Woodlice

duajones · May 6, 2009

Roly Poly or pill bugs, whatever you want to call them. I have a friend that gardens every year and always complains about them messing with his plants especially squash. Since I have never had the slightest problem, I thought maybe he was exxagerating. Until I went by the yesterday, he has in infestation. Any ideas on how to get rid of them organically?

Blueaussi · May 6, 2009

Here's a page from Planet Natural that has some suggestions.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/xd...g-control.html

stormymater · May 6, 2009

I thought rolly polies (sic? LOL) were benign detritus munchers - is that wrong?

Blueaussi - your friend's pic is beautiful! Reminds me very much of our first Aussie, Althea. She was a little blue merle from working Los Rocosa working stock - got her back in the dark ages (1983) when we lived in Montana. She was a wonderful friend & intuitive worker. That was waay before the AKC "discovered" the breed... sigh.

feldon30 · May 6, 2009

They can be benign, but they can also eat foliage.

robin303 · May 6, 2009

I have millions of them. They only killed about 4 plants that were so small I should have not planted anyway. About 10 years ago I used Seven Dust and it killed them and nothing else. I leave them alone nowdays.

Blueaussi · May 7, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormymater

Blueaussi - your friend's pic is beautiful! Reminds me very much of our first Aussie, Althea. She was a little blue merle from working Los Rocosa working stock - got her back in the dark ages (1983) when we lived in Montana. She was a wonderful friend & intuitive worker. That was waay before the AKC "discovered" the breed... sigh.

Thank you! Abigail is my rescue girl, she was supposed to be a puppy-making machine; but came to herd cats at my house instead. I know what you mean about the AKC, it seems all the Aussies at shows now are these huge hair bears, not the nimble smart alecks I fell in love with back in the 80's.

And to keep it on subject, pill bugs and sow bugs are usually harmless, but in high populations they will chew on the stems of plants, especially soft stemmed plants.

dice · May 9, 2009

I have had pill bugs eating the growing tips of newly sprouted
seedlings this spring. I have quite a few with no main stem that
are growing from side shoots already, and they made a dent in
the backup seedlings, too.

I considered putting some wilted lettuce around to see if they
would eat that instead, as they prefer dead, decaying
vegetation to live plants, but my seedlings are mostly too big
for them to mess with now.

May 6, 2009	#1
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	Woodlice Roly Poly or pill bugs, whatever you want to call them. I have a friend that gardens every year and always complains about them messing with his plants especially squash. Since I have never had the slightest problem, I thought maybe he was exxagerating. Until I went by the yesterday, he has in infestation. Any ideas on how to get rid of them organically? __________________ Duane Jones

May 6, 2009	#3
stormymater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pleasure Island, NC 8a Posts: 1,162	I thought rolly polies (sic? LOL) were benign detritus munchers - is that wrong? Blueaussi - your friend's pic is beautiful! Reminds me very much of our first Aussie, Althea. She was a little blue merle from working Los Rocosa working stock - got her back in the dark ages (1983) when we lived in Montana. She was a wonderful friend & intuitive worker. That was waay before the AKC "discovered" the breed... sigh. Last edited by stormymater; May 6, 2009 at 12:56 PM. Reason: noticed Blueaussie's fab pic

May 6, 2009	#4
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	They can be benign, but they can also eat foliage. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

May 9, 2009	#7
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I have had pill bugs eating the growing tips of newly sprouted seedlings this spring. I have quite a few with no main stem that are growing from side shoots already, and they made a dent in the backup seedlings, too. I considered putting some wilted lettuce around to see if they would eat that instead, as they prefer dead, decaying vegetation to live plants, but my seedlings are mostly too big for them to mess with now. __________________ -- alias

May 6, 2009	#2
Blueaussi Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Carolina Zone 8a Posts: 1,205	Here's a page from Planet Natural that has some suggestions. http://www.planetnatural.com/site/xd...g-control.html

May 6, 2009	#5
robin303 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Austin, TX Zone 8b Posts: 531	I have millions of them. They only killed about 4 plants that were so small I should have not planted anyway. About 10 years ago I used Seven Dust and it killed them and nothing else. I leave them alone nowdays.