HELP!!I have pill bugs(rollie pollies) by the thousands in the vegatable garden.Last year they ate as much as we did and they are back.I went to the local AG office but all they could suggest was diazanon.I try to stay as organic as possible and my worst concern is my earth worms.They eat anything close to the ground and eat into the stalks.Thanks for any suggestions. Carl in Alabama.

-- Carl Jackson Jr. (carlc@pinebelt.net), February 17, 2001

Answers

I was under the impression (maybe wrong)that roly-polies just at decaying matter like rotting logs, leaves, and such.

Perhaps they are just having a spring population boom and when the birds come back they will take care of some? or do birds not eat those things?

Maybe try raking off any mulch/straw/leaves you have on there.

Some help I am. :} Hope someone can come up with something helpful.

-- Heather in MD (heathergorden@hotmail.com), February 17, 2001.

Hello Carl, Rolli pollies like to hide under boards, rocks, and things. I suggest that you put a few of these in your garden area and give them a chance to crawl underneath. In a couple of days (early morning) remove the boards and handpick all the rolli pollies from under them and destroy them. This works for me for squash bugs and slugs too. Sincerely, Ernest www.communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks

-- Ernest in the Ozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), February 17, 2001.

Might I humbly suggest my fvorite mass weeding/massacreeing tool, the propane roofing torch? It does wonders for that annoying patch of pigweed, is absolutely unparalelled for cleaning out the veggie garden in late fall (sterilizes wire and metal things like mater cages) and no doubt would make short (and less messy) work of massed populations of the wee little buggies that you're going on about. It also has the bonus side effect of reminding your neighbors just why they don't bug, er, visit you in the first place. Something about a fiendishly grinning recluse wildly waving a wand with a jet engine shooting out the end and making gutteral noises of enjoyment and satisfaction of a job obscenely well done just seems to put them off their seet feed, if you know what I mean.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), February 18, 2001.

Er, sweet feed, that is!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), February 18, 2001.

Chickens first.

Diatamaceous Earth second.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), February 18, 2001.

We had this same problem, even in our house they come up the drain in the laundry room floor. I agree with Paul, our chickens love them, so I'd just pick them up as I found them and fed them to the chickens. I even paid our 9 yr. old daughter a penny each fo the ones she caught and fed to the hens. I'm hoping to see a dramatic decrease in them this year.

-- Kelle in MT. (kvent1729@aol.com), February 18, 2001.

I had this same problem last year. Have a very small yard so compost bin is in garden, Pillbugs love compost. I built pvc and chicken wire fence panels which I put around any veggies, then I let my 2 pet chickens [ live in town] in and they feast. When I go to use compost I rack it out of bin and let the girls peck all the pillbugs out then i use it.This works great for me.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), February 20, 2001.

Carl, I am curious as to which plants, specifically, are they feeding on??? Our technicians handbook explains that pillbugs are usually found in moist situations where they feed on organic matter. They do not normally cause any damage, and are commonly found under stones, boards, or piles of plant material. Pillbugs often invade moist basements or crawl spaces, and sometimes other parts of structures……….. Pillbugs are best controlled by eliminating the moist environment that initially attracted them. Piles of organic matter, dense ground cover near foundations or ground level windows, boards and stones may serve as food sources or harborage areas for pillbugs. They should be removed or modified to reduce the pillbug population. If you should decide to go the pesticide route, here's the deal: Residual insecticides including bendiocarb, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion and propoxur can be used to spray areas infested with pillbugs. Good luck, I think the planks in the garden paths is a viable option.

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 20, 2001.

Carl, I'm with Action Dude. It is strange that they would be eating your vegetable plants. Maybe you could describe them to us just in case you are mistakenly identifying them as pill bugs. What color are they? I'm wondering if they are potato beetles instead.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), February 23, 2001.

well what i always do is to spray down some bug spray in my garden because it helps kill off the pill bugs and keeps my plants good and alive i live in hawaii so it is almost always is warm so i can sometimes plant all year round and normaly don't have any trouble w/the pill bugs any time of the year because i use the wonderful bug spray

-- talishia lakisha bombisha (loloandlashai@youradork.com), April 16, 2002.