We've had a crazy number of them too. I hadn't heard that sluggo is useful for controlling them - I'd love to know if anybody has found it effective. I've heard to use diatomaceous earth, but haven't tried it. Once I thinned some of the plants in my garden, it seemed like the birds starting eating them, so I haven't really done anything for control...

I would love to hear from anyone else about the sluggo.

I'm going to see if I can find some today. The company that makes it says OSH should have it. I have also heard about diatomaceous earth. Going to see if I can find that too.

I ended up buying seedlings this year instead of growing from seed for the most part. They are probably the worst pest I have ever dealt with.

You can try buying dollar store cat litter. The brand I found is diatomaceous earth with no additives. I've seen Sluggo at Wallmart and the big box stores, as well as nursery and garden centers. Its key ingredient is iron phosphate, so look for that if you find a similar product.

Here is a link that might be useful: What's Growing On?

Diatomaceous earth will help, wood ash can too, but what really made the difference for me was understanding that I would never, ever beat the hordes of rolly pollies in my yard, so I make them happy elsewhere with mounds of moist, decomposing organic matter, especially fresh leaves, and now they generally leave my plants alone.

It was very counter-intuitive for me to grow the woodlice population instead of killing them off, but I think they are a valuable "shredder" species for my garden's soil food web and only marginally damaging to my plants and this approach seems to be working -- unless I let the soil & mulch dry too far, then the pill bugs start seeking moisture by chewing on my seedlings or other non-woody plant parts.

I have had huge numbers also. I pulled up all my strawberries because they were eating them all anyway. They were old plants and I wanted to use that raised bed for other crops anyway.

The pill bugs seem to congregate under mulch. My paths are all mulched in Eucalyptus leaves. I tried straw under the strawberries but it seemed to increase the pill bug population. Makes me hesitant to mulch my vege beds. I did try the beer baths but I only find about 20 bugs a day drowned in that.

So found that Sluggo stuff at OSH. They had a big container and grabbed it until I saw the price $60! Finally found a smaller container but that was still over $20. I must be desperate for strawberries this year :)

I have been waiting for someone to jump on here and say how beneficial they are so I had this photo ready. That strawberry was green about 3 days ago...

{{gwi:38210}}

Ortho EcoSense Slug and Snail Killer is very effective and safe for pets/veggies. It not only works on slugs and snails but pill bugs too.

Julia!

I didn't realize the birds were eating them! No wonder I have so many under the aribon - the birds can't get to them....

don't know what to do about that!

Just be sure to get the "Sluggo Plus", not regular Sluggo. The "Plus" is spinosad. I used it last year and found it very effective.

Yes got the sluggo plus the regular was cheaper but this one said right on the front pill bugs and sow bugs.

Well put it out the other day in the afternoon in a test area. Saw a few coming out by the evening but didn't see any the next morning. I just looked this morning and there were no pill bugs out in that area. I have a few strawberries turning red so will see in the next couple days but I like the results so far.

I bought a 2.5lb container and I think it will go a long way.

The birds are eating mine too! I put the strawberries underneath the leaves, so the birds can't see them. I'm wondering if mice or something is nibbling on them at night. I have found a few I hid under the leaves that had little bites in them. Can you put some netting over the plants?