I'm a bit more worried about them as I caught them out of their underground hideout this evening. They were swarming all over the surface of the soil and all over the leaves of some of my plants. Nothing looks excessively munched on, but there are a few leaves that have been eaten. If I had to guess I'd say they were ~200 or so a square foot on the surface tonight.

I'm done planting - would something at this level be handled by Diatomaceous Earth.

For what it's worth, I'm not in the south, I'm in Pittsburgh. If that's the south to you, I'm assuming you're Canadian? Also, I have no irrational fear of bugs. How did you read that from my post?

rhizo1 - There's no need for stereotyping and regional bashing on this site (i.e. "might be a Southern thing"). I'm in the south (though with a midwest background) and there are plenty of sensible folks with open minds and reasonable approaches to gardening down here.

I actually agree with your other point. Even though pillbugs might not cause problems to some (myself included), that doesn't mean they aren't problems for others. I do see them listed sometimes along with other pests, so people should educate themselves if they suspect problems associated with this insect.

Jim- rhizo was responding to Ken's "down south thing".

Pillbugs in the garden have never been an issue for me either. They eat organic matter (well, strawberries too). To rhizo's point, in a container where organic matter may (actually should) be limited the buggers might take a liking to the roots and I'd get rid of them as well. Maybe submerging the pot in water first or, failing that, repotting and adding DE as suggested.

tj

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to spread some DE over the top of the beds as its a bit too late (and too big - these are 2' x 5' garden boxes) for dumping and mixing. Hopefully I reduce them a bit before my seedlings become lunch. Will post here with how it goes.

Oh, that kind of container. A raised bed container. You may have plenty of organic matter for pillbugs then. Do you use compost in there?

tj

I filled them last year with 1/2 compost, 1/4 vermiculite and 1/4 peat. I didn't replenish before this season as I didn't get much growing in last year. So yes, there's quite a bit of compost. Still though, it seems like there are a ton of them. Literally swarming after it gets dark and they come out to play.

Come here, JimR....I need to slap you silly. I've lived in the South for most of my adult life. lol (And then I'm going to slap ken lolololol.)

I'm with TJ: "Oh, THAT kind of container." With all of the compost and peat, you've set up a four star dining hall for these things.

So knowing that I have raised bed style containers in which I have compost and peat, swarming pillbugs all over my plants is OK?

If you read the link I attached above you will learn that Pill Bugs, Sow Bugs, Wood Lice, Potato Bugs, and the other names they go by are not really much of a pest in the garden. While they can, and do, occassionally eat some of the plants we don't want them to more often people blame them because they see them cleaning up behind the real culprit.
Since these we critters are part of Ma Natures recycling machine there is no good reason to kill them, unless the population gets so high that they are devouring your garden and then eliminating those dark, moist, cool places they hide in is the most effective emans of control.

Steve, knowing the kind of containers you use AND the type of medium helps us understand why these creatures have become such a problem for you.

You've created a perfect storm, so to speak. If your situation were in an outdoor garden area (sans containers or raised beds), I would encourage you to somehow change the environment to make it less hospitable to sow bugs. But that is very difficult to do in your case. I guess that I would go with the DE and traps.

Experiment with the traps...a loosely rolled up newspaper, dampened, may attracted dozens overnight. Add some fresh fruit for bait. I've heard that cantaloupe is especially attractive to them. I can testify that fresh strawberries are a favorite.

Put your baits out in the evening and collect them in the morning before the sun heats them up. Dispose of in a tightly closed plastic bag and put in the trash. You could drown them first, in a bucket of soapy water.

I wish you luck, Steve. I know that populations this high pose a problem. I hope that the DE helps; I think that it will. The traps will really help, too...you might be surprised. Let me know how it works out, will you?

Will do. Thanks for all the help and persistence. I tried my first DE application last night but we had some wet weather that will persist for the next few days. I'll reapply when it's dry out.

I'll try the traps also. These would be best placed on the surface of the bed in the container? The soil is 15 or 16 inches deep.

What might I do for next season to prevent this? Different mix? Mix DE with the soil before planting anything?

DE (you did get the right kind of DE, right? Not the pool filter formulation) does lose some of its effectiveness when it gets wet, but will regain it when it dries out. It won't dissolve.

The traps should be placed in different locations on the surface of the bed. You could try one or two around the outside, if you wanted to, just to 'scout' for more culprits.

