Roly-Poly bugs

[ShenandoahJoe]

Yeah, I know their real name.  But that's too hard to say with a mouthful of ice cubes.

What do you think of these?  I gather they're harmless, but not beneficial either.  Do they do anything good?  I ask because I have zillions of them this year.

[fritz_monroe]

While they aren't a beneficial in the sense of a predatory insect or pollinator, they are still beneficial in their own way.  They help the decomposition of matter in the garden.  They help break that mulch down into compost.  So I like to see them around.

[Jim]

Nah they are good guys.  Just keep things like cukes trellised up if you have a big army of roly-polys, and keep the veg litter to a minimum especially if you tend to water in the late-afternoon/evening. 

[ShenandoahJoe]

What's the difference between "veg litter" and "mulch"?

[Jim]

veg litter is stuff like thinned seedlings, weeds, that big yellowed cabbage leaf... stuff like that.

[mountainoaks]

Okay. Roly-ploy bugs are what I call sow bugs or pill bugs. They are the bane of my existence when it comes to direct sowing and even planting young seedlings. They overpopulate under the leaf mulch (from my many oak trees) and so anytime I plant a nice juicy seed, they devour it before it can even grow. They sometimes congregate around a freshly planted seedling and eat the stem right off! My only hope is to rake off the leaves, till up the soil and leave it dry for about a week before I plant. I don't mind them at all in the compost heap or out in the woods, but in my garden, I squish them.

[heliotropicmoth]

Ok, they are not completely beneficial.......


I believe they will only do this after something else has taken the first bite.

Check out my blog post on the subject.
http://www.littlecountryhouse.blogspot.com/2012/09/tomato-pest-or-opportunistic-scavenger.html