Cabaryl (Sevin dust) has done nothing to deter them. What works?

I'm loosing close to 75% of my strawberries.

"losing"

Call Ann out at America's Country Store in Wellborn. She's a veritable fountain of garden knowledge. She probably knows what to try.

man millipedes are fairly big. you sure they are millipedes?

Diatomaceous earth?

Centipedes can get up to 12" in length, milipedes are much smaller, from 1/2" to 2" in length.

I'm assuming you've taken a basic ento course for your major so I'm gonna go ahead with the assumption that they are, in fact, millipedes. millipedes aren't plant eaters. they're after something else on or around your strawberries, especially if it's particularly damp. I would look for other insects (esp aphids) and let the top inch or so of the soil dry out a bit.

Orthene.

It kills everything but the plant itself.

I dont like it because it does just that, but if 7 doesnt do it, then you dont have a choice.

Have to agree with sassy, millipedes nor centipedes are major plant feeders. Centipedes feed on other inverts. and millipedes are mostly detritivores (dead plant material)

I am almost certain that these are milipedes. They have a pair of antenni and quite obviously a legged creature, dark brown/gray, coil up when harrassed, about 1/2" to 1" long. The damage to the berries is primarily boring/holes within the fruits. It hasnt been uncommon to see one or two juvenile milipedes (or whatever these are) inside the hole.

This pic is almost identical to the ones that I have on the strawberries.




[This message has been edited by AggiePam (edited 3/25/2009 1:21p).]

Some kind of leaf cutter was eating my spearmint. I picked through and found 3 green leaf eating worms(about 1.5 inches long).They usually invbade and destroy the Brocolli, but I guess the mint tastes better, as they have left the brocolli alone so far.oozed nasty green guts out when smashed!

quote:

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Millipedes are detritivores and slow moving. Most millipedes eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter, moisturising the food with secretions and then scraping it in with the jaws. However they can also be a minor garden pest, especially in greenhouses where they can cause severe damage to emergent seedlings. Signs of millipede damage include the stripping of the outer layers of a young plant stem and irregular damage to leaves and plant apices.

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Wiki

I've been trying to look up strawberry pests as I am 99.99% positive that they're not millipedes. A lot of the lepidopteran larvae will curl up when provoked bu don't have antennae, and this is what I'm almost positive it would have to be based on everything else you've described. Some millipedes will feed on leaves of plants in greenhouse conditions (read: very moist & humid) but not the fruit. Of course, I could be very wrong

If you could catch a picture of these dudes I might be of more assistance!

Sassy- I'll try to get pics of them tonight, which will probably be the ONLY time they aren't muching away.

OK, here's the culprit:




[This message has been edited by AggiePam (edited 3/28/2009 7:15p).]

Looks like millipedes to me.

Hmm

Just checking

Do you have clean straw/hay or something other than dirt around the strawberry plants?

If they are in direct contact with the ground and it's moist the strawberries can start rotting on the underside before they are fully ripe all the way through, that would in turn attract pests that would usually only feed on rotting plant matter.

What qreply said; I think the fruit is rotting before the millipedes get involved, and if the plant's getting eaten it's probably something else that's doing the munching.

You could try pyrethrin based pesticides as they tend to decay rapidly vs other common pesticides but I prefer to avoid pesticides on any produce that is in any stage of production.


One option that might work is to try to let the soil dry out some, move any standard type mulch away from the plants and fill in with a dry (weed free) hay or straw. Keep an eye on the leaves and only water when needed. Millipedes, pill bugs, centipedes all like moist areas, if the soil surface is fairly dry it may deter them some.

EDIT:
Just remembered - Harbor Freight has some handy hollow plastic spikes with holes that hold a standard soda bottle. You could use them to water into the root area of the plant leaving the surface failry dry. They were on sale last week for $1.99 for 6 (not sure if they are still on sale though)

[This message has been edited by qreply (edited 3/28/2009 8:45p).]

[This message has been edited by qreply (edited 3/28/2009 9:45p).]

that's... weird!

But I admire the size of your berries. Mine aren't very big.

Previous advice is good advice. Hay between the leaves/fruits and the soil is a good idea. I wouldn't shoot em with pesticide until that doesn't work, but I'm a pesticide-as-a-last-absolute-option kind of person

from: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/millipede00.pdf

quote:

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Millipedes have a high moisture requirement and are usually found in damp, dark places, such as under leaves, under stones or boards, in rotting wood, and in the soil. Millipedes are useful as scavengers, feeding on decaying organic matter and often develop high populations in mulches, manure, grass clippings, leaf litter, and soils high in humus.
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.

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As for what to do for them - I say nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure. Short of that, try to find a way to get your strawberries off the ground, and then treat the area with Orthene.

Heh! I have a bunch of last year's cypress mulch (the sun-bleached big chunks) underneath my strawberry plant... don't remember where I learned that from. I learned a bunch of stuff from my mom and great-grandma that I don't really remember.

I just put it in, though, after waffling for weeks on whether I wanted one or not. When I get some berries I'll let you know if it worked.

good find, rusty!

I learned cotton, corn, soybeans, pecan, sorghum, wheat, and a few others, but no one ever taught us anything about strawberries!