![Composting Experinces 2012 [Guests] Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
I thought I would add some slug related information about Slug Composting Systems:
1- Surface Area over Depth, the bin could be 4' deep and i wouldn't use it if i had a bin with 2' of Surface Area, this is because slugs only burrow down a few inches to lay eggs/hide. All that wasted space is not worth it either, i could still make more compost faster in the SA bin then i could ever make in the Depth bin. It works much the same as a worm bin, the more SA the more microbes will be on the finished food and that will break it down faster.
2- Substrate- You do need some form of substrate if you don't want to mist the Slugs enclosure everyday, the substrate could be anything from food wastes to soil, eventually the slugs will turn the soil and mix it with their own compost. This makes it easy to start everything with soil. Eventually if you use soil you won't have the bad "false" items at the end while harvesting. At least then you'll get more compost and you won't have to sift it as much.
3-Ammount- The ammount of slugs you should start with depends upon your food/yard waste and the size of your bin, if you use a system like mine you should be good with 10-30 slugs they will breed fast anyway, in two months my one slug made 50+ eggs 20+ slugs have hatched so far, maybe more in the substrate. My system should hold around 200-500+ baby slugs, once they become adults i will remove them and add them into my adult enclosure where they can breed and make more babies that will be removed and added into my baby [also known as a rearing enclosure]. So far i have three slug systems, one has isopods in it. In the summer time i plan to possibly have 5 slug systems, that way every month i can produce compost, that and every 5 months i can restart them all and work on spring compost, every month there-after i can harvest one bin a month. That will be a ton of compost, 5 times the ammount i have produced now!
4- Eggs- Eggs are small [actually not too small] and are clear, they darken or turn white before the babies hatch, i will get a picture of some eggs after i am done skool. The thing with eggs is that when you have 1000+ slugs they produce a lot and they do cannobolize them, this means you need to rotate enclosures each month, wait till eggs in container one are done hatching put the hatchlings in the rearing enclosure, then add the adults back into that enclosure, repeat with as many enclosures that you want, large scale will need more then one rearing enclosure.
My System Review[If you guys want you can add your own opinion]
Pros
-Good SA
-Small enough to fit multiple enclosures into one small space
-Large enough to produce a small-meadium ammount of compost
-I like how humidity is a great secret weapon, the higher the humidity [not insanely high] the better the slugs will be and the less watering i will need to do.
Cons
-Gets full fast
-Cant handle a lot of Food Waste
-You also can't add a lot of slop to it or it will go stinky and this is called anerobic not a good smell either
-Sucky ventatlation!
So far im giving this system:
7*/10*
I like it and will use it as a rearing enclosure, i do like kritter keepers beter they have built in ventalation
would also like to note that slug composting does take a little trial and error, you most likely won't get it the first tme, thats why its always great to start now at least then if you mess up you can get more slugs. I also love to have a normal slug system going on during winter, i use the babes for composting and the adults are the breeding stock, i will release a lot of the adults [most likely only keep the babies and a few adults] and re-start the breeding stock. I wont need Compost in the witner anyway and i will also have to stock up on food for them before winter as i can't just go out and pick clovers for them, j think i have a great plan setup and will continue to do this for a few years if at all possible.
Day#50- June 14/2012- I can't belive its been 50 days since i started this slug colony in the kritter keeper. They haven't been as productive as the year past but thats because i am busy right now wth school and dermestids! If it was just slugs i would have hundreds! I have to check the egg[or incubater] today and see if we've got any new baby slugs i will be sure to post how many i found/have. I can't wait till after school it was just raining which means the slugs will be out[if it the sun doesn't shine they will be sliming everywhere to near territories.] I hope to have 100 by the next month and then double that every month but i don't think that will happen unless i cheat and go to my grandmas and get all the slugs that are there.
I should also reflect on the last 50 days of this experiment with slugs, it has been a long road thats for sure. I have had my ups and downs with this colony, espeacilly the loss of the queen Cloey. Although now there will be a new queen selected by me to take her place, [I need a name here people running dry on names!] I can't wait to see what the queen lays and how many babies she makes in her lifetime!
In this past few days i really have been trying to do some really big things as far as composting goes, i do belive my system is a little dry at the momment so when i get home at lunch i will water it down nicely, they deserve the best home I can provide, i may even be cleaning out the incubater and restarting the adult colony into it for a few weeks to get more eggs and then more babies. I looked it up and if the conditions are perfect they can hatch in 5-7 days or in the winter they can last 7-10 months! That gives me the option of hibernating the colony which if i run out of food half-way through the year i might have no choice but to do!
I can't wait to see how many diffrent systems i can create for my slugs, i shall call them Slug-Ariums
I guess im gonna need to water them everyday or else they won't breed as well when they are adults[i have no adults left!] so it will be either 2-4 weeks until i get a breeder or if i can i will get some at the lake this weekend! I will only be on at night and only if i can get on, i will take pictures of what i find and post them here later.
Sorry about the long post!