I would suggest that you change out your mix for something much coarser in texture and less likely to create fine dining for your pillbugs. Be on the lookout for a source of conifer bark fines. It can sometimes be called soil conditioner. I'm not talking about the mini pine bark nuggets, those are usually much too large. Use the bark to replace the compost (or most of it) Replace your vermiculite with perlite, and keep the peat moss. You'll need to add some gypsum to a home-made mix so that you can provide some calcium without having to raise the pH.

Visit the Container Forum for more ideas of how to make a superior mix...one that plants can thrive in.

Have never had a problem with them. Have had them in containers too. They are harmless and cute. I am with all the other people who advocate leaving them alone. Let them live. They can be your little garden buddies.

Ignorance is bliss, so they say, lol. Cute, but not always harmless. Those who have had to deal with high populations of these little animals will never call them 'little garden buddies'.

Totally amazing. A link is provided to an article written by someone tht has spent most of their lives studying insects and the habits of those insects that tells you that certain ones are not the problem some people think and one of those people uses the phrase "ignorance is bliss".

C'mon, kimmsr. My argument with you (on this issue) is that you seem to think that these arthropods NEVER become a plant pest and those of us who have experienced a problem with them are 'mistaken'.

I've tried to make it clear that UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS pillbugs, normally considered pretty benign, can and do damage plants. Would you not consider Steve's estimation of around 200 per square FOOT an over population? I do...and I happen to be right! I suggested some very simple steps for him to take in order to reduce the hoards and bring them to a more acceptable population.

It's all about paying attention and 'listening' to the problem, Kimmsr. Not all situations follow the normal path. Sometimes we (humans) create artificial environments wherein animals behave in very non-natural ways.

We read and hear about examples of this all the time. Some of us, Kimmsr, even experience it personally.

This post has been beaten to death; way beyond the original bludgeoning of our poor little friends. I'm going outside now and hugging a pillbug. They're all over the place!

*very mild sarcasm noted
*never take yourself to seriously
*over and out

*check grammar too (too instead of to)

They eat some young seedlings, like marigolds. The like to eat tomato seedlings. They eat weakened plants like some transplants. Although they will attack at night they also will attach during the day. If you see young plants being eaten check around the base of the plant during the day to see if they are balled up witing for the night. Go out at night and check with a flash light,
The problem is that 1 out of 50 might like live plants. That's is enough to mow down seedlings. I have seen them bite a small stalk to kill the plant and go back the next night to finish it off. They are currently my #1 garden enemy.
I use the following trick to save my seedlings in trays. Whether you have many trays raised by grids like I do or a single tray this is what I do:
To create a barrier between the ground and the trays, I take a brick. On the top edges of the brick I place duct tape all round. Small amount on the brick, largest part sticking off the brick (on all 4 sides). You can place a brick on top to hold the tape on or not. Remember the sticky side is down. Or you can place a brick under the "tape brick" to raise the "tape brick" off the ground.
For a large grid area supporting 12 large trays I can get by with 6 bricks. A single tray might require 2 bricks.

It keeps ground crawling insect off the trays.

Yesterday I quickly did one tray (a germination test for a special seed). I used 2 "tape bricks" to hold up the tray. This morning I counted over 50 pillbugs stuck to the tape. THAT TRAY WAS ON A WALL 3ft OFF THE GROUND.
So the answer is, if you are experiencing seedlings or transplants or other plants that disappear or get chewed on, pick up each pill bug and check to see if it has a guilty grin, if so they crush easily.

Well I have been using NOLO bait to get rid of my grasshopper problem.NoLo is an oragnic naturally occuring infection specifically for grasshoppers and wont harm anything else. My point is that the darn pill and or sow bugs are eating my nolo because it is wheat bran with the spore inside. This stuff isnt cheap so I need to safely get rid of the things. Yes I have fought them for years and the eat anything. I need to find a prduct thats safe for the bees and will only harm the pill bugs.

Pillbugs are eating the roots of my Brugs and some of my veggies. They have also eaten some of my squash flowers. We have them so bad they were getting in the house! I saw on another thread her that garlic and pepper tea works. I am going to try it.

Pillbugs, Sowbugs, Wood Lice, what ever name is used for these arthropods, they are still scavangers and seldom will harm living plants. When seen munching on "live" plants it is usually because something else has done harm first, not the Pillbugs. They, most often, are in doing clean up work, but get blamed because the real culprit is not seen.
There is no good reason to kill most insects outside of the house. If inside your house find out why they are there and fix that and they, the insects, will leave.

