Young slaters look like adults except they have one less body segment and pair of legs. Slaters grow by moulting. A new skin grows underneath their tough, outer skeleton, which splits into two pieces.
One half comes off over a few days, with the other half falling off a few days later. The skin underneath then gradually hardens.
During moulting a slater is very vulnerable and needs to find a safe place to shelter as it grows. Slaters will occasionally feed on young plants. Put some hollowed out orange halves or seedling punnets filled with potato peelings out in the garden for the slaters to munch on instead. Remove these when full and empty the slaters out away from any seedlings you want them to stay away from. Chunks chewed out of strawberries and cucumbers etc. Missing seedlings. However, it is not unusual for slaters to be active during daylight hours on overcast days, especially when their populations are very large.
Check seedlings and ground level fruit. Check under mulch. Check under piles of rocks, wood or bricks. Check compost bins. Prevent Clean up around the garden and greenhouses as much as possible, concentrating on damp shady corners.
Grow strawberry plants in pots so fruit hangs down away from soil and mulch. Grow cucumbers and other tailing plants on frames to get the fruit off the ground. Pull mulch away from seedlings until they have established.
Create seedling collars from plastic drink bottles with the top and bottom cut off. Turn compost frequently to discourage slaters. Store timber, bricks and rocks in full sun. Trap slaters in hollowed out orange halves or fill cardboard tubes such as empty toilet rolls with organic matter like potato peelings. Dispose of any slaters that congregate there overnight. Dropping them into a bucket half filled with soapy water will work.
Natural enemies Birds lizards spiders centipedes predatory beetles If you have chickens let them at the compost when you are turning it. More Articles. Millipede Control in Your Garden Small, long and cylindrical pests, generally mm long with many legs and 2 legs per body segment.
The presence of slaters inside the house is the first sign you may have a problem. There are 4 main reasons why slaters may come inside. There is no real pest season for slaters, although they are certainly more abundant outside in the warmer months.
How to control slaters. Growing strawberries in pots or melons over structures keeps the plant and fruit off the ground and reduces the likelihood of slater damage. When sowing seed keep the mulch well clear of the furrow as slaters don't like venturing far from cover, set up traps to deter them from germinating plants, an orange half is an old favourite or try a seedling punnet filled with potato peelings.
When it comes to seedlings, try plant collars for the first couple of weeks or pot on seedlings to establish them before planting out. Once the stems become tougher, they're less attractive to slaters.
Iron chelate based snail pellets are also effective against slaters. They're safe for pets and break down into iron to feed plants. In larger gardens, rotating chooks over vegie beds in between crops is a great way to clear up infestation and provide your birds with a serious protein fix. Fri pm, Rpt Sun pm. Video Player failed to load. Play Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Share Facebook Twitter Mail. Josh offers these suggestions: Growing strawberries in pots or growing melons over structures keeps the plants and fruit off the ground and reduces the likelihood of slater damage. When sowing seed keep mulch well clear of the furrow as slaters don't like venturing far from cover Make traps from hollowed out orange halves or seedling punnets filled with potato peelings, to distract slaters from seedlings, and germinating seeds.
0コメント