I'm concerned about the pillbugs in my compost

17 years ago

I'm just waiting for a break in the rain (and a dry day or two so I'm not working in mud) to work my soil and get it ready for planting. That also means *finally* opening the front of my compost bin and spreading the joy.

But I noticed that my compost is all of a sudden just CRAWLING with pill bugs. If I till the soil, and till the compost into the soil, will that chop them up? (Forgive me, Kimmsr...I know you try to save the bugs, and I appreciate your efforts)

Normally, I wouldn't care about these guys, and I know they play an important role in organic decay work, but there are just so many that I'm worried they're going to destroy my seedlings. (I've heard they can do this)

Featured Answer

trancegemini_wa

17 years ago

julianna they will be attracted to compost and if you use compost and organic soil amendments you will have them in the soil, and at times there will be a lot. generally they dont do much harm, but with small seedlings they can chop them off, especially if the compost or mulch is close to the stems, so try to keep the compost and mulch away a little bit from the stems until the plants get bigger (at which point the pill bugs dont bother them). You can also cut the bottom of plastic containers and just put them around your seedlings and dig them into the ground a bit and that often keeps them out. you really wont get rid of them from your compost or garden. if you can grow the plants on until they get a bigger youll have less problems with them too. me, I always grow a few spare plants to replace any the pill bugs take out, so while its a bit of a nuisance, it gets around the problem.

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Comments (20)

bpgreen
17 years ago
I don't think You need to worry about them. They prefer dead plant matter and are usually beneficial.

They're actually crustaceans, not insects. They need lots of moisture, since they breathe through bills.

The Wiki article on "pill bugs" was pretty sparse, as was the one on "sow bugs" so I linked the article on the wood louse.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia article on wood louse
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Kimmsr
17 years ago
Since pill bugs, sow bugs, wood lice, etc. need a fairly moist environment to live in (they are cousins of shrimp and lobsters) that indicates that your compost is too moist. As a general rule there is no real reason to be concerned about them, though.
dchall_san_antonio
17 years ago
I would be concerned if I did not have pill bugs in my compost. If you are on an organic gardening program, you should have a good balance of pill bugs in your entire garden. If you notice they are eating a live plant that they should not be eating, then they are probably hungry for something you're not providing.

Way back before I went to this organic program, I had a pill bug overpopulation problem. That's all gone now. Now I have birds, toads, and lizards helping me control the insect population.
greenstar
17 years ago
Dschall, thumbs up for an excellent post. Also kudos to others above who understand the beneficial or at least benign nature of most 'bugs' and other creepy crawlers.
julianna_il
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, everyone! I had no idea they were also called wood louse. I learn so much here!

It had rained on my pile for a couple of days, so the compost was very wet and soggy. I know that's why they exploded. It's stopped raining now, so hopefully their numbers will decrease quickly, and I won't worry about the others.

Do these guys bite? They look mean.
rocket_girl
17 years ago
Julianna: They don't bite - they can't do any harm to you whatsoever.
gardenfanatic2003
17 years ago
I was using my compost today, and it was crawling with them. But we've had a lot of rain, and the compost pile was very wet. I was planting lily bulbs, and I was concerned they'd start dining on the bulbs. Glad to hear that's not the case, and I hope you're right!

When I was a kid, we called them "roly polies."

Deanna
julianna_il
Original Author
17 years ago
I first heard them called roly polies from a Texas friend a few years ago. I think when we were kids we called them "those weird bugs that roll up in a ball when you touch them."

That's the scientific name.
kqcrna
17 years ago
My garden is crawling with them. I was planting out some of my wintersown seedlings yesterday and the pillbugs are everywhere.

My flower beds are also crawling with worms. I'm digging very small holes for very tiny seedlings and with each little scoop of soil I hit several big, fat worms. I spend more time saving worms' lives than actual planting. I feel like a worm assassin.

I'll trade you your pillbugs for my Eastern tent caterpillars?

Karen
Kimmsr
17 years ago
These Isopods subsist mainly on decaying organic matter but will eat live plants if there is not enough other food, and since they are the cleaner uppers of the garden (along with many others) and people often see them doing just that they do get blamed for destroying plants that quite often a cutworm, or something else, has been at work on. The environment that plants much prefer to grow in is also the environment that these Isopods, and slugs, find most conducive to live and grow in, unfortunately.
soil_lover
17 years ago
Let your compost dry out before using it. I have the same problems with sowbugs. And they do eat your small seedlings. The bugs will leave if the compost is dry.
Kimmsr
17 years ago
If your compost is too dry to support these Isopods then the bacteria that work it will also be dormant and not working. The major reason these Isopods become a problem in the garden is because they lack adequate food sources.
julianna_il
Original Author
17 years ago
Kimmsr, if you worked in a generous amount of compost, then the pillbugs would have their food, right? What about totally finished compost? Do they eat that too?

Today is the day!

I'm having some extra coffee right now, then headed outside to - drum roll please - open my compost bin for the first time since I started it and start shoveling my black gold.

Woo hoo!
joepyeweed
17 years ago
I was grossed out by the number of pill bugs in my pile one time also. I don't mind a few, but when its crawling with excessive numbers of them it creeps me out. So if I do happen upon a batch that has excessive creepy crawlers I will spread it out on tarp or on the patio for a day, before I use it ... the critters will scatter away from the spread out stuff as it dries out a bit. They probably scramble back into the pile, which I don't mind, as long as I can't see them.
pablo_nh
17 years ago
Let us know how it looks Julianna!

I spread some mostly finished stuff on the lawn the other day. There were lots of worm eggs- so a chunk was rolled over into the new pile that I just made (which I want to compost slowly as more of a big worm bin).
noonshyne
17 years ago
I,also, have many pill bugs. The only damage I have ever found in the garden was holes in cantaloupe that were in contact with the soil. Big cantaloupe/small bugs so not a problem.
lou_spicewood_tx
17 years ago
I have about a million of pill bugs in my yard. Does anyone want them?
west_texas_peg
17 years ago
Darn pill bugs have eaten most of the WS seedlings I put out. Seems if I put cover over the seedling to protect it from our wind and hot sun, then the pill bugs eat the plant. If I don't, then the seedling dies from the hot sun and wind. Bah Humbug.

Think I will just stick to direct sowing; I didn't plant all my seeds from swaps, so my garden will get a later start.

I know it was pill bugs because they ate a half dozen daisies I got in a swap, that I covered in the afternoons to protect from our sun. When I uncovered the plants, they were covered with pill bugs.

Peggy
west_texas_peg
17 years ago
Darn pill bugs have eaten most of the WS seedlings I put out. Seems if I put cover over the seedling to protect it from our wind and hot sun, then the pill bugs eat the plant. If I don't, then the seedling dies from the hot sun and wind. Bah Humbug.

Think I will just stick to direct sowing; I didn't plant all my seeds from swaps, so my garden will get a later start.

I know it was pill bugs because they ate a half dozen daisies I got in a swap, that I covered in the afternoons to protect from our sun. When I uncovered the plants, they were covered with pill bugs.

Peggy

I'm concerned about the pillbugs in my compost

trancegemini_wa

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