Kimmsr, my house is pretty darned clean...nothing a pill bug could wantin here. There the only real damage on my plants is from the pill bugs.and it is mostly at the roots. Hundreds will be at the roots of one plant. They like moisture,and are opportunists, more than scavengers. And yes some insects can do a lot of damage outside. I try to stick to organic means. Maybe you have never experienced real insect damage, or had an issue with things like fire ants,or squash bugs or cucumber beetles or grasshoppers, or cutworms or tomato hornworm (to name a few)----They must be controlled.

There are people that have spent a considerable amount of time studying these arthopods that are telling you that they are pretty harmless, not just me. There are, apparently, many people that either do not ever read or simply ignore what is written by people that study insects and have advanced degrees and knowledge about them that state these arthopods are pests.
Using poisons to control these things says that you are not nearly as smart as they are and cannot figure out how to control them any other way.

If the people studying these arthropods think they are harmless, they are wrong and need to give their grant money back. They could save a whole lot of time if they come to my house one night around 10:00 PM and watch the damage as it happens. If it helps, I can take some pictures and email them to them. It's extremely clear to me what is happening and my degree is in IT.

I've done the research too and read the same things you did. I spent countless hours looking for cutworms as the damage fit the description to a T. I thought a cutworm was cutting my plants down and the pill bugs were devouring them dead plant. It wasn't until I saw them eating the base of the plant that I realized that cutworms were not my problem. I've also seen them eat the primary growth stem from the top, effectively killing the plant. Sometimes, they just eat all the leaves off the plant. I've lost about eight garden bean starts to these guys. I see where they came up as there is nothing left but a green stem. And, again, I watched the damage as it happened. There was nothing I could do. I could have picked them off, but there are thousands of these things. I have better things to do than stay up 24 hrs a day picking pill bugs off my bean starts.

I just made the startling discovery that they will eat crops if provided with the right conditions. I have landscape cloth down in one of my gardens with wheat straw on top of that. I cut and x in the landscape cloth where I wanted to put my crops (corn, beans, and members of the squash family all together) and planted the crops. I put the flaps of the x back in their original positions to help keep the soil moist. I didn't think this would cause a problem, because I hadn't seen any signs of slugs in this area. This evening at dusk, I was inspecting the seedlings, and I saw something I never expected to see. There were swarms of sow bugs and pill bugs all over the bean seedlings, and some of the cucumber and cantaloupe leaves and stems. And they were definitely eating the plants.

I moved the flaps back away from the seedlings, allowing a foot or so of bare ground where the plants are, and they seemed to clear out. Hopefully that will solve the problem, but I will put down some diatomaceous earth around the plants if that doesn't work.

Pillbugs?..I just had one little bugger decimate a new potted succulent garden that I just bought ! He bit around the base of the leaves so they fell off. I assume he came with the pot.

I have done countless hours of internet research, including reading academic articles, on the pillbug problem. I am sick of the "pillbug apologists" who lash out at the victim of a rare but real pillbug infestation. The typical assault goes like this:

1. You have misidentified the critter. It can't be a pillbug, it must be a sow bug. [Irrelevant in most cases, since they both have the same general habits.]

2. Pillbugs don't eating living plants, so there must be another culprit that you are just not able to find. No matter what evidence you present, I am still going to tell you that you are simply not observant enough to find the real culprit.

3. The ecological function of this isopod is far too valuable to justify killing them in your garden. Oh, and did I mention that they don't eat living plants?

4. Ok, maybe they will munch a young seedling or two, but the damage is always minimal. So just don't worry about it.

I have been battling these little SOBs for months, and have seen firsthand how they are destroying plants well beyond the seedling stage. I used a liquid sulfur spray that reduced their activity slightly. At night I will crush them by hand. Finally, I had to remove all mulch from my garden, which gave them no habitat to hide in during the day. This has been the most effective action, but they still bury themselves in the soil, albeit in smaller numbers.

I was doing some "deep-ish cleaning in my office yesterday, and found a medium-sized one and four tiny babies imbedded in the corner carpet. They were quite dried up...but how did they get in? I looked at the soil directly outside and found large nests of them. I'm off to get some DE.

Wow, I never knew there could be so much disagreement abount the effects of this common bug!

Now, as for me, my vote is they are harmless. They are in my basement and in my yard, around the house, sidewalks, and under planters. They seem to prefer hanging out in cool, dark places, perhaps moist but also very dry, especially rocks, gravel, crumbling concrete, stucco, cinder blocks, etc.

Whenever I see a new bug, particularily in my garden, I do my own research to determine whether they are beneficial, harmful, or neither. I then observe what I've read about that bug before taking any action. I do not like killing bugs for the most part, but if it's something like a Red Lily Beetle I will terminate with extreme prejudice, on sight!

