Slugs and snails are extraordinary creatures. Yeah, they’re objectively ugly, but their abilities are impressive. For example, slugs can become resistant to Teflon and Lotus, they even attach their secretion to the ground. This is particularly frustrating for farmers. Even more frustrating is that these insatiable snails cause approximately 9,2M EUR worth of damage to vegetable crops annually. The biologist Nadine Sydow wanted to combat this problem, but she didn’t want to kill the snails either. So she came up with Schnexagon.
During her time at CAU zu Kiel, Nadine studied over 400 material searching for one that snails and slugs could not attach their secretion to. The results of the research quickly led to a business idea and finally to Solvoluta.
Meanwhile, Schnexagon is available in stores and can be ordered online. This means that any bed border and any plant container with a minimum height of 20 cm can become an inconspicuous barrier against slugs. The ecological protection works only by the fact that the snails cannot stick to it. Neither poison nor attracting or deterring fragrances are contained in it.
The effect lasts for different periods of time depending on the influence of the weather. If the coating is exposed to direct rain, the average duration of action is about five weeks. If the coating is protected from wetness and radiation, an effective period of one whole season can be achieved.
Next, Sydow is developing an ecological antifouling that will prevent the growth of allege, mussels and addresses the maritime industry, as she told us at the Waterkant in Kiel.