woodlice infestation

I this brick planter built in my front drive early last year. Filled it with two thirds top soil and one third compost with plenty of drainage crocks in the bottom.



I put some plants in a few months ago and they've never done terribly well (to put it mildly) so I pulled them out to replace them. And found the whole planter was heaving with swarms of woodlice!

So my questions are:
1. are they a problem?
2. would they be why the plants have never thrived?
3. if so, what should I use to get rid of them?

Many thanks

 

woodlice eat dead decaying stuff and make beautiful compost,i feed them to my fish they love them :D

 

Certain ones have been a problem this year, had the same prob with them eating my basil.

I've been soaking the pots to get them out, but thats not practical with your planter Daisees.

Only thing I can think of is getting Huge Fernley Whittingstall round to cook them up with something.

 

Hi Daisees. No expert here, but I've never found woodlice (slaters in Scotland) to be a problem on their own. They live on dead and decaying stuff so if you don't want them get rid of the dead and dying off stuff. I've never known them to attack the fresh, green living stuff. They do finish off the jobs the slugs have started. Once the slugs have made a whole in the strawberries the woodlice will hollow the fruit out. But I've never known them to start the job by themselves.
To get rid of them - give them nowhere to hide and nothing to eat. Clean up the whole area and get rid of all the dead leaves etc.

 

Thanks all. Didn't think they were much of a problem, well not like weevils and slugs, anyway. Just never seen such a huge population in one place! It can dry out, Marley, as the actual internal container is only about 8" wide and spends almost all day in full sun.

 

Must admit, i've never seen so many in one place as this year. So Many ladybirds too down here on the coast, but none inland, not seen a single one in Hambridge.

Could be the exceptionally cold couple of winters followed by cool dry conditions has favoured some things.