problem with slaters eating seedlings before they get a chance to outgrow the little buggers. I have been experimenting with beer traps and with some success. Beer in a shallow container buried up to the rim. I reckon I would be collecting over 200 a night in various traps.

I am using only the best quality beer – Coopers Sparkling Ale – I figure it’s a fair exchange for bugicide on such a grand scale, plus – one for them and one for me!

By: wishworm

wishworm — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:30:22 +0000

Hi there
I have a huge slater problem in my vegie patch too. They are eating seadlings and small fruits. I will try the wet newspaper idea but have also heard that spraying them with a solution (about 2 %) of eucalyptus oil can work. Has anyone tried that?

By: don

don — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:29:34 +0000

We have slaters in our house. How can we get rid of them?
Our basement flooded a few years ago, and the water table remains high in spite of improved drainage.
The basement was finished with interior insulation and wallboard. We’ve largely removed that, as it had got damp.

Slaters are appearing randomly on the main floor of our house now. We dispose of those, but more keep appearing. Any effective way of eliminating them in our house?

Thank you,
Don

By: gary miller

gary miller — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:59:13 +0000

hi i have a slater problem, i’m trying to find gaps and cracks that give them entrace into the house but they are hard to find, i always have slaters walking along the carpet by the skirting, i have a feeling they are breeding in the flat but it is an upper flat. is there a treatment avaliable that is not toxic to us?