How much damage can pill bugs (rolly pollies) do to the garden?

Question

My plants are being eaten and the only bugs I see in the garden are slugs, snails and tons of pill bugs. I know about the slugs and snails and have treated for them. I don't want to use too much pestiside as I am trying to attract butterfies and their caterpillers. What can I do?

Answer 1

Pill bugs are my greatest garden nemesis! They're especially rough on tomatoes, and any sort of vining plant. For tomatoes, put a barrier around the base of the plant (plastic cups do nicely - we used to use milk cartons when I was a kid). Pill bugs are segmented creatures, and can't get over the edge (or at least think they can't in their little bug brains), so it stops them, and all without using a pesticide.

Answer 2

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RE:
How much damage can pill bugs (rolly pollies) do to the garden?
My plants are being eaten and the only bugs I see in the garden are slugs, snails and tons of pill bugs. I know about the slugs and snails and have treated for them. I don't want to use too much pestiside as I am trying to attract butterfies and their caterpillers. What can I do?

Answer 3

Rolly Pollies

Answer 4

Pill bugs (isopoda) are harmless to you and your plants. They are crustaceans, not insects, that live in moist environments and eat dead plant material, helping to recycle it so your living plants can use the nutrients. If you want to reduce their numbers, clean up the dead plant litter that they eat and remove the moist places where they can hide.

From your description, I would consider the snails and slugs to be the real culprits. These creatures are voracious feeders, and can devastate a garden. The safest slug/snail baits to use are those that contain iron phosphate. Iron phosphate kills the slugs/snails, but is non-toxic to humans, pets or wildlife, and does not contaminate the soil or water. A brand with iron phosphate is Sluggo, which is sprinkled around your plants.

You might want to go out at night with a flashlight and see if any other critters are feeding on your plants at night. Many pests are active only in the dark - often including the catepillars of moths and butterflies you are encouraging, which will eat living plants.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Sow and pill bugs are decomposers. They eat dead and decaying material. The culprits you are after are more likely nocturnal, like beetles or slugs.
Pill bugs are not insects so require damp locations like compost piles or in rotting logs to live. If you have mulch they are happily turning it into humus precursors for bacteria and soil fungus to finish into humus for the plants.
To locate the culprit a flashlight survey one night might show you the exact problem.

Caterpillars can attack most plants, their biting action causing relatively large, irregular but clean cut holes in the leaves. Caterpillar frass (droppings) may be seen on the leaves, which serves as a further diagnostic feature of attack.
Flea beetles cause damage vegetables and wallflowers especially at the seedling stage, where small, almost circular holes can be seen on affected leaves.

Slugs eat the leaves of most plants, with a rasping action, leaving irregular shaped holes or tattered shredded edges. Young plants can be completely eaten and slime trails can often be seen on the soil surface around affected plants.

Pea and bean weevils and adult vine weevils cause characteristic U-shaped notching around the edges of leaves. Pea and bean weevil, in addition to obviously affecting peas and beans can cause similar damage on roses, lupins, carnations and other ornamentals. Adult vine weevils cause notching around leaves of camellias and rhododendrons in particular, but it is vine weevil larvae that are most trouble in the garden

Answer 6

pill bugs are harmless to ur garden! just stay on top of the snails and the "holes" in ur leaves should dramatically decline!

Answer 7

Yeah it might be correct

Answer 8

that's a tricky question..