Last week, as I gathered carrots to make Italian wedding soup, I was excited to pull out an enormous carrot, only to discover it was split up the middle and filled with millipedes.

For the most part, millipedes are seen as beneficial insects—or rather arthropods, as my sons would correct me—in the garden. They’re known to primarily feed upon decaying matter, and typically don’t harm what’s actively growing. But from what I’ve seen, not only in my garden, but from the experience of fellow gardeners, millipedes certainly can make an impact on fruits and vegetables when there are too many of them.

Why Millipedes Attack

A friend of mine has had issues with millipedes in her strawberries for several seasons. She lost most of her extensive crop this season to these tiny, multi-legged critters.

Literature on the subject says millipedes will feed on overripe fruit, or will crawl into cracks of tomatoes or strawberries. But knowing my friend, her strawberries were not left to overrripen. She has the most picture perfect garden and is diligent about harvesting when things are ready. It just must be they are taking advantage of the soft fruit touching the ground, even if it’s a short time before it’s picked. But the end result is the millipedes ruined much of her fruit.

My carrots were probably vulnerable because they grew so large that they split. Like I said, I really thought the carrots were doing poorly this year. Especially since I pulled some in other areas that were small. I figured all of my carrots were growing at the same sluggish rate. I guess not. This particular patch grew carrots so large that they split open, which ultimately gave the millipedes an invitation to snuggle into the delicious cavitity. They really don’t have the mouthparts to burrow their way inside.

How to Prevent Millipedes

Most of the literature on millipede infestations says they’re typically worse during periods of drought. Well, that certainly fits the bill this year. But, unfortunately, the best way to reduce their numbers is the same way we handle earwigs. Place planks down in the garden where the millipedes will gather, making them an easy target to destroy. Or set small cans within the soil as traps. Both means can be time consuming, and aren’t incredibly effective if you have a lot of pests.

The other recommendation is to keep the garden clear of excessive debris since it provides cover, as well as an ample food source. That is my primary task this fall. I am revamping the gardens, and my first course of business is to clear out the weeds and other problem areas so I can start with a blank slate next year. It’s kind of the 5 year “I have to change everything” mood. Hopefully, this effort will do a lot to take care of those pesky millipedes, too!