But the pill bugs (and their cousins the woodlouse) have never appeared to cause any problems at all. In fact I have never actually even seen them in the garden, nevermind crawling on a plant stem or leaf.

As for these bugs chewing tiny roots under the planters they hide under? (well, if there ARE any roots sticking out of my planters it means I should be repotting).... I honestly think that's just a good hiding spot for them and they probably prefer eating the organic stuff in the soil rather than the plant's roots.

Hmm, but my strawberries, now that's something else. If you grow strawberries which are within easy reach of these bugs, (and they have no other food source), then there could be a concern... but again, I've actually seen slugs in the middle of the night doing damage to strawberries, while I have yet to observe a single sow bug anywhere on or near them.

I found this forum because I have a pillbug infestation and wanted to know if they were harmful to plants even though I was pretty sure they were. I've read most of the comments as well as the link Kimmsr(4a/5b-MI) included in his initial post which says they eat mostly decaying waste and that a large population might be a problem since they might eat live plants instead of decaying vegetative waste. I wanted to point out that mostly does not mean only and that might means possibly. In large populations of plants, insects, humans, etc., food supplies diminish quickly and, at times, completely. The feeding habits of the survivors change and feed on food they normally left untouched.

I liked playing with pill bugs as a kid and up until a few weeks ago never ever thought of killing one but I had never had or seen the quantity of pill bugs in my garden or anywhere else in my life and am now 61. I believe my overwatering followed by a couple of days of unexpected rain leaving decaying leaves and other vegetative material to harbor and promote a large, healthy and hungry pill bug population explosion.

Excesses are usually harmful.

AAH, Someone that learned about pill bugs, sow bugs, wood lice, potato bugs, these land dwelling relatives of crayfish and lobsters.

In properly tended gardens, well mulched, these wee buggers can become pests, but not usually. In my well mulched planting beds neither the pill bugs or the slugs are real problems, even though I see many.

kimmq is kimmsr

Very surprised at what a contentious issue these guys are. I was at my raised bed vegetable garden box (4 x 4, about 20 inches high, natural wood, filled with soil and compost) last week and found hundreds of sow bugs and ants in two of the corners. There are trails chewed into the wood. I don't know if they are eating my plants or not (I just planted last week and haven't been back to the box yet) but there is definitely damage to the box itself. I was going to try Bug Shooter on them as I can't have them destroying the box, never mind the plants inside of it. when I have only a finite piece of earth to plant in. I will be responsible for replacing the damaged wood if they really destroy it. So although they may be doing their job, they need to move on. We have some great compost bins, maybe I should move them there? Of course then everyone in our community garden will have them.

The Pill Bugs, Cherie, are not what is eating away at the wood sides of your raised beds and it may not be the ants either depending on the species of ant.

What wood are those raised beds made of? What protection for the wood was put on?

kimmq is kimmsr

As a child, I thought roly-poly pill bugs were cute. Now that I have over 70 tropical container plants--many of them succulents--these pill bugs CAN be very destructive. They already killed my papaya, and they constantly invade my succulents when they are outside and get too wet/moist from rain and don't dry out before these pill bugs take over. I have to repot plants to save the plants, trying not to kill the pill bugs. Next spring I will try something preventative to stop the pill bugs from invading the containers for I put them out next summer.

I was just reading this old thread because I too have an overpopulation of sow bugs. And yes, they do eat damp wood. Absolutely they do!

i have them like crazy...worse this year than ever and its only just May 2nd (err, 3rd now)..and they love my two favorite plants (creeping phlox and my dianthus (diana and supra types). they chomp them all night long, live inside the mess of roots, and also make caverns in the soil underneath.

Everyone wants to kill them but I cant seem to make myself. I never gave them much thought but I pulled a log over last year and there was a bunch of pillbugs on the underside. There was an obvious mass of babies, and then 2 of the bigger ones basically charged right over and stayed on top of them. (while I know I'm putting human emotions to it, all my brain knows how to do is equate that with a protecting instinct on the part of the bigger ones! haha I can say I did do a little research and turns out they are actually kinda hands-on parents...and the mom carries the babies in a little pouch on her belly until they are big enough to leave. SO THEY ARE PRETTY MUCH LITTLE MARSUPIALS.

