Pill Bugs

tryno12 · May 18, 2020

There are so many pill bugs in my raised bed they are crawling up the stalks of newly planted seedlings and eating leaves

. When I turn the soil over to plant, there are bunches of them. Not so bad last year - had to plant larger transplants because they were eating the roots, and killing the plants. What to do??

kath · May 18, 2020

I've never had that many in the garden to worry about but this site has suggestions for what to do right away if plants are being eaten as well as organic stuff to sprinkle around to kill them:

https://growingspaces.com/organic-pe...the-roly-poly/

From what I saw Googling, pill bugs, sow bugs, and roly polls all can be taken care of using the same methods. Good luck!

MSchep · May 19, 2020

Had the same problem a few weeks ago. They were eating all the leaves off my pole beans just as they sprouted. I was able to keep them at bay with Sluggo Plus long enough for the plants to get mature enough to not be attractive to the bugs any longer. I still see them everywhere, but they're leaving the plants alone now.

May 18, 2020	#1
tryno12 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Indianapolis Area 46112 Posts: 857	Pill Bugs There are so many pill bugs in my raised bed they are crawling up the stalks of newly planted seedlings and eating leaves. When I turn the soil over to plant, there are bunches of them. Not so bad last year - had to plant larger transplants because they were eating the roots, and killing the plants. What to do??

May 18, 2020	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I've never had that many in the garden to worry about but this site has suggestions for what to do right away if plants are being eaten as well as organic stuff to sprinkle around to kill them: https://growingspaces.com/organic-pe...the-roly-poly/ From what I saw Googling, pill bugs, sow bugs, and roly polls all can be taken care of using the same methods. Good luck! Last edited by kath; May 18, 2020 at 07:37 PM.

May 19, 2020	#3
MSchep Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Los Gatos, CA Posts: 70	Had the same problem a few weeks ago. They were eating all the leaves off my pole beans just as they sprouted. I was able to keep them at bay with Sluggo Plus long enough for the plants to get mature enough to not be attractive to the bugs any longer. I still see them everywhere, but they're leaving the plants alone now.