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WOOD LICE

2

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    There's rows on here every year as to whether woodlice eat/damage plants or not. Both parties swear they are right.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I'm on the ignore them side of the fence. Every time I move a pot, it's crawling with them underneath. The plants are just fine.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    edited May 2020
    I love woodlice!  They are like tiny little armadillos.  They are so humble; they live in damp dark places where no-one else wants to live, and they eat rubbish, turning it into compost.  They shun the limelight; expose them and they shuffle off to hide themselves again.  And there's none of this "lay the eggs and forget them" that so many invertebrates go in for.  The mothers carry their young around in a brood pouch on their undersides, parental care that puts some humans to shame.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    With you @B3, loads of them in every nook and cranny. Never had a problem with them in any garden I've ever had. 
    I'm always amazed at how much time people spend inspecting and worrying over, every tiny thing in their garden too. I'd never get anything done, or get any sleep, if I did that  :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I solved the problem by growing my strawberries on an old table in a growbag. I put the sticky grease bands you usually use for apple trees around the four legs of the table which stops slugs and woodlice from climbing. The fruits are much easier to pick as well. Now, the blackbirds are a different story!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    I lost most of my strawberries last year to them. Doesn't matter if they made the first bite or if something else did (or possibly mechanical damage). In everything else, they are harmless but they do love strawberries. I planted much more strawberries this year and I hope it will be too many of them for them to eat and something will be left for us. I also placed some plants in hanging pots where they can't get to them easily.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    A gardener who kills woodlice is like a hospital manager who sacks half the cleaners because the hospital is clean. You'll never know how much you needed them until they're gone.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    @wild edges   "A gardener who kills woodlice is like a hospital manager who sacks half the cleaners because the hospital is clean."

    ... or revokes their visas and insists that British youth is delighted to clean for £5 per hour? :D 
  • AstroAstro Posts: 433
    This year I found them eating peas that I had planted in trays, was quite surprised.  
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited May 2020
    wild edges said:
    A gardener who kills woodlice is like a hospital manager who sacks half the cleaners because the hospital is clean. You'll never know how much you needed them until they're gone.
    Quite so. Part of a healthy garden.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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