How to get rid of woodlice on your property: causes of appearance, harm, review of the best chemicals, their pros and cons, description of traditional methods of control

Description of the pest

Woodlice have a chitinous shell of grayish tints, divided into several plates. Fast movement is ensured by seven pairs of legs, the last of which serves as a support and a means of protection from enemies. The elongated whiskers allow the crustacean to navigate in space. Small eyes are located in the front of the body on the sides.

When danger arises, the individual curls into a ball and freezes, pretending to be dead. Woodlice lead an evening and nocturnal lifestyle, and during the day they hide under leaves, stones and other suitable shelters.

The crustaceans calmly survive drought, thanks to special air cavities similar to the trachea, replacing gill breathing. Individuals live on average 9-12 months.

If there are a lot of woodlice in the garden, then what kind of soil is it, what kind of soil does woodlice weed like?

Woodlice is not picky about soil; however, it does not grow well on sandy soil. It loves dark places and can even grow under boards and bricks. The main condition for active growth of woodlice is moisture. The stem of this herb is very thin and delicate, covered with fine hairs, thanks to which the plant accumulates and retains moisture.

Excellent places for woodlice to grow are under low bushes, in potato fields, in cucumber beds and greenhouses with tomatoes and peppers.

Woodlice likes to grow with other weeds

The acidity of the soil is not so important for this moisture-loving plant; the main conditions are the presence of useful minerals, warmth and moisture.

Reasons for appearance

A garden plot may attract harmful crustaceans for the following reasons:

Excess moisture, which can be caused by precipitation, leaking watering hoses, or excessive soil irrigation.
Poor ventilation in greenhouses, where the air is humidified to 80-90%.
Open areas for storing waste.
Compost pits with temperatures below 40 °C.
Accumulation of various garbage on the territory (remains of cellophane, brick fragments, cuttings of branches).
Stagnant water in various open containers.

Crustaceans can get into the greenhouse along with soil, manure or humus from the garden.

Preventive measures

You already know where woodlice come from in the bathroom and what attracts them. Disturbed microclimate of the room, lack of cleaning and light are three reasons for living next to them. Therefore, we must begin to destroy them by eliminating favorable conditions for them.

Cleaning

Throw away old sponges, napkins, mats, and trash. Wipe down all surfaces, including walls, under sinks, bathtubs, and the bathroom fixtures themselves. It is better to do this with some detergent. It is not necessary to repeat this cleaning every day. Once a week or a little less often is enough.

Dry the bathroom and keep it in that condition. After using the shower or sink, wipe up spills on the floor, wall, and surrounding objects. Try to follow this rule at least once a day. Check all pipes for damage and replace leaking areas. The slightest leak will delay the process for a long time.

Access limitation

How to remove woodlice from the bathroom and toilet so that they do not appear again? One of the most effective means is to seal all the cracks and cover the ventilation with a fine mesh. Fix any leaks and inspect the floor and walls for cracks. If there are any, seal them with silicone sealant. Also close the gaps between the bathtub, sink and wall. Gaps in water pipes can be sealed with alabaster or foam. Perhaps the source of the invasion is not in your apartment. Inspect the ventilation mesh - are there any holes in it?

Creating a favorable microclimate

Leave the bathroom door open and ventilate the apartment after each water procedure or at night. Check if the ventilation is working well. This can be done using a paper strip. Open the windows and door, hold the leaf to the hood. If it sticks to the hole, then everything is fine. Having a heated towel rail or heater on helps a lot - their heat will dry the water faster. If possible, avoid drying large amounts of clothing indoors.

Damage caused

In the natural environment, woodlice find a sufficient amount of food by eating decaying plants, moss, algae and tree bark. In greenhouses, greenhouses and vegetable gardens, they include spicy herbs and tender vegetable leaves in their diet.

Crustaceans pose a particular danger to low-growing crops that touch the ground with their tops. As the population grows, pests can gnaw plant roots close to the surface and protruding from the ground, leading to the death of crops.

A sign of the appearance of woodlice is the appearance of eaten edges and through holes on the leaves. The result of pests infesting a greenhouse is compaction of the soil. The roots of crops begin to lack oxygen and nutrients.

A small number of crustaceans do not pose a threat to the site, but in the presence of a favorable environment (abundance of weeds, high humidity, debris and plant debris), they can quickly multiply and lead to the death of a significant part of the crop.

