Pill Bugs!!!!!!!

Ok, they bioaccumulate heavy metals... but don't those heavy metals get recycled back into the soil when they die -- or up the food chain if they are eaten by a predator? Wouldn't you have to ... uh... harvest the pillbugs to actually remove the contaminants to stop potential leaching?

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:Ok, they bioaccumulate heavy metals... but don't those heavy metals get recycled back into the soil when they die -- or up the food chain if they are eaten by a predator? Wouldn't you have to ... uh... harvest the pillbugs to actually remove the contaminants to stop potential leaching?

Unless they somehow chelate or neutralize by encompassing the toxin....

So here's something I came across recently to add to this discussion about ways of dealing with pill bugs.

In my case, I've had problems with them mowing down my green bean sprouts just as they start coming up out of the ground. I do have a jug of Sluggo Plus, it's quite effective, and I'll still use it without batting an eye if it's the only way to protect my green beans. But since pill bugs do also play a beneficial role in the garden, I've been trying to think of a way to protect my green bean sprouts without having to kill the pill bugs.

The plants are obviously the most vulnerable just as they come out of the ground. Once they reach a certain point - the leaves get high enough off the ground, the stem starts getting a little woody - the pill bugs lose interest in them.

So I wondered, instead of sowing the seeds directly into the garden beds (per seed packet instructions), why not start the green beans indoors, and transplant them to the garden bed after the plants get large enough to fend for themselves a little better? Then (says my theory), by the time the plants are exposed to the pill bugs, they'll already have grown beyond the point where they're of any interest to the little [bleep]s.

I've searched around the web and found people who do start their green beans in seed trays. I also found someone who said she does this with all her vegetables specifically because of pill bugs, and it is effective against them.

So that's what I'm trying this year. We'll see what happens...

CitizenKate wrote:So I wondered, instead of sowing the seeds directly into the garden beds (per seed packet instructions), why not start the green beans indoors, and transplant them to the garden bed after the plants get large enough to fend for themselves a little better? Then (says my theory), by the time the plants are exposed to the pill bugs, they'll already have grown beyond the point where they're of any interest to the little [bleep]s.

I've searched around the web and found people who do start their green beans in seed trays. I also found someone who said she does this with all her vegetables specifically because of pill bugs, and it is effective against them.

So that's what I'm trying this year. We'll see what happens...

Are "pill bugs" the same as "rolly pollies"?

I start everything but carrots in Jiffy Pellets for just the reason you stated. I tried everything else except Sluggo Plus, and failed at all of them. I know the Jiffy Pellets add another layer of work and $$, but it solves the problem. I even start my 18 Day radishes and onions that way.

countrynaturals wrote:
Are "pill bugs" the same as "rolly pollies"?

I start everything but carrots in Jiffy Pellets for just the reason you stated. I tried everything else except Sluggo Plus, and failed at all of them. I know the Jiffy Pellets add another layer of work and $$, but it solves the problem. I even start my 18 Day radishes and onions that way.

Yes, they're also known as rolly pollies. Thanks for sharing that this approach solved your problem with them.

Let's face it, garden pests make growing veggies more expensive any way you approach it. You can choose between spending time and money starting them in seed trays, or on the remedy, or take your losses in crop damage. I start just about everything else from seed, anyway, so might as well start my squashes and green beans that way, too.

I'm having a major pill bug invasion. They attack anything under about 2 inches. I've tried sluggo plus and diatemaceous earth to little effect. I came across a site that said I could make a corn meal trap. So I took a small plastic bag (purchased for seed storage), punched holes in one side, and filled with one tablespoon corn meal. It took about 3 days to get noticed. The site claimed the corn meal would actually kill the bugs, though I'm a bit skeptical. I suppose they could get dehydrated by eating the pure meal.

I've done so many beer traps, water trips, etc. with only mixed results. So it's gratifying to see something work, even if it's like bailing out the ocean with a teacup.

Kill one, and ten more will come to its funeral...

OhioGardener wrote:Kill one, and ten more will come to its funeral...

I can provide music!

I just learned something else the hard way. I thought the bugs would be trapped in the bag. But when I checked at mid-morning, all the larger bugs had gone. So I guess I need to harvest the trap in the morning and reset it at night.

You caught quite a few. What about putting a piece of carboard over the plastic bag? I found mine are active at night (flashlight patrol) and in the morning the only place I can see any are under squares of cardboard. I put Sluggo PLUS under the cardboard.