Rolly-polly bugs in my compost bin

I was scooping out soil from my compost bin into my veggie beds and I noticed about a million rolly-polly (sp?) bugs. These are also known as pill bugs, sow bugs, and whatever their scientific name is. I have always thought that these do damage to seeds and seedlings. Are they supposed to be in the composted soil? Thanks,
Tanya

Sure they 'can' be there, they can be anywhere. Do you want them there? Probably not. Yes they do eat new and tender plants. They can be eradicated with some snail baits (some sprays as well). You need to read the label to be sure they control 'sow bugs', is how it is most often listed. If you have lots of sow bugs in your composte it is not getting hot enough to do a good job. The heat from the compost should kill them. IF they are 'only in the compost' it may not be a worry, but if you have young tender plants nearby I would be concerned they don't migrate to those.

Thank you for that information. I have been on vacation and let my compost sit without any attention for a while. I think it cooled off quite a bit. I will get it started again and cook the little guys!

I don't think cooking them with compost will help? These little guys natural job in nature is to recycle decaying, dead plant materials. They actually are a part of composting that turns your rotting mess of plants and such, into the actual compost that you desire to use.

I think if they are only affecting your compost pile then that's a good thing. They really don't attack plants all that much especially mature ones. Their primary job is to eat dead plant materials... Unless of course the seedlings are quite young. They have been known to go after those young tender seedlings if you have oodles of rolly poly's.
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If that's the problem, then perhaps it is better to wait until the seedlings mature a bit before transplanting them into the new desired place to be.

How I deal with them is to stir the compost that I desire to use. Usually I leave it in place, or next to the bin. I then go off to some other gardening chore. I usually have several that I am working on at any given time in the garden... I then return to the compost say anywhere from 10 minutes to 1/2 an hour later.. Depends on whatever other gardening chore I decide to tackle in the meantime, and give those little booger's a chance to scatter. By the time I'm ready to use the compost they usually have left the scene of the crime.

They are pretty much like any other critter they just need a wake up call that says it's time to vacate this particular pile of stuff I want to use. ...
Hope this tip helps...
Happy Gardening,

bgrow_gardens

Thank you for the tip. That is probably better than pesticides anyway!