On Wed, 5 May 2004 05:56:38 +0100, Vicky wrote:


You are talking nonsense. Woodlice do not eat live plant material.
They are one of the essential animals which participate in converting
plant material to compost.

I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to
popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the past - they do
cause
damage in some things as above.

No.
Are you sure you know what a woodlouse is?

[snip]

Franz

Yes thank you very much and are you sure you need to be rude about it!
Perhaps you should try moving a curtain or pieceof furniture in your house
and having dozens and dozens of the things scrambling about. I could send
you some samples if you like as I have plenty to spare... :-)

Vicky

They overwinter in houses. If you clear them out and they still keep
returning you might find you have a rotting floorboard or skirting-board
etc. somewhere, or some old wallpaper. The house doesn't have to be damp.

--
Tim C.

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
"les" wrote in message
...
I have just emptied out some pots in which I had spring flowering
plants,
(daffodils and primula). I found lots of woodlice in the compost. Do
these
woodlice damage the plants? Do they eat the roots? Is it safe to use
the
compost in the garden?

Your help would be appreciated.

Woodlice are on the side of the angels.

Franz

I have just harvested about one third cube metre of compost, lovely crumbly
stuff, teeming with woodlice, worms, ants, etc. etc.
Doesn't worry me.
Klaus

The message
from "Vicky" contains these words:


I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to
popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the past - they do
cause
damage in some things as above.

Are you sure you know what a woodlouse is?
Franz

Yes thank you very much and are you sure you need to be rude about it!
Perhaps you should try moving a curtain or pieceof furniture in your house
and having dozens and dozens of the things scrambling about. I could send
you some samples if you like as I have plenty to spare... :-)

Then do tell us what damage they are causing, and what they find to
eat in your house.

Janet.

On Tue, 4 May 2004 17:02:00 +0100, "Vicky"
wrote:


I think the popular belief is that they *do* cause damage. And you're
right
of course, popular belief is more or less wrong.
Just because you get woodlice on damaged plants in no way means that they
cause the damage. I'm sure if you look constantly that they don't cause
much, if any new damage to your strawbs. They were probably bruised or
eaten by slugs first, then the woodies moved in.

I'll keep an eye out this year and see if you're right! If so, I shall
publicly vindicate the woodies!


BTW the Isle of Wight has a unique species of soft-bodied woodlice
I didn't know that. All the more reason not to kill them.


Trust me - they are far from endangered here. In fact, they are under
everything in my garden and my neighbour has been thoroughly raided to the
point that they are under all her living room furniture. Hence I feel not
the slightest bit of guilt at scattering nippon all over the edging under
the carpet by my front and back doors. It seems to do the trick.

My son used to eat them when he was a toddler - this was prior to the nippon
introduction BTW!

Vicky - looking forward to the earwig invasion shortly - not!


Just when you think you have heard and seen every ignorant, stupid
person in the world, another pops up.

You might find the cure would be to keep your stinking house clean.
Stop blaming nature for your inherent deficiencies.






To avoid grizzlies, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game advises hikers
to wear noisy little bells on clothes and carry pepper spray. Also watch
for signs of activity: Black bear scat is smaller and contains berries;
grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

Then do tell us what damage they are causing, and what they find to
eat in your house.

Janet.




I did think they were eating the fruit in the garden as I was ending up
grabbing handfuls of them when I picked strawberries a while back but now I
am on the look out for slugs as suggested in another posting to find out if
I have wrongly accused my resident woodies!

As for in the house, I am not aware of any damage at all. They congregate
under my doormats outside and seem to like coming in when they see fit and
leave plenty of evidence of their presence with droppings. It's the sheer
numbers that descend that I object to. The house is less than ten years old
and there is not one iota of damp in it although it is quite low lying and
my driveway is one of the lowest points in the village - turns into quite a
river durng bad rainstorms.

Perhaps they just like me and I've been mean but they don't get beyond the
front door any more.

My neighbour had the real problem with them camping under her furniture but
she can't work out why and Rentokil can't answer that either.

Vicky

Just when you think you have heard and seen every ignorant, stupid
person in the world, another pops up.

You might find the cure would be to keep your stinking house clean.
Stop blaming nature for your inherent deficiencies.


To avoid grizzlies, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game advises hikers
to wear noisy little bells on clothes and carry pepper spray. Also watch
for signs of activity: Black bear scat is smaller and contains berries;
grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.


Ahh what a shame - just as I was thinking how amusing your signature was
too.........

Oh well, another t*sser to add to the blocked list.