1- Surface Area over Depth, the bin could be 4' deep and i wouldn't use it if i had a bin with 2' of Surface Area, this is because slugs only burrow down a few inches to lay eggs/hide. All that wasted space is not worth it either, i could still make more compost faster in the SA bin then i could ever make in the Depth bin. It works much the same as a worm bin, the more SA the more microbes will be on the finished food and that will break it down faster.
2- Substrate- You do need some form of substrate if you don't want to mist the Slugs enclosure everyday, the substrate could be anything from food wastes to soil, eventually the slugs will turn the soil and mix it with their own compost. This makes it easy to start everything with soil. Eventually if you use soil you won't have the bad "false" items at the end while harvesting. At least then you'll get more compost and you won't have to sift it as much.
3-Ammount- The ammount of slugs you should start with depends upon your food/yard waste and the size of your bin, if you use a system like mine you should be good with 10-30 slugs they will breed fast anyway, in two months my one slug made 50+ eggs 20+ slugs have hatched so far, maybe more in the substrate. My system should hold around 200-500+ baby slugs, once they become adults i will remove them and add them into my adult enclosure where they can breed and make more babies that will be removed and added into my baby [also known as a rearing enclosure]. So far i have three slug systems, one has isopods in it. In the summer time i plan to possibly have 5 slug systems, that way every month i can produce compost, that and every 5 months i can restart them all and work on spring compost, every month there-after i can harvest one bin a month. That will be a ton of compost, 5 times the ammount i have produced now!
4- Eggs- Eggs are small [actually not too small] and are clear, they darken or turn white before the babies hatch, i will get a picture of some eggs after i am done skool. The thing with eggs is that when you have 1000+ slugs they produce a lot and they do cannobolize them, this means you need to rotate enclosures each month, wait till eggs in container one are done hatching put the hatchlings in the rearing enclosure, then add the adults back into that enclosure, repeat with as many enclosures that you want, large scale will need more then one rearing enclosure.
My System Review[If you guys want you can add your own opinion]
Pros
-Good SA
-Small enough to fit multiple enclosures into one small space
-Large enough to produce a small-meadium ammount of compost
-I like how humidity is a great secret weapon, the higher the humidity [not insanely high] the better the slugs will be and the less watering i will need to do.
Cons
-Gets full fast
-Cant handle a lot of Food Waste
-You also can't add a lot of slop to it or it will go stinky and this is called anerobic not a good smell either
-Sucky ventatlation!
So far im giving this system:
7*/10*
I like it and will use it as a rearing enclosure, i do like kritter keepers beter they have built in ventalation
would also like to note that slug composting does take a little trial and error, you most likely won't get it the first tme, thats why its always great to start now at least then if you mess up you can get more slugs. I also love to have a normal slug system going on during winter, i use the babes for composting and the adults are the breeding stock, i will release a lot of the adults [most likely only keep the babies and a few adults] and re-start the breeding stock. I wont need Compost in the witner anyway and i will also have to stock up on food for them before winter as i can't just go out and pick clovers for them, j think i have a great plan setup and will continue to do this for a few years if at all possible.
Day#50- June 14/2012- I can't belive its been 50 days since i started this slug colony in the kritter keeper. They haven't been as productive as the year past but thats because i am busy right now wth school and dermestids! If it was just slugs i would have hundreds! I have to check the egg[or incubater] today and see if we've got any new baby slugs i will be sure to post how many i found/have. I can't wait till after school it was just raining which means the slugs will be out[if it the sun doesn't shine they will be sliming everywhere to near territories.] I hope to have 100 by the next month and then double that every month but i don't think that will happen unless i cheat and go to my grandmas and get all the slugs that are there.
I should also reflect on the last 50 days of this experiment with slugs, it has been a long road thats for sure. I have had my ups and downs with this colony, espeacilly the loss of the queen Cloey. Although now there will be a new queen selected by me to take her place, [I need a name here people running dry on names!] I can't wait to see what the queen lays and how many babies she makes in her lifetime!
In this past few days i really have been trying to do some really big things as far as composting goes, i do belive my system is a little dry at the momment so when i get home at lunch i will water it down nicely, they deserve the best home I can provide, i may even be cleaning out the incubater and restarting the adult colony into it for a few weeks to get more eggs and then more babies. I looked it up and if the conditions are perfect they can hatch in 5-7 days or in the winter they can last 7-10 months! That gives me the option of hibernating the colony which if i run out of food half-way through the year i might have no choice but to do!
I can't wait to see how many diffrent systems i can create for my slugs, i shall call them Slug-Ariums
I guess im gonna need to water them everyday or else they won't breed as well when they are adults[i have no adults left!] so it will be either 2-4 weeks until i get a breeder or if i can i will get some at the lake this weekend! I will only be on at night and only if i can get on, i will take pictures of what i find and post them here later.
Sorry about the long post!
Im thinking that today is day 53 but still not too sure. Anyway, the slugs have been with me while i was camping. They got food there, fed them some leaves and a watermelon rind, which i will add to my isopod colony later on. I have to reclean their home today as well as check the incubation chamber for new slug babies.![Composting Experinces 2012 [Guests] Slug_o10](https://i.servimg.com/u/f49/17/59/58/50/th/slug_o10.jpg)