Pill bugs, you know Rolly Pollys

[rc51sport]

are pillbugs bad? will the eat the roots of cannabis plants or anything. i notice pretty much as soon as i set any potted plant outside tons of pillbugs will invade the bottom of the pot.

is there anything i can do to repel them? they are ALL OVER the ground here, expecially in my best outdoor grow spots. i would love to stick a plant or 2 outdoors but havent because of these bugs. my last outdoor grow had a crapload of pillbugs entering and leaving through the bottom of the pot, although those plants turned out pretty good considering the other problems i have caused myself.

but i still have a feeling these bugs arent any good for my babies

thanks guys


-RC

 

[rc51sport]

i just found this on a website while doing some googleing...

"Pillbugs form an important component of the larger decomposer fauna, along with earthworms, snails, and millipedes. All of
these animals return organic matter to the soil where it is further digested by fungi, protozoans, and bacteria, hence making
nitrates, phosphates, and other vital nutrients available to plants. Although they may occasionally feed on roots, pillbugs do
minimal damage to live vegetation and should not be regarded as pests.

Pillbugs are also of importance in sites such as coal spoils and slag heaps, which face heavy metal contamination. They are
capable of taking in heavy metals such as copper, zinc, lead and cadmium and crystallize these out as spherical deposits in
the midgut. In this way, they remove many of the toxic metal ions from the soil. Furthermore, owing to their high tolerance of
these ions, they thrive where other species cannot, and promote the restoration of contaminated sites by accelerating topsoil
formation. This in turn favors the establishment of plants that stabilize the soils by root formation. Stabilized soils reduce
problems of toxic dusts and the leaching of metal ions into the ground water. "




does this mean that they are actually beneficial? kinda like having earthworms in my pots? maybe this is why my outdoor grow went better than expected? (never fed any extra nutes, but did start in MG soil)

maybe i should throw a handful in each pot? theres plenty of em out there.
can anyone back up this information or how much of my living roots would they actually eat? maybe if i put some compost or the dead leaves from my plants to keep em full and away from roots?
or i should probally test with 1 plant first? or not at all... im still kinda worried that they may do more harm than help.


any thoughts would be great... thanks




-RC

 

[greenmonkey]

ive been concerned with the rolly pollys too. from what ived read they break down rotting wood and plant material but i have seen them munching of leaves as well. if they are causing a problem then get rid of em but if not, its always fun to poke em.

 

[Melodyjoy888]

are pillbugs bad? will the eat the roots of cannabis plants or anything. i notice pretty much as soon as i set any potted plant outside tons of pillbugs will invade the bottom of the pot.

is there anything i can do to repel them? they are ALL OVER the ground here, expecially in my best outdoor grow spots. i would love to stick a plant or 2 outdoors but havent because of these bugs. my last outdoor grow had a crapload of pillbugs entering and leaving through the bottom of the pot, although those plants turned out pretty good considering the other problems i have caused myself.

but i still have a feeling these bugs arent any good for my babies

thanks guys


-RC

You can use oranges or potatoes.. cut an orange in half and put the citrus side down and leave it overnight and they'll be attached so you can toss em..same with the potatoes except dig out the center..diatomaceous earth helps as well.. they will eat leaves and small roots..they're decomposers so great for compost but not for small plants..you can also put dead plants or mulch somewhere away from your plants and it'll keep their attention.. I do this for my gardens ..my bud plants and for my veggies..but keep thousands plus some in my compost and their amazing..if you have them around that means you have good soil!!!

 

[013]

Hey Melodyjoy Triple 8,

Welcome to 420! Thats an old thread from 2009 and don’t recognize the handles so I expect they have moved on. But thanks for the info on rolly pollys…. never had them in my grow but I know there are tons right outdoors.

Anyway wanted to say hello and let you know why the others didn’t reply…

Whats in your garden? Jump in and toss a grow journal down and hang out for a while…

Follow this link and that’s the proper place to drop a journal. Write up your grow details… size of tent, light, grow media & nutes in first paragraph snap a pic and 5 minutes later you are done! How to make grow journal

 

[jrd1b]

i just found this on a website while doing some googleing...

"Pillbugs form an important component of the larger decomposer fauna, along with earthworms, snails, and millipedes. All of
these animals return organic matter to the soil where it is further digested by fungi, protozoans, and bacteria, hence making
nitrates, phosphates, and other vital nutrients available to plants. Although they may occasionally feed on roots, pillbugs do
minimal damage to live vegetation and should not be regarded as pests.

Pillbugs are also of importance in sites such as coal spoils and slag heaps, which face heavy metal contamination. They are
capable of taking in heavy metals such as copper, zinc, lead and cadmium and crystallize these out as spherical deposits in
the midgut. In this way, they remove many of the toxic metal ions from the soil. Furthermore, owing to their high tolerance of
these ions, they thrive where other species cannot, and promote the restoration of contaminated sites by accelerating topsoil
formation. This in turn favors the establishment of plants that stabilize the soils by root formation. Stabilized soils reduce
problems of toxic dusts and the leaching of metal ions into the ground water. "




does this mean that they are actually beneficial? kinda like having earthworms in my pots? maybe this is why my outdoor grow went better than expected? (never fed any extra nutes, but did start in MG soil)

maybe i should throw a handful in each pot? theres plenty of em out there.
can anyone back up this information or how much of my living roots would they actually eat? maybe if i put some compost or the dead leaves from my plants to keep em full and away from roots?
or i should probally test with 1 plant first? or not at all... im still kinda worried that they may do more harm than help.


any thoughts would be great... thanks




-RC

Do not plant a young seedling into the ground if you have an abundance of rolly Polly's because they will attack the stem and roots. I thought because I had a well establish root system that I would not have a problem planting a young seedling, but saw the next morning that they ate the stem at soil level. This is a bummer if planting auto flower seed because auto flower seeds should not be transplanted but planted directly into soil, but doing so with an infestation of rolly's, the seedlings will be dinner for the crustations.