Really fed up

[pickledtink]

Anyone who thinks Woodlice are sweet compost making angels can get lost right now.

I have patrolled my Squashes night and day. Slugs, Pigeons, Snails are not touching them. It's the Woodlice. They are all over them constantly.Every single Butternut is attacked even the ones which manage to avoid them gnawing the flower and getting in through the soft top. They still go at them. The Crown Prince which are tougher are also going the same way. I had one quite large one which looked like it had won out but no. It has been got and will vanish into a squidgy shrivelled mush in no time.
I've cleared, trained up impossibly high places ( OK they didn't take much training and were happy to climb themselves) but still find those wee nasties all over them.
My garden gets little light at this time of year so I guess they are now in their element. Sadly there are plenty of healthy young fruit all over but it's too late.
Gloom, gloom. gloom.

[JennieAtkinson]

Oh commiserations PT. I'm always convinced they do more harm than anyone gives them credit. They are called "slaters" here and I found loads eating my potatoes.

[mandyballantyne]

I hate slaters the thought of them makes my skin crawl

[pickledtink]

Oh commiserations PT. I'm always convinced they do more harm than anyone gives them credit. They are called "slaters" here and I found loads eating my potatoes.

Thanks for the support Jennie. I honestly think that they are a serious destructive force in slightly damp shaded conditions which invites them to overrun. Having said that I've found them killing things off in blasting sun with pretty dry soil.

I can't even find my crown Prince fruit today. It was looking very good with a big chunky healthy fruit. Then some brown bits appeared now the whole thing has gone!

[pickledtink]

I hate slaters the thought of them makes my skin crawl

I hate them too.

Any takers for the 'Slaters must die' club!?!
More to the point how do you off the bu***rs without damaging anything else?

Once saw something about beer traps. Dunno. What d'you think? Experience anyone?

[JennieAtkinson]

We get loads in the house too - keeps the dog quiet for ages. Well not exactly quiet so to speak! She plays with them. Apparently it is something to do with being an old Manse and having some fairly airy air flow bricks in the damp course.

I've never had them in the potatoes though. do you think this year has been a worse year for them?

[dexterdoglancashire]

Can't see any around here (thank goodness!) I can't STAND them! DDL

[pickledtink]

They're all over the strawberries now and getting into the Aubergines. Very little sun in my garden now so they rule.
I need a way to keep them down.
Not attacking the Calabrese heads, Chard or Spinach though. The Caterpillars, Slugs, Snails etc are managing perfectly well on their own without them. At least they leave me half the crop though!

Woodlice must die. where's Nick when you need him? Some Guru.......

[pickledtink]

We get loads in the house too - keeps the dog quiet for ages. Well not exactly quiet so to speak! She plays with them. Apparently it is something to do with being an old Manse and having some fairly airy air flow bricks in the damp course.

I've never had them in the potatoes though. do you think this year has been a worse year for them?

Not really. In fact the hot spell definitely kept them back but as soon as we got normal weather with some rain and cloud they seemed to erupt worse than ever!

[heebiejeebie]

Ask if your local secondary school science dept would like them for experiments - a couple of years back one of the teachers kids brought us about 200 of them for using in choice-chambers.

(They do not undergo destructive testing - most of them - but will be released far far away from you)

[bramble]

I feel sorry for everybody who are suffering from the little b******s. I did ask here a few weeks ago but got no takers for a cure. My toms are overun with them. I have to say they are much worse this year as i only ever had a few, but this year theres a multitude of them. ANYONE who has any advice at all on how to get rid of this pest, please apply here.

[JennieAtkinson]

I just thought they were something you had to just get on with. We have absolutely LOADS here. Under every stone, pot, bit of wood, in all the veg. But they do say that they don't do the damage, only come in after the slugs etc.

Wonder why they are worse this year Bramble? Have you had a wet summer? Here we always assume they will be anywhere where it is slightly damp. And of course this far north, its always wet!

[sewer rat]

Jennie, we've had loads this year too - outside and in, and our house is 1850's built sandstone, so like you, we just accept them as part of the structure.
No real problems withthem inthe garden though, at least not that I'm aware of.
As for killing them - slaters and cockroaches will survive a nuclear war, so what's the point in even trying - other than the satisying crunch they make as you stand on them.

[bramble]

No Jennie, not particularly, but on hind sight i may have planted my outdoor tomatoes too close together. The space between is getting quite shaded as the sun is getting lower in the sky and the days getting shorter , so i think they are going for the shade.
A hard lesson learned and one i will not be repeating.

[pickledtink]

No Jennie, not particularly, but on hind sight i may have planted my outdoor tomatoes too close together. The space between is getting quite shaded as the sun is getting lower in the sky and the days getting shorter , so i think they are going for the shade.
A hard lesson learned and one i will not be repeating.

You could thin the leaves out Bramble. If you've still got Toms ripening nip off all leaves which shadow them at all and generally thin them right out. I keep all/any big dark healthy leaves as long as they're not shadowing fruiting trusses but get rid of anything tiddly or yellowing. Then thin the bottom ones right out quite hard. Also anywhere they're really thick and getting tangled up. Taking off at least a third won't hurt.