A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 rolly polly problem

the rolly pollies are every where and they love my strawberries they eat them any ideas how to discourage them, i don't want to harm them just make them go away :rolleyes:

Rachel1964,
You wouldn't happen to have a picture of them
rollie~pollie things would you??

If they are slimy and squwishy, they
might be slugs.... slugs love strawberries!

How big are they?
And what color are they???

Weezie

Last night I had a conversation with another member about rolly pollies. We were wondering if they are the same as sow bugs, which have invaded my home, outdoor containers and are just YUCKY!
Sow and Pill bugs

it's a pill bug thanks for the web link with the pictures of the two different types or i would not have been able to tell which one it was

Okay, I just went to poke some with a very loonngg stick...mine are pill bugs, too. :p

Outside, Sow and Pill bugs aren't too bad of
little creatures, actually in the realm of
what mother nature intended, they are what you'd call the cleaner~uppers, or debris eaters!!!

When a plant grows, matures, and goes thru season's, there's parts of the plant that turns brown and dies, and when left there the pill/sow bugs come along and eat of the dead and decaying debris... Maybe they are thinking the strawberries would be also delicious too.

Maybe clean up the debris and things decaying around the strawberries....open the plants up and keep something somewhere's else, of brown paper, dead wood, dead piece's from plants, anything like stuff that would go into a compost pile and they'll go over there and be in seventh heaven..

Weezie

Weezie, they little buggers are EVERYWHERE!!! On the patio, under the woodpile, under plant pots, in the soil, IN MY HOUSE!!! I'm being invaded! Guess that happens when you forget to wear your tin foil hat just ONCE!

They go for wet, decaying wood....
Have you checked around the foundation for them anywhere's???

I'd say, get after your wood pile....
That's probably the leading cause of them....
"wet, decaying wood"
They're in seventh heaven there...

Any chance of moving that pile???

Weezie

And for gosh sakes, keep an eye on your
"tin foil hat"

My woodpile is dry, protected under a deck. These creatchies are just everywhere, all year round, every year. They just seem worse in the spring when the babies come out. Maybe I should let the chickens free on the patio - pill bugs are one of their favorite snacks.

Whew! Found it !

My 6 year-old daughter thinks rollie pollies are just awesome! She plays rollie pollie "marbles" with them!! And any poor ladybug she finds becomes her new pet for the day. I give her credit, though...she does give it a glass jar with holes poked in the lid, a stick to climb on, leaves to eat, and a couple drops of water. She doesn't understand that ladybugs don't eat leaves, but... She's my little garden helper, loves her flowers!!!

That's sweet Sheri.. my girls are kinda the same way. Imagine me trying to explain to them we can't keep the ladybugs I bought to put in the garden.. they need to go in the garden to eat my bad bugs. LOL. They decided to help me sprinkle them around the garden.. each taking a few ladybugs to put out.

Ok, I think I have the smaller sowbug. I should take a photo. I picked up a bag of mulch that was left sitting by my deck since last summer.. one I never used up. When I picked it up, there was no ground, just a bazillion tiny roly polys! AAAAHHHH!!!! I dropped the bag back down & walked away quickly.

Meg

my grandchildren like to play with them too, thanks for the idea i will have to try to get a compost pile going what all cen i put in it?

Rachel,
If you do a FORUM SEARCH and type in
COMPOST, you'll find a plethra of information
on Compost and Composting!!!

If you have more questions about it,
don't hestitate to start a new thread/post in
Gardener's Chat about it and I will be more than
happy to help you get one started!!
I LOVE Composting!!!

Weezie

Rolly Polly. I can't stand the little buggers myself, but they sure have a cute name, sort of just rolly pollys off the tongue.