In article ,
Vicky wrote:

I did think they were eating the fruit in the garden as I was ending up
grabbing handfuls of them when I picked strawberries a while back but now I
am on the look out for slugs as suggested in another posting to find out if
I have wrongly accused my resident woodies!

That is very common! There is some evidence of damage to very delicate
seedlings, but not enough to get excited about, and they are generally
even less harmful than earwigs (which are also much maligned).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Vicky" wrote in message
...

You are talking nonsense. Woodlice do not eat live plant
material.
They are one of the essential animals which participate in
converting
plant material to compost.

I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to
popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the past - they
do
cause
damage in some things as above.

No.
Are you sure you know what a woodlouse is?

[snip]

Franz

Yes thank you very much and are you sure you need to be rude about
it!

I frequently talk nonsense and I appreciate it when people tell me
when I talk nonsense. I don't consider that rude at all.

Perhaps you should try moving a curtain or pieceof furniture in your
house
and having dozens and dozens of the things scrambling about. I
could send
you some samples if you like as I have plenty to spare... :-)

If that is the case, you have a damp problem in your house.
Have you had a look under the floorboards?
I ask once again whether you are sure you are talking about woodlice.
Your story makes me wonder if you have an infestation of cockroaches.

Franz

The message
from "Vicky" contains these words:

Then do tell us what damage they are causing, and what they find to
eat in your house.

Janet.


I did think they were eating the fruit in the garden as I was ending up
grabbing handfuls of them when I picked strawberries a while back but now I
am on the look out for slugs as suggested in another posting to find out if
I have wrongly accused my resident woodies!

As for in the house, I am not aware of any damage at all.

Ah. I thought you had posted the following, which I read as implying
they did.

I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the
past - they do
cause damage in some things as above.

They congregate
under my doormats outside and seem to like coming in when they see fit and
leave plenty of evidence of their presence with droppings. It's the sheer
numbers that descend that I object to. The house is less than ten years old
and there is not one iota of damp in it although it is quite low lying and
my driveway is one of the lowest points in the village - turns into quite a
river durng bad rainstorms.

My neighbour had the real problem with them camping under her furniture but
she can't work out why and Rentokil can't answer that either.

Do the groundfloors of your houses have wooden floors ? (I mean,
underneath the carpet, laminate or whatever else shows in the rooms) I'm
wondering if the driveway river has let water get trapped in the
subfloor cavity. Something similar happened to a friend. They had a good
dampcourse, so the plastered walls inside the rooms stayed dry and there
was no sign at all, at groundfloor room level, of the longterm flood in
the subfloor. When she was selling it and lifted a hatch for a surveyor,
she found a couple of feet of water :-(.

Janet.

On Tue, 4 May 2004 17:02:00 +0100, "Vicky" wrote:


I think the popular belief is that they *do* cause damage. And you're
right
of course, popular belief is more or less wrong.
Just because you get woodlice on damaged plants in no way means that they
cause the damage. I'm sure if you look constantly that they don't cause
much, if any new damage to your strawbs. They were probably bruised or
eaten by slugs first, then the woodies moved in.

I'll keep an eye out this year and see if you're right! If so, I shall
publicly vindicate the woodies!


BTW the Isle of Wight has a unique species of soft-bodied woodlice
I didn't know that. All the more reason not to kill them.


Trust me - they are far from endangered here. In fact, they are under
everything in my garden and my neighbour has been thoroughly raided to the
point that they are under all her living room furniture. Hence I feel not
the slightest bit of guilt at scattering nippon all over the edging under
the carpet by my front and back doors. It seems to do the trick.

My son used to eat them when he was a toddler - this was prior to the nippon
introduction BTW!

Oh! for such a dedicated son!

Liz
(Who will be talking to her backslider in the morning!)

On Wed, 5 May 2004 05:56:38 +0100, "Vicky" wrote:


You are talking nonsense. Woodlice do not eat live plant material.
They are one of the essential animals which participate in converting
plant material to compost.

I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to
popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the past - they do
cause
damage in some things as above.

No.
Are you sure you know what a woodlouse is?

[snip]

Franz

Yes thank you very much and are you sure you need to be rude about it!
Perhaps you should try moving a curtain or pieceof furniture in your house
and having dozens and dozens of the things scrambling about. I could send
you some samples if you like as I have plenty to spare... :-)

Vicky


Yes! we have them indoors too! down the sides of the fitted carpet, in doorsills etc.
I think they eat (unvarnished) wood. I feel *really* stoopid now I've written that!

