Erin..if it was my citrus, I'd discard the compost, then hose roots/stems/trunk until all signs of Roly-Poly's and compost are gone. Hose the container if you're planning on reusing. Add a couple drops of dish soap, then rinse. Repot in fresh, well-draining soil or gritty mix, some people are using. As long as the mix is fertile but well-draining, it doesn't matter which medium you choose.. You want to rid Roly-Poly's. Are they in your home? I don't know if they eat roots/bark, but even if they don't, I doubt you want them in your plant or home. I've never heard these crusted/shelled?-creatures eat bananas, but they like beer..lol..You can pour a litte beer or squashed banana inside an upsidedown container cap. The food/liquid will attract them, goodbye Roly Poly. lol. I'm assuming your citrus is indoors this time of year, right? since you're in z6B. Wish I had an answer what can be done regarding the bark. How much is gone? Toni

That is a grub, the larva of one of the Scarab beetles. One is not a problem, you need 10 or more per square foot to have problems. Scarab beetles include the May and June Bugs as well as the Japanese beetles and many others and were the sacred insect of the ancient Egyptians.

Not sure if you had a previous thread where you mentioned these worms, but it would be good to see some pics. Without knowing for sure about your worms and ants, I'll assume you might be talking about earth worms and fire ants. However, your comment about how the roots are gone, may refer to other kinds of bugs and worms. Fire ants (big red ants) will eat earth worms and grubs if they get a chance to. This usually happens if the ant hill is nearby and some luckless worm moves near. Since you don't yet know what is eating your garden, you may want to hold off on the DE. That is usually suggested for slugs and snails, since like you said, people would want worms around. As for the growth of a plant, there are many unknown and unseen bugs and microbes that will interact with your plants. Unless you actually see damage or loss of the leaves or stalks or harvest, having these bugs nearby is not necessarily a cause for alarm. Generally, you will need to identify the kind of damage they are doing (which may come from how the plant is disappearing or how it looks after being infected) and what they are, then you can have an idea on how to treat them.

Hello folks - thanks for shedding some light on this - if anything it makes me relieved to hear bugs may not be at play so I dont have to worry about stuff breeding etc lol. I dont think Clemson does soil testing here, but I heard something local from someone at work which I will follow up on. The sun has been the same every spring/ summer - no change there. We moved here 2 years ago during fall - they were growing fine then. Next summer I may not have watered them enough as I saw burn spots on the hydrangea leaves and some of them were big patches. Following fall I hired someone for some yard work and they said our hydrangeas/ rose etc. had grown a lot and needed trimming so they went ahead and trimmed everything to 2-3 feet. The spring after (this year) - these guys esp the hydrangeas have been growing like crazy with less flower output than last year. I have also been watering more regularly - although there are still some burn spots - not as bad as last summer. So that's about all the history I know about these guys ;-) Btw - I m worried the pyroligneous acid will kill useful soil bacteria/ bugs as well. And doesn't it go against the theory that bugs are not at play here? Thanks.