I have had two enquiries this week about controlling earwigs. “Why? They’re predators, they control the other bugs.” However, it appears that they are omnivores so while they will eat bugs they will also munch on garden plants in the right conditions.
My personal preference is to maintain a population of Earwigs to control other critters. There are times however when the Earwig population explodes so first remove their refuges; sheets of metal, timber or bark that provide a cool, moist environment during the day. Then if you need to “manage” the population try trapping, apparently the ideal bait for Earwigs is Tuna. I certainly don’t think chemical controls should be necessary. Anyway if you have any Earwig tips to share, please let me know.
I suggest an upside down pot filled with straw. They congregate in here - then can simply be relocated elsewhere in the garden (anywhere you don't have dalias!)
ReplyDeletethanks for the info. I had alot of my pansy heads lopped off, and found quite a few earwigs that got the blame. Now that I know that they are not entirely foe, I shall be a bit more tolerant of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Wendi. Thank you Dahlia loving Anonymous. I have a soft spot for Earwigs, not sure why. I'm pretty confident they do more good than harm.
ReplyDeletePeter . I was shocked to hear you praise Earwigs . The bastards are destroying my garden , Vegies and flowers . I kill about 10 to 20 a day and I am losing the battle . I am spraying and leaving pieces of water pipe laying aound and empty each morning . The only other problems are white butterflies and the occasional snail or slug .
ReplyDeleteOK so I copied this emailed reply into the blog comment but I just love Laurie's attitude. Perhaps I'm wrong about Earwigs... but I'd still prefer to have them than not.
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