Question: I have a lot of sow bugs in my worm bin. What am I doing wrong? And how can I get rid of them?
Answer: Sow bugs and pill bugs (together called woodlice) are very beneficial in outdoor composters. Like earthworms, these guys act as primary decomposers–breaking down leaves, straw and twigs. Their droppings feed beneficial micro organisms thus increasing the quality of the soil.
In fact, many gardeners will add them to their indoor worm bins to further capitalize on their positive effects. Others may inadvertently introduce these critters by adding leaf litter, straw and twigs. The downside to adding woodlice to your indoor worm bin is that they may stray from the bin when conditions are unfavorable to them. While they pose no harm within the home, they’re often viewed as unwelcome guests. For this reason, we strongly advise against adding sow bugs and outdoor leaf litter to your indoor worm bin.
If you already have woodlice in your bin, there are a number of methods for getting rid of them.
Hand Picking: If you’re not squeamish you can simply hand pick the woodlice out of your bin. They won’t leave their eggs behind as these are carried in pouches under their abdomens, along with baby woodlice.
Trapping: I’ve read that by cutting a cantaloupe in half, scooping out the seeds and placing the shell on top of the bedding (flesh side down), you can attract all of the woodlice into the dark cave of the fruit. After a few hours the cantaloupe and woodlice can be scooped out of the bin and place in your garden. I’ve never tried this method for woodlice, but I know that this works very well for controlling mite populations in my bin.
Woodlice are also attracted to beer. A shallow dish of beer placed on top of the bedding can serve as a trap into which the woodlice will fall and drown.
Harvesting: You may wish to start fresh by harvesting your worms and placing them into new bedding. When using this option, you’ll want to remove all of the old bedding from the worms. This can be achieved by following the stacking method of harvesting and then dumping the worm spaghetti mound into a fresh clean bed. As the worms work their way into the bedding, scrape off any residual compost. This will ensure that no sow bugs are being transferred to the new bin.
But, keep in mind that you’re also eliminating the other beneficial critters that were helping your original system. As such, it may take a few weeks to get your new bin up and running. Feed sparingly for the first 3 weeks to give the system time to recover.
Woodlice – Up Close and Personal
