Woodlice everwhere-are they a pest?

hello932

Do woodlice damage/eat fruit and vegetables-should i be killing them off with a boiling kettle?

jigglywoo

I don't think they're a pest. They mainly eat dead stuff and I've never seen them damaging any plants. Better off leaving them alone because they recycle all the good stuff.
If you're gonna attack them with boiling water atleast do something good with the left overs http://www.foodreference.com/html/woodlousesaucer.html yum yum

here's another recipe page mmmm http://www.porcellio.scaber.org/woodlice/recipes.htm

looksee

Well they love strawberries, they are the only things that have had a go at the strawberries this year, though tbh they only got a few.

They munch in through a small hole and are capable of leaving just a shell of strawberry which collapses in your hand, but if they have only just started there can be a reasonably unnoticeable hollow with a couple of crunchy woodlice in - lovely :eek:

Other than that, and an occasional bit of damage to courgettes, they don't do any harm. If they get inside your doorbell they can create interesting effect though, then there is a little pile of zapped woodlice in the bottom of it.

Sonnenblumen

Valuable food resource for beetles, frogs etc. Must admit most people are horrified by the sight of woodlice. Must be something to do with the body armour colour?

fryup

i get them in the house alot, is that a sign of dampness or something??

Sonnenblumen

fryup wrote: »

i get them in the house alot, is that a sign of dampness or something??

Moist/damp conditions does appear to attract them.

simonj

I've never had a problem with them being in the garden, but I just do veg, not fruit.

Centipede, Cuckoo spit, Red Velvet Mite and Woodlice are pretty harmless to veg, I'd just leave them be

bmaxi

They will eat young leaves but usually only if slugs or caterpillars have been there first. I wouldn't consider them a serious pest.

Degsy

I had a plant in the porch which suddenly wilted and died..when i looked in the pot i discovered it was full of woodlice.
A similar fate befell another plant which was in a pot in the back garden and inspection revealed the woodlice had taken up residence there too..it seemed to me that the little bastards had transmitted some sort of disease via the roots and i kill them whenever i find them now.

Degsy

simonj wrote: »

Cuckoo spit

Will destroy lavender and rosemary if left alone.
My technique is to flick the "spit" with a finger and that will either kill or dislodge the occupant!

bmaxi

Degsy wrote: »

I had a plant in the porch which suddenly wilted and died..when i looked in the pot i discovered it was full of woodlice.
A similar fate befell another plant which was in a pot in the back garden and inspection revealed the woodlice had taken up residence there too..it seemed to me that the little bastards had transmitted some sort of disease via the roots and i kill them whenever i find them now.

I dunno. Can you be sure the woodlice didn't arrive after the demise of the plants? What you describe sounds more like a vine weevil attack.