Hi All, Is there a way of searching old topics here or should I just ask my question?
I will ask, either way.

The slaters have invaded my bathtub veggie gardens and eating all my seedlings. I’m almost ready to resort to ……..dare I say it………chemicals : ( if I really have to.
They are driving me crazy.
Planted spinach today and I’d really love to keep the mongrels of it.

Anyone got any brilliant ideas?

slaters love decaying stuff, and moist dark conditions. so they love mulch. it seems that when they get into plague proportions that they also feed off seedlings. If you remove any mulch and other stuff from around the seedlings then you will be making the conditions less desirable for them. With the cooler weather mulch is not so critical anyway.

Heynes garden centre suggest’s Naphthalene Flakes..

only the most delicate of seedlings will be harmed by slaters, and only if the seedlings are a bit weak…from too much moisture/cold etc. slaters are crustaceans and cannot live without constant moisture.
you could setup some sort of a lure each night and collect in the morning, e.g. moist scrunched newspaper.
i have plenty of them but, not in plague proportions. haven’t seen them get any seedlings.
ducks and chooks love em.

This topic came up on BYP recently – there is a link given in one post – but I haven’t looked at it. It might be some help, I hope. Towards end of thread, I think… :)

http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7957725

if you drink plunger, perc. or dripolated coffee – mix the leftover coffee 1:10 with water and handspray on the leaves of the seedlings. repeat after every irrigation or rain. keep it up until seedlings have taken root.
IMHO slaters are mistaking the weakness of transplanted seedlings for plant failure. slaters clean up decaying plants – so once the seedlings are established they desist in attacking them. coffee masks the smell so nighttime feeders, who rely on smell, are confused.
only a theory, but seems to work on my pesky earwigs.