slaters good or bad?

[jayjay]

I was under the impression that slaters were good in the garden, cleaning up rotting matter etc. but I now find that my newly planted rhubarb is infested with them. The plant seems to be suffering and is stunted also the leaves are being eaten. I don't like to spray anything and particularly don't want to kill any beneficial critters. Would the damage I am seeing be from the slaters and if so what can I do about them?

[ho-hum]

Jay,

I dont live with slaters now but remember they were very responsive to mulch and organic matter. They are also good bird food and sometimes on a nice dark day you can rake your mulch out and and let the native birds have at it.

I also remember being able to have a profound impact on slaters by trapping using 2 x 1 pine pieces and pallets boards... lay them flat and hose them into a basket or bin and feed them to the chooks..


cheers,

ho-hum

[purplepear]

Hello jayjay,
I have found that slaters, earwigs, snails and millipeds just love a new organic garden. If you can keep the poisons away for a bit then the hunting spiders and little lizards will build to numbers that will control the little nasties and they will not be as obvious in the garden. Then you will have a balance. In the mean time do what you can to assist the balance by leaving "hiding" places for them like halves for an orange peel or a bit of moist newspaper and "collect" them each day for the chooks. Remember that without the slaters the predators of them will have no food and go elsewhere so you need to always have some.

Watch your strawberries though cause slaters love them too

Best wishes

[Michaelangelica]

[center:t69xujqc]
A-Good and bad according to Gardneing Australia[/center:t69xujqc]
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2577408.htm