Anyone have issues with pill bugs?

[cincybrewer]

I just laid some mulch down yesterday over my hop garden thinking that might be a good idea. Turns out pill bugs love mulch and I noticed last night they are all over the soil. I tried searching the internet but couldn't find out too much about them. Some websites said they only eat decaying matter and are probably cleaning up an earlier mess (e.g. possibly slugs). I did notice holes in my leaves prior to laying mulch so they may be fine but was curious to see if anyone else has had issues with them. I could always remove the mulch if they are a problem, however, maybe they are solving a slug problem.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Compost/mulch=decaying matter=pillbugs. They're all part of the program and won't harm your hops. I like to poke them and watch them curl up into little balls. Just me though. Hop ON!

 

[cincybrewer]

Thanks for the info. I'll let them be, though maybe I'll transfer some to my compost.

 

[wrench]

Yeah, holes in the leaves near ground level are almost certainly slugs. If you go out first thing in the morning, you can just pick them off and dispose of them. The pill bugs are benign.

 

[stonebrewer]

Just heard an interesting gardening tip on the radio while driving to work this morning. The garden guru claims if you take some fresh beer, pour it into a saucer at dusk, put it near your hop plants, that this will leave you with dead, drunken slugs the next morning. They like yeast but I guess the alcohol does them in. I use Diatomaceous Earth normally, but may give this a shot tonight to see if this works...:cross:

 

[wrench]

Just heard an interesting gardening tip on the radio while driving to work this morning. The garden guru claims if you take some fresh beer, pour it into a saucer at dusk, put it near your hop plants, that this will leave you with dead, drunken slugs the next morning. They like yeast but I guess the alcohol does them in. I use Diatomaceous Earth normally, but may give this a shot tonight to see if this works...:cross:

This works, I've done it. It doesn't even have to be good beer. Just make sure the container is flat enough that they can crawl over the lip.

 

[FirstStateBrewer]

Take the blue pill bug!