For years now, my only pest is the constantly growing pill bug population. People try gaslighting me into them not being a pest but they are constantly eating my strawberries and tomatoes fruits, all my seedlings and they are currently all over my fig trees. I try to stay completely chemical free but I need help I’m done with these little jerks!
by teeksquad
11 Comments
I’ve never had issue with pillbugs, but a couple of popular solutions I’ve seen are food-grade Diatomaceous earth and beer traps. Diatomaceous earth dries them out upon contact, which kills them. Beer traps act like the Sirens and lure them to a watery (beery??) grave.
They do drown easily. I have them in my paludarium and they love doing that to themselves.
But they’re so cute
I tried chemical free but after battling these guys non stop in my raised beds last year, I’m using DE and Sluggo plus this year.
Chickens, chickens love to eat them!
If you see any terrifying looking bright red spiders in your garden, don’t kill them. They are likely wood louse spiders whose primary prey are pillbugs. I have both in my garden!
I have loads of them but they’re not a problem for me. I’ve never found them off the ground like in your picture. I have lots of plant debris as mulch for them to eat. Maybe that’s the difference? Yes, they would nibble a strawberry but I keep all fruits off the ground.
The little buggers will kill my cucumber plants. They eat the stem just above the ground line. We use Diatomaceous earth around the plants to keep them away, However, the DE loses its ability to kill them if it gets wet. It works when it drys out, just not when it’s wet.
Try Sluggo Plus. It’s basically just iron and bacteria pellets, so it’s not really a chemical spray or anything. And it’s allowed in organic gardening. It worked really well for me when I had a ton of them one year.
Put out halved potatoes as bait and pull the mulch away from the base of your plants. You can also try copper tape collars at the base of the stems.
Interesting. I’ve never seen them on mature green growth. I have suspected them of eating fresh radish or chard seedlings.
Sorry that I don’t have a solution for you.