The earwigs are really going to town in my garden already this year. I just came in from a session of knocking them into a bucket of soapy water, and they are incredibly numerous already. Are there any other techniques I should be trying in conjunction with the soapy water demise? Is diatomaceous earth effective against these guys? Any effective organic pesticides?
Thanks
Best thing for these things is good old chemical sprays and Rotenone dust. Apply around and on everything close to your garden. Now the little things do like to hid up in things during daylight which is why I place stacks of clay pots and pieces of plastic pipe around and every couple of days I shake them out into a bucket and spray them.
Check this article:
My mom swears by corrugated cardboard, so I'm going to try it out this year. You cover one end of the cardboard so they can go in but don't have an exit. Apparently they can't back out and don't have room to turn around in there.
Leslie
Trap earwigs by filling a flowerpot with crumpled paper. Invert it i the garden propped up with a stick. Earwigs will crawl into the pape during the day to hide, at which point they can be destroyed
- ev
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Thanks to everyone for their input. I do appreciate it.
Last year I tried several different trapping techniques, from the corregated cardboard to the section of tubing to the oil-filled tuna cans. I think the earwigs have been reading this newsgroup, cuz they knew better than to fall for any of those tricks. I may have snagged one or two at most. So far, nocturnal trips around the garden knocking the pesky pests into a pail of soapy water has been the only technique that's worked for this exasperated gardener. But perhaps trapping is worth another shot.
Thanks. :)
-F
snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net (Fleemo) wrote in news:79a519dd.0405040947.270b90b4 @posting.google.com:
Do you have a moisture problem or something? One year I had a lot of damp depressions (not enough to be standing water, just perpetually wet) around the house. Around that time, the earwigs were partying like it was 1999 (and it was 2000-something). Anywhere you'd find an undisturbed crevice, disturb it, and out would pop several earwigs. Anywhere, you name it, under stuff on the lawn, in the corners of a couple of metal sawhorses, at the top of a 10' portable basketball post (no kidding). I once took a snooze on the patio, woke up, shoke my head and about 20 earwigs came flying out. (okay, I am kidding about that.) Anyway I filled the depressions with some topsoil from a store (I suppose this is where 0% organic matter topsoil is useful) and must have had at least a 95% reduction in the earwig population. I still see them occasionally, but they are no longer everywhere.
Salty Thumb expounded:
Aurgh! Shades of Night Gallery!
snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net (Fleemo) wrote in news:79a519dd.0405080942.64345c33 @posting.google.com:
If your plants can handle it, I would try letting the ground dry out before watering again. The only other thing I can think of it try removing anything they might be using for shelter.
See here:
CONTROL: ... The effectiveness of chemical treatment may be enhanced by removing debris sheltering earwigs.
and for Night Gallery fans (?) INTERESTING FACTS: ... The name earwig is from a European that these insects entered the ears of a sleeping person and bored into the brain. This belief is totally
and for Night
If you had had a sprayer of soapy water with you, you could have fought back very effectively. Earwigs are *extremely* vulnerable to soapy water. You just need to score a direct hit.
Spray them while they are feeding at night. Then spray their hiding places during the day. (Bark crevices, cracks where boards meet, wood piles, wood chips -- the places they explode out of when disturbed during the day.)
There is a certain satisfaction watching the earwigs die...
Really, spraying them with a soap solution will kill them? Seems too good to be true, but worth a shot nonetheless. :)
So what, a couple spritzes of dish soap in a spray bottle, shake it up and spray?
Yup, kills them dead, dead, DEAD -- as long as you score a direct hit.
It should be real soap rather than a detergent. It would be safest to use a commercial brand of insecticidal soap. Safest for your plants -- soap can be phytotoxic -- and is, perhaps, best rinsed off an hour or so after having been sprayed. (By then the insects will be dead.)
I've had excellent results with Murphy's Oil Soap. I think the proper mix is about 5 tablespoons per gallon of water. (Please note: soap is far less effective if your water is very hard.)
Ah, Pat, I could smooch ya! I took your advice and went out and bought me some commercial insecticidal soap. I came home and went on the prowl for earwigs. Amazing how few there seem to be during the day! But I found some and tested the spray on 'em. Sure enough, a spritz or two on the buggers and within a few moments they were dead as door nails. (What's a door nail anyway?) Tonight, I'll hit the garden armed with a bottle of earwig death! Die you devils, die!
Thanks so much for your excellent advice.
-Fleemo
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