This year I had a repeat of a problem with my strawberries – woodlice. I’d go to pick them, and find many with a little spherical hole near the top, each hole containing one or more tiny woodlice. It was as if I were running a woodlouse kindergarten! It must have affected about a third of my crop.
So I took to the interweb, to find out what I could do. The first thing I found out was that woodlice only eat decaying material – so they didn’t start the holes themselves. The most likely culprit is, inevitably, slugs. I don’t like using slug pellets, so I needed to find something else.
An allotment neighbour recommended Strulch, a mineralised straw mulch, which you can use under the strawberries instead of ordinary straw. He’s found it quite effective. You can find details here. Unfortunately, there don’t appear to be any local stockists, although you can get it online from Crocus, Harrod Horticultural and the Organic Gardening Catalogue, in 100l bags which cover 3 square meters. The manufacturers also sell it in bulk (in 150l bags, each covering 4.5 square meters) – in packs of either 25 or 50. This works out cheaper, but would need a Trading Hut size order to be worthwhile. I think I’ll be trying it next year.
A friend of mine in Yorkshire uses a product called Slug Gone as a mulch which also sounds good. This is composted wool pellets (I think Monty Don was singing its praises on Gardener’s World earlier in the year). This seems less suitable for strawberries, but might be good for lettuces and young plants. It comes in packs of 3.5, 5 and 10l, 10l being apparently enough for 60 young plants. Wyevale sell the 2 smaller packs online, so it may be available in store too. The Organic Gardening Catalogue sells the 10l pack, as does Dobie’s.
Has anyone else had this problem? How did you deal with it?