Topic: Woodlice & Centipedes

[tuinman]

I've noticed over the last couple of months that i have quite a lot of woodlice and centipedes living in my greenhouse, is this going to be a problem you think? and if so what should i do about them? Cheers

[Barnowl]

I understood they are harmless, but we've got woodlice everywhere so I'm also interested in the answer to this onel.

Found loads in the celeriac but not sure whether they dug the holes in them or just moved in after something else had done the boring.

[triffid]

Centipedes. These are absolutely good guys -- they're carnivores: fave meals include slugs and slug eggs.  ;D  Millipedes, on the other hand, are vegetarian. ID to tell 'em apart: centipedes run faster than millipedes and have only one pair of legs per body segment.

Woodlice. Normally they're detrivores, eating dead plant matter and soft, rotting wood, so in the garden or on the allotment they're pretty harmless. But they can munch through seedlings, so if you have a greenhouse containing both big colonies of woodlice and lots of vulnerable plantlets, you may not be able to afford a 'live-and-let-live' approach. 

[Barnowl]

Thanks for the info :)

[triffid]

Barnowl, I think you may be right about your celeriac tenants. Last summer I found woodlice last year happily cuddled up in a few hollowed out green toms that were hanging too close to the ground. But I know that it was slugs that did the hollowing  >:( -- the woodlice just crept in out of the sweltering heat.
Since this was in the open, there wasn't a lot I could have done except what I did: tie the rest of the toms out of harm's way and chuck the woodlice and their tomato-shelters on to the compost heap.  ::)  :)