Prevention measures

To reduce the risk of woodlice appearing in the house, you should create conditions that are not suitable for their existence. Crevices in bathrooms where moisture accumulates, leaking pipes, clogged ventilation passages, constant condensation - all these are favorable conditions for crustaceans to stay. There are several ways to improve sanitary conditions in an apartment or country house:

repair risers and plumbing units;
install mesh for ventilation;
use acrylic sealants;
transplant the plants into clean, prepared soil;
do not dry clothes in the bathroom;
ventilate rooms daily.

If woodlice cannot enter the house from the attic or basement, then the problem will disappear by itself. They cannot exist without moisture, so when its level is high, heaters (suitable for winter and off-season) and dehumidifiers (used in summer) should be used. The optimal moisture level in the apartment is 60%.

In cases where it is impossible to get rid of high humidity, use traditional or chemical methods to remove unpleasant guests from the house. The former are more accessible, the latter act quickly and help when the number of woodlice is too large.

Folk methods of struggle

There are a number of folk remedies to combat woodlice:

A solution based on tobacco, soda and red pepper

Having measured out 3 g of each ingredient, mix them with 1 liter of boiling water. The solution is sprayed onto areas of soil where wood lice were found.

Salt

It is scattered in places where wood lice accumulate. This option cannot be used for processing beds.

Dry kvass product

Add 100 g of powder to 500 ml of water. Spray the solution in greenhouses and beds.

Boric acid

Take 10 g of powder and dilute it in 500 ml of water, treat it with the composition of the bed.

Creating Traps

In pest habitats, place rags soaked in water, birch brooms, potatoes or apples with the core removed at night. In the morning, the preparations are thrown away or burned along with the crustaceans that have climbed into them.

Ants

Ants that appear in a greenhouse will also cause a lot of problems. They severely damage the root system of plants. Small holes in the ground indicate the appearance of insects.

Fight them

What folk remedies can you use to fight ants:

Chemicals

If you cannot cope with harmful crustaceans using simple methods, you can use contact-intestinal chemicals.

Granules "Thunderstorm"

Anti-slug insecticide based on metaldehyde, also effective for killing woodlice. The consumption of the product is 5-6 g per area of 10 square meters. m.

Granules are scattered in the spring around seedlings planted in the ground. The insecticide is left on the ground for up to two weeks and then collected and burned. You can repeat the procedure 2-3 times per season. Analogues of the drug are Chinese “Metaldehyde” and Swiss “Meta”.

The drug should not come into contact with edible plant foliage, as it can cause poisoning in humans if consumed.

Means "Ulitsid"

Consists of a mixture of grains, mustard, wood ash, black pepper, sugar, salt and hops. The main active ingredient is iron phosphate, which causes dehydration in pests and is completely processed by microorganisms in the soil.

The advantage of the composition lies in its safety for the environment and human health. The unpleasant smell of the mixture also prevents it from being eaten by animals. The granules are resistant to precipitation and are highly effective. The drug is scattered between rows at a rate of 3-5 g per 1 square meter. m. One treatment per season is enough.

Insecticide "Fozalon"

Effectively destroys crustaceans in 48 hours due to high toxicity and long-term protective effect (15-30 days). It can work even at low temperatures (10-12 °C). The product does not cause burns on plant leaves.

"Fozalon" is suitable for processing citrus, industrial, fruit and grain crops. Vegetable plants can only be protected if they are grown for seeds. Berry bushes are sprayed before the flowering period or after the end of the harvest.

The drug "Fozalon" should not be combined with alkaline agents.

The working solution is prepared at the rate of 5 ml of 35% emulsion per 5 liters of water. The treatment is carried out in calm, cloudy weather. Plants are protected during their growing season, 1-2 times, in the morning or evening.

When spraying, you must use protective clothing, a respirator and gloves.

Feedback on solving the problem

Woodlice feed on rotting leaves and wood, creating humus. They are useful. Like earthworms, woodlice make burrows in the ground. This means the soil breathes. Woodlice can be a nuisance if there is no food other than decaying plant debris for them. So, you just need to feed them. This is mulch, grass clippings...

Faith

https://7dach.ru/streltzova/kak-borotsya-s-mokricami-na-dachnom-uchastke-58394.html

Treat with a contact preparation, such as Actellica. If you have a lot of woodlice, that means there are a lot of hiding places. Conduct an audit of everything that lies on your soil. Good luck.

Orestes

https://7dach.ru/streltzova/kak-borotsya-s-mokricami-na-dachnom-uchastke-58394.html

I collected under the boards, although it’s such a disgusting thing, brr

Southerner

https://forum.prihoz.ru/viewtopic.php?t=3510

Woodlice are very unpleasant creatures, which, if they spread en masse on a site, can destroy part of the crop. Therefore, it is necessary to fight them, although you should not immediately rush for powerful means.

