Please help! Pill bug disaster

impatience · Post by **impatience** » Jun 13, 2007 1:34 am

I have held off begging for help-but I can't hold off any longer.......HELP!

I have millions of pill bugs (rolly polly) that have decimated everything in their way. They ate many emerging hosta completely to the ground level including a 2" tall eyes of Halcyon, Fragrant Bouquet and many other hostas that are mature. and the list goes on. It has been somewhat better once the pecan flowers began falling as they jumped on those. You should see the leaf mold pile. Not a square inch of the top that isn't covered and that area is 8' X 6' X3' tall.

I am serious-they are eating the woven mat by the back door, they are in all the pots, they are all over the plants, they are under, over around everything. It is kinda a nightmare.

Now what to do? I don't use pesticides that i would have to spray.....too many animals, fireflys, etc. Is there anything I can spread like Sluggo?

I have researched this and I can't come up with anything. Most say they just eat decaying plant material. Around here they are causing the decaying.

Please HELP!!!!!

Thanks from the Imp

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » Jun 13, 2007 1:57 am

I see them here, but not in the huge #s you're talking about.

I've never had them bother/eat any plants if they are around them.

I don't have any great ideas. This will sound bizarre but it's all I can come up with. A mini version of a flame thrower where you could pinpoint where you want to torch them. Either that or shovel them up & put them in buckets & then drown them or something.

Is this just you that has the problem or does anyone around you have the same thing happening?

allhuskrred · Post by **allhuskrred** » Jun 13, 2007 2:26 am

"Seven" Helps but everytime it rains you have to reapply 'rabbits usually will not touch them either'

Allen

allhuskrred · Post by **allhuskrred** » Jun 13, 2007 2:27 am

PILL BUGS ARE A NIGHTMARE, Allen

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Jun 13, 2007 5:53 am

I feel so bad for you ,IMP! Sounds like you're dealing with a horrid problem! Like Ren said.........we have roly polys here too, but not anywhere near the numbers you are talking about (knocking on wood). I don't know that there is anything you can do except apply an insecticide, but I understand your reluctance to do so. I have outdoor animals too and wouldn't want to injure them for the world! I hope you find a solution soon. (((Imp)))

P.S. Maybe you should check your local library for one of Jerry Baker's books. He always has recipes for all kinds of solutions for pest problems??

wishiwere · Post by **wishiwere** » Jun 13, 2007 7:51 am

Geesh! Never heard of them dessimating <sp> anything before?

Weird

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » Jun 13, 2007 9:43 am

Another thought I had this morning was to use a shop vac to vaccuum them up. Then dispose of them however you want.

Mary Ann · Post by **Mary Ann** » Jun 13, 2007 9:47 am

I usually have lots off pillbugs too and a large leaf mould pile, but not this year.

No leaf pile, no pillbugs? Could that be the connection/source? I'd hate to think leaf mould was causing this problem.

Please let us know if your neighbors without leaf mould are having the same invasion.

druff · Post by **druff** » Jun 13, 2007 10:44 am

clean up of debris would help. i've got some and i lift up stones and pots and there are usually a mess hanging around underneath. so i start stomping. so i'd say create a haven for them to hide under like flat rocks ....then. suprise!!! stomp away!!!!

doug

impatience · Post by **impatience** » Jun 13, 2007 11:21 am

Thanks for your responses. Any others?

I could never get all debris cleaned up as I live in a forest under pecan trees. Something is falling all year around. And I have 18 flower beds with rocks everywhere.

I like the idea of the shop vac but I'm afraid it would take the soil also (and maybe a hosta or two?).

I have had a leaf mold pile for years. It is a ways from the rest of the yard.

Don't really have neighbors.

Thanks,

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Jun 13, 2007 11:52 am

Sandee,
Now you have me scared! I have not seen any roly polys at my house, but I suspect all the rain we had plays a part. You might try calling the OSU county extension office and see what they recommend. I can offer my services to help if you need it. I know how to vaccuum

, or we can try to hand pick them or something. Just let me know what you want to do.

Ginger

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jun 13, 2007 1:28 pm

I have had problems with pill bugs for years! Most people (even the county extension agents) do not recognize how destructive they are. This spring I noticed they have eaten my whiskey barrell planter. The problem is they usually work below soil level so you don't know they are doing damage until it is already done. They eat wood, live roots and probably anything else that comes in contact with the soil.

I have used soil drenches with various pesticides with good success. I don't think it matters much which type you use, so you could choose the safest for pets. Perhaps if you don't spray foliage and flowers it won't harm your butterflies, but I don't know. In my greenhouse I have learned it is important to keep pots out of the soil, so they can't come up the holes. Even a 1" layer of gravel helped with that.

I read above in the posts about Jerry Baker remedies. I do have one of his books, so I went to look before I responded. He has no organic methods for pest control in that particular book, but recommends Tomato and Vegetable dust for 9 of 10 problems. He says mix it in a paste first ( 6 gal. of water with 6 tsp. per gallon and 1/2 c. dish soap). I don't know what the insecticide is in the dust.

I tried to research on the internet a few years ago, and didn't find anything helpful. The soil drenches work though and I would do them at least twice, maybe 7-10 apart as the larva are in the soil. Rotten little buggers!!!

Hope this helps...

Jaspersail · Post by **Jaspersail** » Jun 13, 2007 5:33 pm

Bloody isopods! I hate 'em!

I complained to a hosta list once about roly polys eating my hostas and they laughed at me! Everyone responded: "Oh you're mistaken, they don't eat hostas and it must be something else." Others told me that only sowbugs (which look similar but can't roll up into a tight ball), not pillbugs (roly polys) eat live plants like hostas.

So I took pictures of a pillbug munching on one of my seedlings and sent it to the list. They do eat hostas, especially seedlings or leaves close to the ground.

The first thing to getting rid of the little b*stards is to understand them. They are not insects--they are isopods (crustaceans). As such they are related to shrimp and lobsters and need moisture to survive. The kind of things that keep moisture in your garden are pots, mulch, and rocks. If you can remove these your little roly poly problem will probably go away!

If that doesn't work you can also try sprinkling diatomaceous earth around your plants.

Good luck.

--John

Arlene · Post by **Arlene** » Jun 13, 2007 9:36 pm

I agree - I've seen the little monsters eat plants as well! And almost everyone says they don't. I read our state ag college handout and yup, they don't eat live plants!

I did find this interesting website, with one suggestion . . .

http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/INSECT ... w_bugs.htm

You can also effectively trap pill bugs using a half of a cantaloupe that's placed upside down where pill bugs are a problem.

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » Jun 13, 2007 9:54 pm

Impatience, this'll be good revenge

- wipe out your grocery store's cantalope supply, halve 'em, lay 'em out all over your garden, and next morning go for a little walk with your trusty flame thrower.

Take a sip of coffee & move on to the next cantelope.

Throw in a maniacal

occaisionally just cuz you can...

Mary Ann · Post by **Mary Ann** » Jun 13, 2007 10:40 pm

You can also effectively trap pill bugs using a half of a cantaloupe that's placed upside down where pill bugs are a problem.

That's such a ridiculous suggestion!

With the kind of infestations I've had in past years, I'd need a boatload of cantaloupe.

Arlene · Post by **Arlene** » Jun 13, 2007 11:02 pm

Frustrating, isn't it? Either "they don't eat live plants" or something goofy. Everywhere I've looked it said to get rid of the conditions they like. Well, if you've followed water conservation suggestions and mulched, that's not much help.

Since I loathe cantaloupe, I thought that was a pretty good use of them!

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jun 14, 2007 12:12 am

One suggestion I have is whatever you choose to do, do something as they don't just go away. Trust me!

scootersbear · Post by **scootersbear** » Jun 14, 2007 12:40 am

Have to admit I'm one of those people who doubts it, just from years of working in pest control they are just not considered a pest that eats living plants they usually eat decaying debris. The only way I could see it is if your experiencing crown rot with your hostas. I'd go out late at night and check for cutworms first.
Then if you truely still believe its the rollie pollies, cut down your watering and clear the debris from the plants to keep the moisture down (they need damp areas to survive and thrive), take a few boards since your against pesticides and let them gather there and pick them out and dispose however you wish. Or a few hundred cantalopes

impatience · Post by **impatience** » Jun 14, 2007 12:43 am

Ren-

I can do the maniacal laugh.

Now what am I to drench the soil with? I have 1\4 acre (which are mostly beds and little house). I'd need a helicopter to drench.

You are so right-gotta do something. The things are multiplying like crazy and they are not going away.

Where do these people come up with the benign rolly-polly story? they are

. (I think I have been watching too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer lately).

Keep those ideas coming, please.