If you have pill bugs in your compost, you may be unhappy and keen to get rid of them, but you need to do so without damaging the overall health of your compost heap and the other organisms that are living in there.
You can get rid of pill bugs in the compost by raising the temperature of the heap, or by making it too wet for them to survive in.
Pill bugs prefer a dry environment and will relocate if the compost is too damp. Introducing predators to the garden may also help to reduce the number of pill bugs overall.
- How to raise the temperature of your compost heap
- How to change the moisture balance of the compost
- How to introduce common pill bug predators
- How to relocate pill bugs
- How to use compost with pill bugs in it
How Do I Get Rid Of Pill Bugs In My Compost Heap?
It’s important to note before we start that pill bugs are actually beneficial to a compost heap because they feed on decaying matter, so you may wish to leave them in the heap.
However, if you do want to remove them, there are a few options, which we’ll explore below.
Method One: Raise The Temperature Of The Compost Heap
Pill bugs do not like to be hot, so increasing the temperature of your compost heap is an effective way of making them leave.
They will relocate as soon as temperatures rise above around 120 degrees F, and seek a cooler environment instead.
You can increase the temperature of the heap in several ways. The best way is to regularly stir the compost, as this actives the microorganisms in it by introducing more oxygen.
The more active these microorganisms are, the more heat they will generate as they break down the food.
This will boost the overall temperature and make it uncomfortable for the pill bugs. It has the additional advantage of making your compost break down more quickly, meaning you can add it to your garden sooner.
Another way to increase the temperature is to add plenty of nitrogen-rich materials. Things like grass clippings are particularly good, as these again activate the microorganisms.
A heap full of decomposing grass clippings is likely to get pretty hot, and the pill bugs will move elsewhere when this happens.
If you don’t have access to grass clippings, use other greenery, such as weeds and green leaves; this should have much the same effect.
You do need to be careful not to add so much nitrogen that you make the compost heap soggy, however, or it will stop operating effectively.
Turning your compost heap should be done regularly in order to maintain the temperature.
Ideally, you should do this every week, even if your efforts don’t go much further than poking a stick in and wriggling it around a bit to increase the airflow.
Method Two: Make The Compost Heap Very Wet Or Dry
This is a method to be used with caution, but it can encourage pill bugs to move on.
Pill bugs prefer to be in a balanced environment, and although they will tolerate some fluctuations, they will not stay in a compost heap that is very wet or very dry.
It is important to be careful, however, because water can also upset the other balances in the compost heap.
Worms will drown or dry out, and too much water will drive out the oxygen, which the microorganisms require in order to keep operating. Equally, if there isn’t enough water, the microorganisms will die.
A little moisture or dryness is fine, and being too wet or too dry for a day or two will not be harmful, but if the heap stays wet or dry for too long, you will remove all the useful critters as well as the pill bugs.
Let’s look at how to make the heap wetter first, and then move on to drying it out.
How To Make The Compost Wetter
The best method for increasing the moisture levels is to turn the heap and water it as you go, until the compost is saturated.
Leave it for a few hours while the insects relocate themselves, and then add some browns (cardboard, eggshells, straw, sawdust) and stir them in thoroughly.
This should restore balance to the heap before too much damage is done.
How To Make The Compost Dryer
Many people find that drying the heap out is more effective and potentially less damaging. Pill bugs need moisture to survive.
Getting the heap dry is fairly easy to achieve if you have access to plenty of paper. You can simply shred the paper up, toss it on the heap, and mix it in.
Any paper will work for this, although some people are wary of putting ink into their compost. The paper will act like a sponge, pulling in the moisture, and soon your compost should be dry.
It is best to use this method if you have tried other options and they aren’t working, because it is possible to stop your compost heap from working when you do this, and you will have to re-establish it if this happens.
Method Three: Introduce Predators
Often, the most effective methods of pest control include increasing the number of predators that eat that particular insect.
Adding things like frogs and toads to your garden could significantly reduce the number of pill bugs you find, because something will be actively feeding on them.
If you are going to do this, you need to ensure that you are also adding hiding spots for the predators near to your compost heap so that they can hunt there easily.
Build little hollows among stones, prop up old wood, and provide some low cover like bushes or shrubs.
Make your garden nature-friendly, and consider whether you could add a small pond to encourage things like frogs.
Birds will also eat pill bugs, so welcome these to your garden too. Lizards can be another useful predator, and will hide under rocks and in sunnier spots very happily.
The more natural predators you can encourage, the less likely you are to see large numbers of pill bugs, although you may still see some.
Method Four: Relocate Them
If you are really dedicated, you can relocate pill bugs from your compost, but this is a slow method and may prove ineffective.
If you wish to do this, it’s a good idea to provide a particularly suitable spot to try and lure them into a concentrated area.
Adding things like bricks near your compost pile and then watering it may encourage the pill bugs to relocate to the brick, because it will offer a suitable environment.
Similarly, decaying wood may lure them in, as it is a favorite food. Dead leaves will have a similar effect.
You can then pick up or scoop out the “trap” you have set, and hopefully you will be able to collect a large amount of the pill bugs with it.
Relocate them to another part of your garden and leave them with their “trap” and they will probably continue existing there, rather than returning to your compost bin.
You may need to do this multiple times in order to be effective, but it should eventually reduce the number of pill bugs in your compost.
However, be aware that they may reappear if the conditions are favorable and you have a lot of these insects in the garden.
This method may work best when combined with other approaches, such as making the compost too damp for them or introducing predators that will keep their numbers down.
Method Five: Spread The Compost Out
If you are ready to use the compost but it is full of pill bugs, you might be justifiably wary, because pill bugs look like the sort of bug that would tuck into your tender new plants and kill them.
However, fortunately, pill bugs almost exclusively feed on decaying matter, so they won’t harm healthy plants at all.
They do occasionally eat live plants, but this is pretty unusual and is not usually something to be concerned about.
If you don’t want to put them near the plants anyway, the best option is to spread the compost that you wish to use out on a tarpaulin or piece of plastic.
This works best in warm weather, but should work at any time.
The pill bugs will feel exposed to predators and will quickly leave the compost, seeking shelter elsewhere.
They will also be picked off by birds or other predators, which should leave your compost pile free from insects.
Worms will also come out of the compost to try and seek a wetter environment, so be prepared to gather these up and return them to the compost pile.
Once the critters have all left, you can gather your compost back up by rolling the plastic and then using it as intended to fertilize your plants.
Conclusion
Pill bugs are generally not considered an issue in the compost bin, but if you are finding high numbers of these critters, you have plenty of choices for removing them.
Decide which is easiest for you, or use a combination of methods for the most effective approach.
Alright, that’s it for this article, here are a few hand-selected articles that you might also find interesting reads:
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How To Get Rid Of CockRoaches FOREVER – YES SERIOUSLY!!
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