Garden Pests and Diseases: Rolly-polly breakfast banquet, 0 by Night_Bloom

Night_Bloom wrote:
Konkreteblond - there may be another option. There are some pyrethroid (and other) granular baits out there. These won't be specific to the rollies and might get some kinds of beetles, crickets, and other "chewing" omnivores, but it shouldn't harm the predators (except maybe those who eat dead rollies or insects). Don't get these confused with granular insecticides which are basically granules with pesticide - the granules help to get the material down into mulch and leaf litter. These are more general killers though than the baits - which will just kill the guys who nibble on them. If your rollies are hungry, they should eat the bait.

I'm beginning to think some of you guys have mutant, killer rolly pollies - hee. The drought here has pretty much knocked my population for a loop, and those that are around seem to like my compost pile just fine and prefer to stay there (or under the bricks around my garden). Whenever I push back my pine straw mulch to plant a new flower, mostly what I find is worms and the occasional centipede or millipede.

And ceejaytown is correct. I won't use Sevin. I am not as convinced of its short residual properties as ceejay is. I have heard that it will kill bees and other critters that visit the treated areas of the plants. I use pyrethins for short residual - but it's not to be used anywhere near fish or aquatic circumstances - it is very toxic to the fish and aquatic critters.

I will admit, however, that I generally only spray in my vegetable garden when I spray at all - and where the brocolli is about to get a big dose of Bt as soon as I get a spray bottle - sorry wasps, you're too slow this year (though I should be greatful I even have any broccoli left, considering how unseasonably hot it is here this year).

I have a pretty "fend for yourself" attitude about my flower gardens. I'm just as likely to take a picture of a bug eating one of my plants as I am to knock it off or do something about it. Fortunately for me, I have very few bug enemies and few of those are in my flowers. The only flowers that I seem to have problems with are the black eyed susans and they are for the bugs anyway. If I sprayed them, I'd be defeating the purpose. Plus, I love those cool Geometridae caterpillars that stick flower petals on themselves as camoflauge. So I pretty much tolerate my Rudbekia getting chomped.

A picture of a Geometridae caterpillar with "flower boa"