Source of the article: https://dacha.help/zelen-i-travy/kak-izbavitsya-ot-mokric-na-uchastke

Expert advice

Which method of dealing with woodlice would you choose?

FolkChemical

The following preventive measures will help you avoid the appearance of woodlice in your garden plot:

Timely weeding of beds.
Renewing the soil in greenhouses and greenhouses, avoiding excessive watering, regular ventilation, removing plant debris and debris.
Minimizing soil fertilization with peat and tree bark.
Cleaning the area from rotten tops, fallen fruits and vegetables.
Removing rotting lumber from the area and uprooting old stumps.
Storage of household waste in containers with lids and their timely cleaning.
Adding manure to compost pits. It will increase the temperature of the rotting plant mass to a value unsuitable for woodlice.
Spring treatment of row spacing with “Metaldehyde”, protecting young shoots from being eaten.

It is necessary to keep the garden clean, promptly remove accumulated debris and weeds, and prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged. Preventing the appearance of pests is much easier than eliminating the consequences of infection.

When there is a need to get rid of woodlice

Woodlice are crustaceans, although their shell is not very hard. They are gray in color and usually no more than 1–2 centimeters in size. They are mainly nocturnal, feeding on both rotting plant fragments and fresh shoots. They live only in very moist places, and especially like to settle in compost heaps. During the day, like slugs, they prefer to hide under any horizontal shelters: stones, boards, slate, etc. If there are very few woodlice, you don’t have to sound the alarm, but you shouldn’t let them reproduce: you should choose a strategy and start the fight.

If more than a dozen woodlice gather in one place, soon there will be quite a lot of them

Mulching

Carry out after each weeding and loosening. For these purposes, everything is suitable except chickweed itself or other weeds with seeds.

Reducing soil acidity

By deoxidizing the soil to a neutral level, exhausting weeding is avoided. Chalk, dolomite flour or slaked lime are used. Funds are contributed before winter or early spring. However, not all cultivated plants like slightly acidic soil.

Chemicals

Used in cases when other techniques do not help.

Drugs

1. Roundat.

Suitable for annual chickweed. Dissolve 60 ml of the product in a bucket and treat the weeds. The procedure is carried out early in the morning or in the evening, since the daytime high temperature neutralizes the effects of the drug.

2. Hurricane Forte

. A 3-liter bottle contains 15–20 ml of herbicide. The grass is treated once in calm weather.

3. Tornado.

For 3 liters of liquid – 25 ml of product. The composition is prepared before use.

4. Chistopol

. For a 3-liter bottle - 15 ml of herbicide. The solution is used in dry, warm weather.

In addition to chemistry, folk remedies are used that will not harm garden crops and gardeners.

Beneficial features

Woodlice cannot be considered only a weed. In addition to harm to growing crops, chickweed has a lot of beneficial properties that allow the creeping shoots to be used for medicinal purposes.

Woodlice contains:

Vitamin C. It is involved in the synthesis of collagen, which is the basis of joint tissue and cartilage. Its presence in the body normalizes metabolic processes, improves the body's resistance to viruses, helps the work of leukocytes, and stimulates nervous processes in the cerebral cortex.
Vitamin E. An indispensable antioxidant component that activates the growth and development of the human body. Especially necessary for children and expectant mothers. Promotes the normal course of pregnancy, serves as a prophylactic for protection against ischemia and cancer. Very important for strengthening immunity, healthy skin and maintaining physical activity.
Vitamin K. Without this element, the formation of pulmonary and cardiac tissue is disrupted, and blood clotting is impaired.
Carotene. Participates in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, normalizes cerebral circulation. Performs an antioxidant function, participates in the removal of harmful substances and toxins from the body.

In addition to the listed components, woodlice is rich in micro- and macroelements, minerals, essential oils, wax, tannins, and flavonoids. Such an extensive list of useful substances makes it possible to use the weed for various disorders in the body.

Important! Only the shoots have medicinal properties.

Preparations made from woodlice stems are used for:

metabolic disorders;
diagnosed arthrosis;
weakened immune system;
cleansing procedures from waste and toxins;
prevention of ischemia, cancer problems;
disorders of cerebral circulation and blood pressure readings;
gynecological problems.

The weed is used in the form of infusions, decoctions, and compresses.

More information about the beneficial qualities of woodlice: