wa371@sdcc12.UUCP (07/11/86)
I get rid of sow bugs by burying empty glass jars in the garden so that the opening is flush with the top of the soil. Then I put a small piece of rotting vegetation in the bottom of each jar and the sow bugs oblige by falling in and being unble to get out again. After a few sow bugs have fallen in, their dead bodies act as bait and the gruesome process becomes self-sustaining. In sunny climates like here in Southern California the traps become more appealing to the little critters if they are shaded by some foilage or a piece of cardboard. Cheers, Bernd.
mo@well.UUCP (Maurice Weitman) (07/24/86)
In article <619@sdcc12.UUCP> wa371@sdcc12.UUCP writes: >I get rid of sow bugs by burying empty glass jars in the garden so >that the opening is flush with the top of the soil. Then I put >a small piece of rotting vegetation in the bottom of each jar >and the sow bugs oblige by falling in and being unble to get out >again. After a few sow bugs have fallen in, their dead bodies act >as bait and the gruesome process becomes self-sustaining. >In sunny climates like here in Southern California the traps become >more appealing to the little critters if they are shaded by >some foilage or a piece of cardboard. >Cheers, >Bernd. My original posting asking for help with my {sow| pill} bug problem prompted three responses in addition to Bernd's, above. Karen Kolling suggested using a straw mulch, which I believe would work, but I'd need to replant the strawbs on mounds in order to get enough clearance for it to be effective. Bob Piety suggested fertilizing the plants, thus encouraging the leaf growth and giving the berries a resting place off the ground, which also sounds like it'd work, but I wanted INSTANT re-= lief. And Mike Parker suggested using sow bug bait, which is really a poison of some sort, and I'd rather not use it. The winner for instant gratification, elegant design, and ecological soundness is Bernd Riechelmann whose suggestion is above. I was a bit skeptical at first and started off by putting in only two jars, one at opposite corners of my five by five foot box. After a couple of days, each jar (which contained pieces of previously bug-munched-upon berry) had about a dozen bugs in it. This encouraged me to add four more jars and with a slight modification to my baiting technique: I rubbed a bit of the berry around the inside of the rim of the jar. As a control, one jar was left without any bait. This morning, barely twelve hours later, each of the (baited) jars had about a hundred (!!!) of the pesky buggers! The unbaited jar was empty. What a bonanza! Now, my only problem is: what to do with all the bounty? Thanks to all who responded, and to you, Bernd, a special thank you from the plants and a family of berry lovers. -- Quote: "The police aren't here to create disorder, they're here to preserve disorder." Mayor Richard P. Daly, Chicago, 1968 Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling, tact or fact are transmission errors. Maurice Weitman 9600 ..!{dual,hplabs,lll-crg,ptsfa,glacier}!well!mo | 57600 (415)549-0280 voice (415)549-0388 modem-2400 this^is not 300 mcimail mweitman a pipe 110 P. O. Box 10019 Berkeley, CA 94709