What is this bug?

[ehanes7612]

I have millipedes in all my pots .. When I repotted ( hundreds of plants) last year all the roots were fine .. If your pots get to the point where sludge from millipede breakdown is causing problems then you have waited too long to repot and if you think you can get rid of them using anything your are wrong .. They always come back .. Wheter it's diatomaceous earth or insecticide

 

[lepetitmartien]

If you have millipedes, your substrate is breaking down first. So the issue is your bark, not the millipedes that are doing their stuff.

And if you have centipedes, you have insects/snails/slugs to feed them.

The real issue is not the arthropods, but the general state of your pots insides. And killing them won't change a thing to this.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I agree.....millipedes are only a problem, if that, when media already breaks down. I'd gladly trade millipedes for mealies any day! I have never seen damage to a healthy plant in healthy medium. They prefer rotting stuff...so if your medium is rotting, they will love it. They will explore, though...so as I said, try a physan/RD-20 drench...that is unpleasant enough to chase most of them out of the mix.

 

[cnycharles]

I had some introduced when I tried using live woods moss taken from old logs; I ended up with some disease and these critters going all over the place. I thought that they had chewed some, but it could have been something else. (maybe I just assumed that they were because they were all over the place)

 

[gonewild]

I thought that they had chewed some, but it could have been something else. (maybe I just assumed that they were because they were all over the place)

They chewed.
They chew.
They will chew again.

They normally do not chew healthy plant tissue but when environmental conditions get to a certain point they will chew roots. If you have a high population and this condition occurs then you will realize they will damage plants.
I think they need a certain amount of moisture in the organic matter they eat and when potting media becomes dryer than root tissue the go after the roots. I have seen them climb a Phal flower stalk and nibble small buds... I have seen it at night in person so no doubt what made the damage...Their little mouth nibbling away on a bud. They are sneaky.

 

[gonewild]

If you Google the subject you will see that almost everywhere they mention that they do damage plants. Here is one publication with the following statement...

"Millipedes will also feed on overripe fruit in contact with the soil such as strawberries, tomatoes, or melons that have developed cracks. A few will attack small roots and seedlings of bean, corn, or peas and may seriously damage tender growth on greenhouse and garden plants. They may crawl into cabbage heads, tunnel into potato tubers, beets, parsnips, or turnips. A few species of millipedes are carnivorous, eating insects, and thus should be
considered beneficial."

 

[ehanes7612]

(there are ten thousand species of millipedes)..... when they are water stressed i would imagine they would go after sources that would take more energy for them to extract..but it wouldnt be beneficial for them to do this on a regular basis...and if you are drying out your plants(slippers) to the point where they need to eat your roots or shoots, then perhaps that's a good indication you need to water more ..bugs tell us a lot about how we interact with our environment..it's a relationship that needs to be fostered not changed with brute force methods

 

[gonewild]

and if you are drying out your plants(slippers) to the point where they need to eat your roots or shoots, then perhaps that's a good indication you need to water more

Or that the milipede population in your pots exceeds the normal food supply they need.

..it's a relationship that needs to be fostered not changed with brute force methods

I use brute force and smash everyone I see. :viking:

 

[ehanes7612]

Or that the milipede population in your pots exceeds the normal food supply they need.

true, and probably an indication of needing a repot

I use brute force and smash everyone I see. :viking:

well, we all have our talents

 

[gonewild]

true, and probably an indication of needing a repot

Yes, and without the dense population of milipedes the media would have lasted longer before needing a repot.

 

[Rick]

I'm not thrilled about them either Lance. I crushem when I seeum too.

I hate slugs/snails worse though. I occasionally get these very large wood roaches too that I'm sure will put a big munch on a bud. But these guys are very fast and hard to get a good smack on them that actually disables them.

Fortunately they don't multiply nearly as fast as your basic indoor roaches, and seem to live in pairs. So I can usually take one out before it has much of a chance to breed, and take out its mate not too long after.

 

[NYEric]