Outdoors they seem far too chummy with the slugs for my liking, and I wouldn't like
to say which, if either, is making a beeline for my tigridia bulbs, but something is.
Grrr!

Liz

I frequently talk nonsense and I appreciate it when people tell me
when I talk nonsense. I don't consider that rude at all.

I felt that the phrasing of your questins sounded rude.

If that is the case, you have a damp problem in your house.
Have you had a look under the floorboards?
I ask once again whether you are sure you are talking about woodlice.
Your story makes me wonder if you have an infestation of cockroaches.

Franz


I *know* what a woodlouse looks like. Having lived abroad for a while where
we had to lay cockroach bait because we had the bl**dy things everywhere, I
also know the difference between a cockie and a woodie and I'd rather face a
tiny, non-flying woodie any day.

And I really *really* do not have any damp in my house. The floorboards
have been lifted to prove this fact. If I had any damp, there would be
signs other than woodies. I've lived in a damp house and know the
difference.

I will continue to put down nippon by my doors.

D'ya know I'm now becoming obsessed to the point that I'm thinking of
conducting an experiment by catching some woodies and seeing what I can get
them to eat. And I shall look into putting slug pellets around my soft
fruit in the future. Unless you think I might be confusing what a
woodlouse looks like in comparison to a slug! :-)

Vicky

Ah. I thought you had posted the following, which I read as implying
they did.

I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the
past - they do
cause damage in some things as above.


No - I meant the damage to fruit I'd mentioned in an early part of that
posting. It's the sheer numbers I need to control in my house which I do to
good effect. If they do no damage in the garden after all, I have no
problem with them there. When they occupy a house in large numbers, they do
leave a large amount of droppings in their wake.


the subfloor. When she was selling it and lifted a hatch for a surveyor,
she found a couple of feet of water :-(.

Janet.



Been checked - no problem. Just a phenomenon - perhaps caused by
overcrowding outdoors!!!!! BTW I was reading a website about woodies. Did
you know they can have canibalistic tendencies?

Vicky

Woodlice do the job of earthworms under dry conditions eating dry dead
vegetation. I don't mind them, occasionally will see one or two in our
(clean) house.
They are not averse to nibbling at the edges of live plants and I would not
write of the comments of correspondents who have reported damage.
"FF" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 May 2004 05:56:38 +0100, "Vicky" wrote:


You are talking nonsense. Woodlice do not eat live plant material.
They are one of the essential animals which participate in converting
plant material to compost.

I use nippon to good effect to stop them coming in my house and,
contrary to
popular belief - or at least advice I've had in the past - they do
cause
damage in some things as above.

No.
Are you sure you know what a woodlouse is?

[snip]

Franz

Yes thank you very much and are you sure you need to be rude about it!
Perhaps you should try moving a curtain or pieceof furniture in your
house
and having dozens and dozens of the things scrambling about. I could
send
you some samples if you like as I have plenty to spare... :-)

Vicky


Yes! we have them indoors too! down the sides of the fitted carpet, in
doorsills etc.
I think they eat (unvarnished) wood. I feel *really* stoopid now I've
written that!

Outdoors they seem far too chummy with the slugs for my liking, and I
wouldn't like
to say which, if either, is making a beeline for my tigridia bulbs, but
something is.
Grrr!

Liz

"Vicky" wrote in message
...


I frequently talk nonsense and I appreciate it when people tell me
when I talk nonsense. I don't consider that rude at all.

I felt that the phrasing of your questins sounded rude.

There was only one question in the note of which you complain. It was
the following:

"Are you sure you know what a woodlouse is?"

I don't consider that in the least rude.

If that is the case, you have a damp problem in your house.
Have you had a look under the floorboards?
I ask once again whether you are sure you are talking about
woodlice.
Your story makes me wonder if you have an infestation of
cockroaches.

I *know* what a woodlouse looks like. Having lived abroad for a
while where
we had to lay cockroach bait because we had the bl**dy things
everywhere, I
also know the difference between a cockie and a woodie and I'd
rather face a
tiny, non-flying woodie any day.

I am glad to know that you know the difference between those two.

And I really *really* do not have any damp in my house. The
floorboards
have been lifted to prove this fact. If I had any damp, there would
be
signs other than woodies. I've lived in a damp house and know the
difference.

I will continue to put down nippon by my doors.

D'ya know I'm now becoming obsessed to the point that I'm thinking
of
conducting an experiment by catching some woodies and seeing what I
can get
them to eat. And I shall look into putting slug pellets around my
soft
fruit in the future. Unless you think I might be confusing what a
woodlouse looks like in comparison to a slug! :-)

Franz