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Woodlice

johnhalomjohnhalom Posts: 1
in Fruit & veg
I have woodlice eating My vegetables mainly the flowers of my pumpkins and courgettes also found them on my aubergines. Don’t like killing insects in my garden! Any ideas? Thanks 

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Welcome to the forum. Loads of people here swear woodlice don't harm fruit or veg. Loads of people here swear they do. You will get advice that woodlice like dry enviroments and only actually eat detritus, so to water things more, they will say.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I always find them in damp places😊
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    Woodlice are definitely creatures of dark, damp places. Clear away leaves etc. from where you do not want them, thus giving them no place to hide.
    Damage which appears to be done by them is often down to other creatures. The woodlice then take advantage of the damage to gain access to nice moist easily chewed food.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Of you find their daytime hiding places you can gently sweep them up and move them to a more acceptable area. Dry-stone walls are a favourite.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Woodlice are the gardener's friend as they are great recyclers but, as @Palustris says they will take advantage of soft material exposed by other creatures such as slugs and snails.

    Have a read of this - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=723 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • pinutpinut Posts: 194
    Woodlice do indeed eat your fruit and veg.

    I find them burrowing inside my strawberries and tomatoes but only when they have fully ripened. They don't touch them otherwise.

    I snip the blighters in half with scissors if I catch them at it. If they act like a pest then I treat them like a pest.


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited August 2020
    I find that rather sad. :/
    They can normally only access fruit etc that has some damage, and that often isn't readily seen by us. It can be something as small as a bit of bruising, which, of course, happens when fruit is ripe and soft. 

    They don't have 'teeth' to create the holes, that usually gets done by other creatures - and mostly slugs and snails. Thousands of both here, molluscs and woodlice, as they all like the cold damp environment. I would never kill woodlice. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Do you pull the wings off butterflies too @pinut ?
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • pinutpinut Posts: 194
    Yes, if they are Cabbage Whites.

    When it comes to compassion, mine is in equilibrium: not too much and not too little.

    Call it selective culling or selective non-breeding. Eventually, I will end up with new generations of woodlice that will only eat dead and decaying material (like wood), and cabbage whites that will only dare to land in West Central Scotland and the Derbyshire border.


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