« Unified Messaging from SBC | Main | Barack Obama - Knox Commencement Speech »
May 30, 2005
Controlling Earwigs
First the spring rains brought the snails, which ultimately we were able to control with deadline. Then next came the earwigs, otherwise known as "pincer-bugs". They were munching their way through our Swiss chard, flat-leaf parsley, and even the beet greens. They annually eat up our gardenias. The dilemma is that Earwigs are both beneficial and non-beneficial insects in the garden. They eat bugs as well as some garden vegetables. I've read they will help control scale on apple trees, but they are definitely not welcome around my chard and parsley!
An easy and mostly effective way to control them is to take empty tuna cans and fill them 1/2 inch up with vegetable oil. Place a dollop of bacon fat in the oil. Place the cans around the garden near the plants where the earwigs are doing the most harm. The earwigs will be attracted to the oil and crawl in, and drown in the oil. Empty and replace the oil and fat when the can fills up a bit. This method won't kill all the earwigs, but will keep them in check.
Note that if you have neighborhood cats that occasionally roam by, you will want to run the empty tuna cans through the dishwasher first, to rid them of the cat-attracting tuna smell. When I started with the cans this season I was often surprised to find them licked clean of their oil the next morning (I'm sure some of those dead pincer bugs got gobbled up too, yech!)
Posted by elise on May 30, 2005 to Gardening
| Comments (13)
Comments
i'm an earwig and you're a murderous criminal. shame on you. i pray for you.
Posted by: dingleberry at June 15, 2005 5:38 AM
ah yes, you must be an enlightened earwig. may i suggest that if you smell bacon fat in a sea of olive oil that you restrain any impulses of greed and run the other way? and while you're at it, please stay out of my garden; you've been eating my lunch.
thank you for your prayers.
:-)
Posted by: elise 
at June 20, 2005 9:40 PM
Hi there, I have these little guys visiting me nside my house...what do they find so attractive in my old house? Will the oil cans work in the house as well?
Posted by: liz at July 1, 2005 8:38 PM
Hi Liz,
I think the oil cans would just attract more earwigs to the inside of your house. What they like to eat is outside - plants, flowers, other bugs. But apparently they can eat just about anything and can survive quite well indoors where it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I have read that they do not nest indoors, so that's helpful. Like preventing ants, you need to seal up any cracks that may lead indoors. We get a few of them in the house as well. They get thrown in the toilet. Drowning is quite effective for killing them, especially once flushed.
They will hide out in newspapers. So if you get a newspaper delivered in the morning. Shake it out first, before bringing it indoors. Earwigs love to hide between the pages.
Posted by: elise at July 4, 2005 12:18 AM
I keep finding these things in my house mostly near cool or wet items. I now just found a couple in my shower. How do you get rid of them in the house??????
Posted by: Brenda at July 25, 2005 7:17 PM
http://www.whitneyfarms.com/guide/faqs/faq_pest.shtml
has some good tips for organic pest removal
and the copper tape found here
http://www.naturalcollection.com/natcol/group.asp?bID=2479363&midGroupid=20&group=40
is good for slugs
Posted by: jonathan spencer at August 17, 2005 12:59 AM
I heard from the Ag dept. that a goose will eat all the snails & slugs in the yard. If I did not live in the city limits, that would be my choice.
Posted by: Cindy at November 2, 2005 12:21 PM
Apparently chickens love snails too.
Posted by: elise at November 2, 2005 5:07 PM
I've been at war with earwigs for years now. They've already chewed up my radishes, Marigolds and even pumpkin plants!
I looked up some home remedies for controlling the insects and found that washing machine soap mixed with water seems to work, but it's most effective when you go to your garden at night and pour it directly on the pests while they're feeding. I applied the solution to my radish plants early last night (yes, some plants survived), then went back out after about four hours and didn't find one earwig on them. The soap mix doesn't harm plants, but I recommend washing it off when you water the next day nevertheless.
Before this, I tried Insecticidal Soap and it wasn't nearly as effective (I used up the bottle in about one week!). Washing machine soap is cheaper and it appears to do the trick. Just mix about half a cup to every gallon of water.
Posted by: NevadaBrian at June 30, 2006 4:58 AM
I have earwigs in the house. I find them in laundry baskets, crawling across the counter in the middle of the night and in the basement. I don't want to use a commercial pesticide in the house because of the kids, what can i do to get rid of them?
Posted by: patsydenis at August 8, 2006 6:03 AM
I live in Atlantic Canada. Earwigs are a total nuisance in the flower beds, I see them eating marigold and now my sunflowers. I have not seen any benefit to having these pests in my flowers.
Posted by: john at September 2, 2006 6:53 PM
i just read that boracic acid is a natural pesticide which is not harmful on humans nor pets
Posted by: Eline at July 19, 2007 8:58 PM
Boric Acid can be harmful or fatal to humans and pets. You need to find something else if you have children or pets.
Posted by: Nancy Miller at August 14, 2007 12:44 AM
