How do you get rid of sow bugs? That is the latest question I have been asking as my checks around the garden indicate that I am losing all my newly emerging seedlings to sow bugs. Sow bugs are know as woodlice, pill bugs, roly poly bugs but they are not all the same bug in the garden. The odd one or two won’t hurt your garden but a large number of them can be very destructive in your garden. Read on to find out how to get rid of sow bugs in an organic garden.
This post contains affiliate links: I am grateful to be of service and bring you content free of charge. In order to do this, please note that when you click links and purchase items; in most (but not all) cases I will receive a referral commission. Your support in purchasing through these links enables me to keep blogging to help you start homesteading and it doesn’t cost you a penny extra!
See Disclosure, Terms and Conditions for more information. Thank you for supporting Misfit Gardening.
What Is a Sow Bug?
There are a couple of bugs in the garden which look very similar, the woodlouse and the sow bug. Both of these critters are harmless to humans but will make short work of your new seedlings just emerging from the soil.
Both sow bugs and woodlice look very similar but the woodlice are known as pill bugs or roly poly bugs because they can roll into a ball when they are disturbed or touched. They usually come out at night to feed. They are scavengers by nature and you typically see them in decomposing organic matter like leaves or tree logs but will happily eat the fruit and young seedlings of your strawberries, squash, cucumbers, beans, chard, tomatoes, chilies, melons and carrots. At least that’s the preferred menu in my garden.
Sow bugs and woodlice are actually land adapted crustaceans and are relatives of crayfish but I wouldn’t advocate eating them!
Habitat
Both sow bugs and woodlice live in cool, dark, moist conditions. You can usually find them underneath rocks, wood, fallen leaves and in mulch or in your compost bin. If you are a pet owner, you may have seen them when poop scooping your backyard underneath the poop. Sow bugs and woodlice really do scavenge for food sources in the garden! They love moisture and will be found huddled together in their shelter during the day when they are disturbed.
How Do You Get Rid Of Sow Bugs?
The best way to get rid of these bugs is to remove their favored habitat, meaning remove debris from the garden, leaves, mulch, fallen fruit and weeds from the garden beds. I have a problem with both woodlice and sow bugs in my straw mulch in the garden beds. I don’t want to remove the mulch as I need to retain the moisture to help my plants. You can try changing the mulch to something which lets water through but does not remain moist and use trellis for vining plants like your melons, squashes and strawberries up off the ground to improve air circulation and help dry out the ground underneath.
If you are like me and use organic gardening methods here are some other things you can do to get rid of these crustaceans from your garden.
- Switch to black plastic mulch, the soil heats up too much making an unfavorable habitat for them.
- Try organic insect control after you have watered in problem areas. Make sure your organic insecticide contains iron phosphate and spinosad, I like Sluggo Plus
as it helps with some other pests like snails, slugs, caterpillars, cutworms and earwigs.
- Trapping them, see below on how to do that.
- Using diatomaceous earth
around your plants when the area is dry. You will need to reapply after it has gotten wet.
- Set out sealed containers containing cornmeal in your garden beds. Make a hole at the base big enough to allow the sow bugs to get in. Cornmeal is reputed to attract the sow bugs then kill them after they have eaten it.
as it helps with some other pests like snails, slugs, caterpillars, cutworms and earwigs.
around your plants when the area is dry. You will need to reapply after it has gotten wet.Related Post: Types and Benefits of Mulch
How To Trap Sow Bugs
There are a couple of trapping methods you can try in your garden, all of them require regular inspection and replacing to be most effective at reducing the numbers of sow bugs. I like the idea of trapping them and luring them away from my baby bean seedlings.
The Potato Trap For Sow Bugs
Take an old potato and cut it in half then scoop out some of the flesh to create a depression in the potato. Place the potato halves with the cut side down onto the soil in your garden near your seedlings or recently seeded area.
Leave the potato trap in place for a day or two so the sow bugs will find them as a food source and shelter. Check the traps in the morning and dispose of them in an area where they cannot return to your garden beds. Some people relocate them to the compost pile where they help to break down the materials in there or place them in the normal trash.
The Melon Trap For Sow Bugs
One of the best ways to get rid of sow bugs is to use melon rind. If you happen to have a melon, cut in half, scoop out the flesh and leaving the rind intact. Place these rinds on the soil with the cut side down. This creates a moist and enticing environment for the sow bugs and they will be attracted to the moisture and the sweet melon flesh. Leave it in place for a day or two then check the traps in the morning and dispose of the bugs you find where they cannot return to your garden.
The Newspaper Trap
I found this one by accident when I left an empty paper seed packet scrunched up in the garden bed. Take a couple of sheets of newspaper and roll into a tube and secure with tape, string or scrunching one end. Place the newspaper tube where it will get wet in the garden bed or wet it by spraying with water or dunking in the sink when you are doing the dishes and place the newspaper trap in a shady spot in the garden bed.
The bugs will be attracted to the moist, dark conditions and can be picked up and tossed in the trash early in the morning. This trap will also collect earwigs.
You can check the trap the following morning and replace it daily or leave it for a couple of days to attract more sow bugs then dispose of the trap early in the morning.
The Toilet Paper Tube Trap (aka The Bog Roll Trap)
Save the cardboard insert from your toilet paper (bog roll for those Brits) or kitchen paper towel roll. Fold one end to close it up. You can add some straw, shredded paper or other garden debris which you have laying about into the opening. Wet the tube down with water and place in a shady area in your garden bed. Leave the trap in place for a day or two and dispose of the trap and the sow bugs where they cannot return to your garden.
What has worked for you to get rid of sow bugs from your garden? Let us know in the comments!
If you liked this post please take a moment to share it using the share buttons below or pin the image below to Pinterest and save it for later and join us over on YouTube to get to know me and my homestead in the suburbs or join the Facebook group for live Q&A, advice and support on homesteading or learn how you can get more tips and tricks by signing up for my newsletter.
As remuneration for running this blog, this post contains affiliate links. Misfit Gardening is a participant in Affiliate or Associate’s programs. An affiliate advertising program is designed to provide a means for this website/blog to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to websites offering products described in the blog post. It does not cost you the Reader anything extra. See Disclosures, Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy for more information.
Share this:
