EARWIGS!!!!

florenceq on 3/5/2011, 7:30 pm

I have a complete infestation! They've eaten the tops off all my beets and radishes and tuned the Swiss Chard into Swiss Cheese Sad

. I tried everything; DE, Cayanne pepper, Br. Bronners soap, beer trap and they just keep coming. My husband thinks I am a nut because I have been going out every night with a flashlight to remove them by hand from my little baby plants. Today I vistied the garden center and bought Slupgo Plus. Wish me luck.

camprn on 3/5/2011, 7:39 pm

In this article
there is a description of how to make an earwig trap.There is also a caution that any insecticide that will eliminate the earwig will also eliminate beneficial insects.

**donnainzone10** on 3/6/2011, 1:08 pm

I've used Sluggo Plus for the last couple of years, and haven't seen an earwig.

model a man on 3/12/2011, 6:16 pm

do earwigs eat plants? I started out last night looking for what ever is eating my plants. found one earwig and one cutworm

Megan on 3/12/2011, 6:23 pm

model a man wrote:do earwigs eat plants? I started out last night looking for what ever is eating my plants. found one earwig and one cutworm

Yes, they do. I hate earwigs!!! You can make a trap for them out of rolled up damp newspaper left out overnight, dispose in the morning. Others may have better advice. (I have a childhood hatred of earwigs.)

camprn on 3/12/2011, 6:26 pm

Yup earwigs eat plants. There is an info link in This thread.

model a man on 3/13/2011, 1:21 pm

Last night I did the damp paper rolled up as a trap and did not catch anything. Maybe I am lucky and dont have any more earwigs. but something is eating my plants so today I was at OSH and saw some benificial nematodes, the box stated that it will preaty much kill all the bad bugs i am worried about. the box states it is enough for up to 2000 square feet and the nematodes will last up to 2 years. if you order them on line it is $39.00 but at OSH it was $21.99 so I bought some and will add them to the boxes tonight as you cant do it in the day time as the sunlight will kill them.(thats what the box said) I know this wont be a magic pill but one can hope. their web site is www.organiccontrol.com

model a man on 3/13/2011, 8:27 pm

Ok I just got done applying the beneficial nematodes. i have no idea how long it takes before it starts working or if I will even be able to tell. keeping my fingers crossed that I will see a decrease in leafs getting eaten. I even planted some marigolds because I had heard that they can keep bugs away but something has been eating them already Shocked

model a man on 3/14/2011, 8:40 am

this morning I check my SFG beds and something is still eating my plants. the marigolds are almost completly gone. something has eaten all the leaves and just left stems and dying flowers. I have lost most of the bok choy and also my sunflowers are showing signs or leaves being eaten. and even my onions are dying. not having good results for a first time gardner. Sad

Furbalsmom on 3/14/2011, 11:03 am

Model A Man
Could you post a picture of the damage? Perhaps someone will be able to determine the pest or disease that is affecting your poor little garden.

The worst damage I had on marigolds last year came from slugs

model a man on 3/14/2011, 11:20 am

Here are some pictures of the damage the first one is Bok Choy the 2nd pic is marigolds. 3rd is sunflower, 4th is onion the the tops got eaten off. I also had some onions the turned yellow and died and when I pulled I found a worm inside I am guessing a root magot. and I dug around and found 2 more around the onions.

Squat_Johnson on 3/14/2011, 1:24 pm

Hard to tell exactly what you have there, but the tops of the onions look like a larger animal (I have rabbits here) was munching. Especially if that happened overnight... I put up a quick fence last year at this time with a plastic mesh net, 4 metal posts and some 8" zip ties.

Furbalsmom on 3/14/2011, 1:51 pm

I agree with Squat the onions look like they were chomped off at the top, not nibbled like earwigs or slugs.

That marigold looks like slugs got to it. Does it have dried up slime on it?

Here is a link to photos of damage from a couple of types of pests.

Slug Damage Photos

Total Gardening dot com says: Sometimes earwigs are blamed for slug damage because the slug takes a chunk/bite and then the earwigs congregate to get the sweet sap or to hide in the hole the slug ate. The slug meanwhile has moved on. One way to determine if a slug or earwig is causing the damage is to look for the trail of slime that slugs leave behind. There is little point in controlling earwigs if slugs are doing the damage …

UCDAVIS Earwigs

camprn on 3/14/2011, 2:19 pm

Looks like slug damage to me as well. Actually it looks like a variety of pest damage. To trap slugs we used to put boards down in the row garden, leaving a bit of space
under them. When daylight is approaching the slugs hightail it for
cooler shaded moist areas. They think that under the board is a perfect
area. Just turn the board over in the morning and collect the slugs.
Same principal applies to the inverted 1/2 grapefruit.
see this link for natural slug control.

AndreaHall on 3/14/2011, 2:26 pm

Model A Man... your sunflower looks a lot like mine, and I found a bright green grasshopper munching happily away on mine. He was about 1.5", all one color... beautiful, but totally unwelcome in my garden! I know we live in the same area, and I've seen several of these guys around.

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