NOW, AFTER KNOWING THAT, HOW CAN I KILL THEM?!?! anyway, I have traps all over and collect the buggers and relocate them to what is quickly going to be the world record holder for largest pillbug, and slug, community. (yes, i cant get myself to kill slugs either. i know. i know.)

but, the traps and hand-picking DID make a difference last year, after i realized that slugs had NOTHING to do with the plant foliage/step disappearances and the true culprits were in fact those rolly lil' marsupials. Supposedly they do serve a purpose as they also help break down decomposing materials - I imagine that happens after they've eaten every little bit of the live plants they can find and have no choice but to scrape the bottom of the barrel. if you want to relocate them, just lookup "pillbug traps" - most fruits and wet paper-type ones work great...but you've got to know where they are nesting. They like loose, moist soil...ive found an easy way to know right away is to press down the soil around a plant that i suspect is being targeted/has an underground nest. if, after a few days, its soft and squishy/fluffed-up again I can be pretty sure they are under that soil...so I pull up as much as I can and usually replace it (I've started hunting for a treatment that repels them and I'll start treating that new soil with something so they wont go back there right away) I'm a major night person, too so if I'm bored i just go out at 2am. flashlight in mouth and sneak through the gardens, crouching at the plants and playing in the dirt. It also ensures the neighbors stay convinced I'm a wacko, which is amusing for me.

in short, there are options (they take a little more time and effort) if you don't want to kill them. some as easy as changing your watering schedule, propping low-hanging foliage up off the ground so all the soil around all the plants dries out (pillbugs cant survive without moisture), removing debris that retains water and keeps the area moist while giving them perfect little homes to live in, etc....

I would like to know what eats them.

Birds, spiders, centipedes, and virtually anything that eats other insects.

Someone stated that it was a "southern" problem. I live in Iowa, and right now, I would say there is a plague of them in my garden. Hundreds of them everywhere. They don't just eat dead material. They have attacked newly planted plants and have killed several. I find them wrapped around plant stems and eating the roots of potted plants....terrible. I have a huge garden, and so DE and soap solutions will not work. Picking them up in the dark, alcohol on a Q-tip....LOL. There has to be a better solution when you have hundreds, if not thousands of these pets. I have never seen so many...the ground moves with them. I need a bug spray that works.

I have used Bug Stop on my roses (I have 300 roses), but it does not seem to kill these pill bugs. I need a quick remedy.

Without having researched this garden interloper, I can say that I have not really seen problems due to their presence. I have a lot of containerized plantings and I rarely see them in them there. (Maybe helped out by all the birds I have attracted to feeders.) I would say though, that I feel that their overabundance is probably a sign of excessive moisture (to the point of being detrimental to a lot of plants), and also possibly a sign of decaying wood (turn over any log and you'll find them). Increasing ventilation and increasing UV sunlight by doing judicious pruning of existing shrubs might be useful. Also maybe by not mulching too close to plant stems/trunks?) Like a lot of things in the natural world there seem to be cycles of population explosions and declines. Several years ago, we had an explosion of lightening bugs (fireflies) in my yard. It was like a show from Disney..., this year, not so much.

I actually increased my use of wood mulch and compost in order to give them something else to munch on and a place to go.

My garden has a lot of mulch. Every bed is mulched. Still, these bugs would rather eat plants...

I'm not saying it was a perfect solution but last year, you could put a flashlight on the ground at night and see them walking everywhere, all over the ground, worse than ants. With the mulch, which is partially broken down hardwood from the county, not bagged from the store, they have someplace else to go. I still have a lot of them and they are still in every pot.

Most of the damage most people attribute to these Pill Bugs, Sow Bugs, Wood Lice, Potato Bugs, etc., most probably were done by slugs, cut worms, or other insect pests that do their work at night when people are not in the garden. However, when people go out during the day and see plants damaged and these arthropods present people tend to blame what they see and do not work to solve the real problem.

You could say that about a lot of things but I do go out at night. My plants had sow bugs crawling all over them until I provided something preferable to eat.

They are attracted to iron phosphate based slug bait (like Sluggo) and to corn meal. They gorge themselves on the corn meal and then it swells inside their digestive system and kills them.

As someone mentioned previously, they are - for the most part - harmless but if you have them present in large enough populations, they can and will do damage to living plants.

You know what else, I haven't tried repeating this but when I friend tried using beer bowls to catch slugs, he forgot to bury them at soil level so needless to say, he didn't catch any of the slugs. But, the bowl had quite a few drowned sow and/or pill bugs.

Sluggo plus works well to control pillbugs and sow bugs. It has spinosad in an effective bait. I found that a tablespoon per square yard was an effective dose.