Hi All,
Well after giving the slugs a party or two with my beer traps, I
went out last night to hunt for the 'non-partiers' after noticing that
my marigold transplants were still being munched on. I found about 4
slugs and then I took a really good look at one of my marigolds with the
flashlight. There, covering one poor transplant, was sowbugs, lots and
lots of them!! Boy, was I surprised.
I have sprayed a garden insecticide but would like a more
'friendly' solution. Any ideas?

Thanks
Buzzy

--
.... Buzzy's Stall Wall ...
www.buzzys.net
"Have You Tried Freeware?"

In 20-ish years of gardening, I have never seen a sowbug damage ANY plant.
Are you absolutely positive they were eating your marigold? Marigold's tend
to be pretty trouble-free.

In any case, forget the insecticide until you've observed MUCH more closely.
Some years, the bugs win. If your livelihood depended on bug-free crops, the
situation might be different.

-Doug

"Buzzy" wrote in message
.. .
Hi All,
Well after giving the slugs a party or two with my beer traps, I
went out last night to hunt for the 'non-partiers' after noticing that
my marigold transplants were still being munched on. I found about 4
slugs and then I took a really good look at one of my marigolds with the
flashlight. There, covering one poor transplant, was sowbugs, lots and
lots of them!! Boy, was I surprised.
I have sprayed a garden insecticide but would like a more
'friendly' solution. Any ideas?

Thanks
Buzzy

--
... Buzzy's Stall Wall ...
www.buzzys.net
"Have You Tried Freeware?"

In article , "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

In 20-ish years of gardening, I have never seen a sowbug damage ANY plant.
Are you absolutely positive they were eating your marigold? Marigold's tend
to be pretty trouble-free.

In any case, forget the insecticide until you've observed MUCH more closely.
Some years, the bugs win. If your livelihood depended on bug-free crops, the
situation might be different.

-Doug

Sowbugs' little gastropodal tummies can only digest decaying matter so
living plant matter is not their first choice of food. But where other
food resources vanish, or when plants are already afflicted & dying, or
when there is decay around the edges of leaves already chomped by cutworms
or sucked to death by spitbugs or aphids, then sowbugs have been known to
eat already damaged plants (& even perfectlk healthy seedlings) right down
the ground. This is most often evidence of gardening imbalance -- for
sowbugs are difficult to kill with pesticides & non-organic gardeners who
kill off both harmful & beneficial insects willynilly end up inducing
sowbug population explosiions & their over-competing with one another
causes them to fill unnatural ecological niches including attacking living
plants. In a BALANCED garden, sowbugs & earwigs tend to be beneficial
insects cleaning up decaying matter & turning decaying matter back into
nutrients. But things can go awry. Here's an article on sowbug & earwig
garden damage vs benefit, & as you indicate harmfulness is rare, but by no
means impossible:
http://www.paghat.com/woodlouse.html

-paghat the ratgirl

"Buzzy" wrote in message
.. .
Hi All,
Well after giving the slugs a party or two with my beer traps, I
went out last night to hunt for the 'non-partiers' after noticing that
my marigold transplants were still being munched on. I found about 4
slugs and then I took a really good look at one of my marigolds with the
flashlight. There, covering one poor transplant, was sowbugs, lots and
lots of them!! Boy, was I surprised.
I have sprayed a garden insecticide but would like a more
'friendly' solution. Any ideas?

Thanks
Buzzy

--
... Buzzy's Stall Wall ...
www.buzzys.net
"Have You Tried Freeware?"


--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

"paghat" wrote in message
news
But things can go awry. Here's an article on sowbug & earwig
garden damage vs benefit, & as you indicate harmfulness is rare, but by no
means impossible:


So, Buzzy has somehow offended the garden spirits, in other words. This may
call for bourbon and deep thought.

Doug Kanter wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news

But things can go awry. Here's an article on sowbug & earwig
garden damage vs benefit, & as you indicate harmfulness is rare, but by no
means impossible:



So, Buzzy has somehow offended the garden spirits, in other words. This may
call for bourbon and deep thought.


Well, I just came in from checking and again, I found one marigold
seedling (one that I had missed last night) with 12 sowbugs eating
feverishly. All of the other that I had hit last night were free of the
critters. As far as decomposed materials for them to munch on, I always
spread my compost around the garden, so there should be lots of goodies
for them. Maybe I just grow some damn good seedlings!!

Buzzy

--
.... Buzzy's Stall Wall ...
www.buzzys.net
"Have You Tried Freeware?"

"Buzzy" wrote in message
.. .
Doug Kanter wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news

But things can go awry. Here's an article on sowbug & earwig
garden damage vs benefit, & as you indicate harmfulness is rare, but by
no
means impossible:



So, Buzzy has somehow offended the garden spirits, in other words. This
may
call for bourbon and deep thought.


Well, I just came in from checking and again, I found one marigold
seedling (one that I had missed last night) with 12 sowbugs eating
feverishly. All of the other that I had hit last night were free of the
critters. As far as decomposed materials for them to munch on, I always
spread my compost around the garden, so there should be lots of goodies
for them. Maybe I just grow some damn good seedlings!!

Buzzy


That's strange. Most marigolds have such a weird smell to their "blood" that
critters won't mess with them. What variety are you growing? Do you still
have any of the name tags, or the seed packet?

In article , "Doug
Kanter" wrote:

"Buzzy" wrote in message
.. .
Doug Kanter wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news

But things can go awry. Here's an article on sowbug & earwig
garden damage vs benefit, & as you indicate harmfulness is rare, but by
no
means impossible:



So, Buzzy has somehow offended the garden spirits, in other words. This
may
call for bourbon and deep thought.


Well, I just came in from checking and again, I found one marigold
seedling (one that I had missed last night) with 12 sowbugs eating
feverishly. All of the other that I had hit last night were free of the
critters. As far as decomposed materials for them to munch on, I always
spread my compost around the garden, so there should be lots of goodies
for them. Maybe I just grow some damn good seedlings!!

Buzzy


That's strange. Most marigolds have such a weird smell to their "blood" that
critters won't mess with them. What variety are you growing? Do you still
have any of the name tags, or the seed packet?

It is strange indeed. When Purdue University received an enqiry from
someone who claimed sowbugs were eating the marigolds, Corey Gerber of the
Plant & Pest Diagnostic Laboratory said categorically that it couldn't
happen: "Sowbugs (or pillbugs) are not known to cause major damage to
marigolds. So what is causing the damage? It is possible that the slugs
you mentioned may be the culprits. Slugs can often be controlled simply by
eliminating their hiding places. Remove rotting boards and debris left on
the ground. Pay special attention to keeping the crawl space under the
house free of trash. Keep gardens weeded and surrounding grass cut short."
The Plant & Pest Lab was simply unwilling the court the idea of even an
exceptional case. My own suspicion is that there is something already
wrong with the plants, that slug damage to stems is causing leaves to dry
out & die, & sowbugs will eat the decaying bits off anything. But it's
also possible that some insect has been misidentified as a gastropod -- or
that Purdue's foremost experts just don't know everything.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/