Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?

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adri123

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Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« on: December 07, 2015, 21:27 »
Hi

I've got a 54ft tunnel split into 8ft by 4ft beds and am absolutely fed up of slugs.

I'm thinking of setting up a system for growing strawberries where scaffold planks are hung from crop bars (to get them as far away as possible from the swines)

But thinking about it does anyone run hydroponics in their tunnel.  It would be nice to have slug free lettuce etc etc too....

Cheers

Adri

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mumofstig

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2015, 22:34 »
Hydroponics = tasteless, if supermarket tomatoes are anything to go by.

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Kleftiwallah

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2016, 10:38 »

I bet the slugs come with snorkel and ..well, maybe not flippers!  :D Cheers, Tony.
I may be growing OLD, but I refuse to grow UP !

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Plotmaster

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2016, 11:05 »
There are sea slugs that have wings like Rays  :nowink:

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tinyallotment

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2016, 12:18 »
Hydroponics = tasteless, if supermarket tomatoes are anything to go by.

I don't think it is the hydroponics that is causing the tastelessness of snoopermarket veg. I think it is the snoopermarkets demand bright red spotless bags of water that survive being shipped around the world and will last on thee shelves just long enough to make it into your kitchen.

I saw an interview a few years ago with a snoopermarket boss who said that they breed their veg to not have a strong flavour because it is more difficult for someone to dislike a subtle flavour than a strong flavour.

Have you noticed that you rarely meet anyone with garlic breath any more? That is because they are so weak in flavour that I have to put about 5 or 6 cloves in a dish to get any flavour.

So it is not how they are grown but how they are bred that determines the flavour and they are actively being bred to have less flavour.

This is one of the very reasons I like growing my own from heritage seeds that still have a full flavour

Back to the original question I think you will need to physically stop the slugs from entering your hydro set up as they will quite happily live in a hydro system. Even if you have a deep water culture system the slugs will find their way onto the rafts as soon as a leaf creates a bridge. A flood and drain system could be susceptible to slugs who will get in amongst the grow medium and  an NFT system would be very vulnerable to slugs I would have thought.

Have you thought about breading your own nematodes that are specific to the slugs in you poly tunnel.

All you have to do is get a bucket with an inch of water in the bottom and a handful of weeds and then go around your poly tunnel at night collecting as many slugs as you can find. 20 to 30 should do. Put them in thee bucket and put a sheet of glass on top or a lid to stop them escaping. Give the bucket a stir once a day so the slugs are in contact with the water.

After 14 days all the slugs will be dead and you will have a concentrated mixture of nematodes (specific to your slugs) and slug killing bacteria. Strain out the solids and retain for the next batch. Fill the bucket up with water to dilute the mixture and use the water to water your affected beds. The treatment will last up to 6 month but probably longer in a tunnel where if will be less likely to be washed out of the soil.

Use the solids from the bucket to start of another batch. Add a few more slugs if you like.

Good luck

Paul

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AussieInFrance

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2016, 15:12 »
Many thanks, Paul. I'm trying this method. Slugs and snails are about to party after all this rain and with higher temps. I'm about to gate-crash!
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Jackypam

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2016, 22:29 »
Hi, this sounds like a great idea.  A couple of questions - but they may be stupid questions as I don't know much about this....  1. Will it work with snails?  And 2. How many times can you reuse the 'solids' ?  Thanks

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Trikidiki

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2016, 07:09 »
How they are grown makes a huge difference to the taste.

I grew strawberries in a greenhouse with a glazed roof and netted sides. They were grown in growbags and tasted of nothing, I transplanted the same plants into the ground outside and the following year had beautiful tasty strawberries.


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wapello

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2016, 09:56 »
The way im geting over the strawberry problem is, ive had 200 ft close boarding fence put up and im going to put  two lots of 12 ft  6 inch
guttering up with brackets and transfer the strawb's into them, i know it works  because i have family who live on sark ci and that how most of them grow them,,,,,,
« Last Edit: April 26, 2016, 14:15 by wapello »
Colin

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oakridge

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Re: Is Hydroponics the answer to slugs?
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2016, 15:58 »
I set concrete blocks to table height then put an old ladder on top, then heavy plastic sheet used by builders under concrete which hung over the edge about 6". On top of this I put 4 of those re-usable grow bags with three holes in the top and planted the strawberries in these.  They have been in for three years so are in for a change over but I have had no slug problem, birds and Hugo, the black woolly thief yes but no slugs.



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