Sow bugs and bean seedlings

Last year I had the worst infestation of sow bugs in my vegetable gardens. I’m not exaggerating if I say there were multiple hundreds per bed and of course they thought that my bean seedlings were much more tasty than the bountiful wood fibre in the soil. I had started the beans in pots and allowed them to grow their second set of leaves but alas I ended up replanting multiple times. Before I completely give up and rely on Seifert’s I had an idea that I would like to ask your opinions on. How about I put a gob of Vaseline around the base of the seedlings (above and below the soil surface). I thought maybe a mouthful of this disgusting gel would be enough to protect the seedlings until they had the growth time to harden up.
Thanks for any thoughts on this

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I had the same thing happen when I planted strawberries. They even got the ones that I put in hanging baskets out of desperation . I got the everlasting ones and they did continue to produce profusely, but it didn’t do any good -they got into almost every single berry. I don’t think we got to eat more than about a dozen berries the whole summer . F anyone knows what works, for d love to hear it
Thank you

I had lots of sow bugs too. They were in my raised beds and hid themselves just on the edge between the landscape fabric and the wood. It was kinda gross as, like you both said, there were lots! I used DE - diatomaceous earth on them (food grade). They hate the stuff. I would sprinkle it around the plants and for sure in the place they were hiding. It controlled them.

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Where do you purchase this? Anything is worth a try at this point.

Any garden centre. Canadian Tire had a large bucket of food grade DE as well. Just make sure it is food grade. I put it in a used spice jar and then shake it on my plants. You do have to re-apply after rain or dew.

Of course the good bugs will suffer as well, with diatomaceous earth (DE). Here is what DE is:

Diatomaceous earth ( /ˌdaɪ.ətəˌmeɪʃəs ˈɜːrθ/, DE), diatomite or kieselgur/kieselguhr is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that has been crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 3 μm to more than 1 mm, but typically 10 to 200 μm. Depending on the granularity, this powder can have an abrasive feel, similar to pumice powder, and has a low density as a result of its high porosity. The typical chemical composition of oven-dried diatomaceous earth is 80–90% silica, with 2–4% alumina (attributed mostly to clay minerals) and 0.5–2% iron oxide.[1]

Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled protist. It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive in products including metal polishes and toothpaste, mechanical insecticide, absorbent for liquids, matting agent for coatings, reinforcing filler in plastics and rubber, anti-block in plastic films, porous support for chemical catalysts, cat litter, activator in blood clotting studies, a stabilizing component of dynamite, a thermal insulator, and a soil for potted plants and trees like bonsai.[2][3]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth)

So there is a trade off to using it. And it is likely more of a deterrent than a solution, particularly if you need to replace it after dew or rain.

Please let us know how it works for you, as I have tried it in the past with little effect. Though we may just have too many bugs!

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