Ridding Your Garden of Woodlice

During the winter months I relocate my holiday Poinsettias to basement laundry room. The other day when I went to water them I lifted the water tray to only find a large family of woodlice living underneath! As kids I remember playing with these little grey armadillo shelled-like creatures. When I would try to pick them up they would roll into a tightly formed ball. Most of us call them roly-poly's or pill bugs but the biological name for them is woodlice. To the gardener they are more of a nuisance than a threat to your vegetation. They live under rocks, in moist soil and eat decomposing rotting lawn matter. Woodlice can lay up to than two to three dozen eggs a day and oddly have a life span of one to two years. A few woodlice can soon become an infestation. Here are some ways I've controlled the influx of woodlice.

Limit Your Watering: Again woodlice love moisture. Overwatering your plants will give them the moist environment they need to thrive. Watering your indoor plants one a week or as directed and your outdoor plants later in the day will help. Also removing excess water from your watering trays will help alleviate the problem.

Remove Dead Foliage and Plant Matter: Woodlice love nothing better than old and decomposing foliage from your vegetable garden. After you've harvested remember to remove any rotted fruit or vegetable matter that has fallen near or around your plants.

Organic Insecticides: Try insecticide on your soil that contains an organic compound called Spinosad. It also helped reduce my slug and snail problems.

Plastic Cones: I've cut 3x6 inch pieces of old milk jugs and fashioned them into cones around the base of my plants. I've discovered that woodlice can not climb plastic.

Kid Power: Most kids love to play with bugs. I know I did. If your kids fit the bill let them collect and put them in easy disposable Eco-friendly zip lock bags.

To my knowledge woodlice are eaten by a wide variety of insects but the only one I know to prey exclusively on woodlice are spiders. I personally prefer garden spiders over woodlice and slugs.

As an organic gardener I understand that the gentle but creepy woodlice does have a purpose; it eats unwanted decayed vegetation, however, I would prefer they eat in someone else's garden other than mine. If you have a continued problem with woodlice I would suggest that you speak to your local lawn and gardening expert or professional exterminator for tips to rid excessive woodlice infestations.

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse
My personal gardening experience