If you're throwing an old hose away, cut off some pieces first. Cut into short pieces and put them in the garden. The earwigs crawl inside and the next day just drop the piece of hose into a bucket of soapy water. It's the same principle as the cardboard and paper rolls but they're easier to handle, reusable and store nicely in my shed.
I've been having the WORST earwig infestation this year, I can just pick up a random rock and have a 50/50 chance that there are a bunch of earwigs under there. Anytime I put my seed starts out into my garden, they get eaten within a day or two if I'm not protecting them. So far I've had to restart all my seedlings three times this year because they keep eating everything. I'm slowly getting them in control and what works for me is the oil traps (you can just use vegetable oil and not olive oil since its like 10x more expensive), double sides tape around the base of plants and trees (this also works for ants trying to get inside your sweet peaches and figs), and finally I found that they're really attracted to cheap hot dogs for some reason so I just put the liquid that comes in the package inside the oil container and it will be filled with earwigs every day.
Same here, major infestation, thousands. I tried the oil traps, but some 4 legged creature, perhaps a raccoon, comes at night and slurps the oil containers empty! I also used neem oil and soap sprays with little success. I resorted to granular pesticides and now I really have to search hard to see one.
@@aaronb5161 Southern California. Seeing a lot less after treatment with Talstar granules (Sevin granules near fruit trees), but it took a few weeks to see results (I had started treatment a lot before my comment). Now I see a few hiding underneath pots instead of hoards everywhere. I also used a liquid pesticide in areas where they transit. Next treatment I will add a growth regulator that does not allow them to grow and reproduce. Took out the big guns, but I had too much damage to my ornamentals and fruit trees. They all look like lace, and no, it was not caterpillars. I saw the earwigs chomping on them at night.
I didn’t even know they were called earwigs until I met my Husband, and I thought he made it up🤦♀️. I just thought they were called pincher bugs… in my defense I met my Husband when I was 17(not sure if that helps my defense or not).
I love the moments when you can laugh at yourself in the videos. It makes you seem like it is more of a conversation with a friend than a lecture. And in case you were really wondering, the wiggly things in cardboard are called flutes but... wiggly thing probably gets the point across better with non cardboard producers than using the correct term.
@@NextLevelGardening I only know it because I buy cardboard boxes for a living and have to know the specs to make sure they will work for what we are using them for.
Awesome, and very timely for me. I've been battling earwigs as long as I've been gardening. Did NOT know that they also eat aphids, and the vaseline trick was new to me, as well as the cardboard trap. Gonna try that one. Yes -please do a series on pests and diseases!
Thanks for sharing the photo of Earwig damage as that’s exactly what was attacking my first true leaves on my Okra starts! I lost nine plants. And yes, the damage was only happening at night. Thanks!!!
Hi Brian. I recently discovered the YT channel " Suburban Homestead". He is a little quirky and has recently changed his channel a bit but I like it. But when I went back thru his archives, I saw a amazing public conversation between the 2 of you that was so supportive of him. Wow that was really kind of you.
Thanks for doing this series on garden pests. Earwigs have annihilated most of my garden starts this year. I have been using the oil/soy sauce and every night am catching about 50. However, the thing that has worked the best is Sluggo Plus. I had tried Neem and DM to no avail. The DM is gone with the next watering and the other organic sprays are only good if you spray directly on the insect. Sluggo Plus is the one thing that has been most effective. The earwig population is not completely gone, but diminished enough that I can keep using the oil traps. I already removed all cardboard from around my house as well as mulch until I get this under control. Never had such an issue as this and don't know why this year is so bad.
Are you located in California? I ask because I’ve lived in California for 50 years and never had any real issues with earwigs until the last 3 years which I’m assuming is the unusual excessive rainfall we have had. Despite most googling gardening sites with useless information about how earwigs aren’t a problem and don’t eat healthy plants, clearly they never met my Ca earwigs! Man, these bugs destroy everything and fast! For being a small bug, they literally took out an entire row of Swiss chard in less than a week. Even more frustrating is their love of potato plant leaves. Once they decimate 50-75% of the foliage, the potatoes underneath are doomed and months of waiting is gone in a short time. I’ve brought the population down considerably, but even a dozen or so of earwigs can literally kill an entire potato plant in a few days. I refuse to use harmful chemicals otherwise I’d just buy my veggies at the store 😉 I’m at my wits ends and may give up gardening. To put so much time and money into this and have an ugly little bug destroy it all 3 years in a row…this may be my last straw
Baited the earwigs with olive oil an soy sauce and before I went to bed I caught about 15 in each bowl. They have been eating my poppy blooms, lupin leaves and clematis leaves. We just bought this house and there are tons of earwigs here…not for long 🤣. Thank you !! I am now subscribed.
Arborists/professional farmers here use hollow bamboo sticks relocate them from soft bodied fruits to harder fruits (put them up before night and relocate them after sunrise, when they hide in the sticks). They can't nib on the hard fruit and will instead start to attack aphids.
Ear wigs are a problem here, when I had chickens I would put pinecones out in the problem ares and the ear wigs would hide in them ,I just toss them full of ear wigs in with the chickens ,when they were done scattered pine cones around again and repeat. Little bit of work but really cut down on ear wigs damage.
these videos have been nice because Aphids and Earwigs are the 2 major pests I see in my garden every year. Unfortunately I cant use my chickens to control earwigs because the chickens would rather eat the plants but letting them free range and clean the garden after harvest has helped control the population. I might get some portable fencing to allow them to clean the beds in between plantings.
You can also use beer traps..just like the olive oil and soy sauce..place the container just as Brian suggested the yeast attracts them and they drown in the beer...thanks for the other ideas the more knowledge you have the better for your garden.😊
Thanks so much for this! I was having an apocalyptic earwig infestation this year! Those little bastards were ruining my flowers and herbs. The Buried Oil container! Wow! I just used vegetable oil - nothing fancy, in a shallow, oblong plastic container. It took a couple of days for them to find it, then it just started filling up with their ugly little carcasses! My garden is completely rid of them. My zinnias, basil, parsley etc are all looking beautiful. I also noticed they were infesting my container plants by going up through the drain holes. I repotted every plant with fine window screen mesh over the drain holes, and a layer of small rocks holding that in place. Bingo! Problem solved. Zero damage in my potted plants.
Awe man, that’s so incredibly frustrating! I’m actually at the point right now where I’m about to rip my Swiss chard, Brussel sprouts and potatoes out just because if I can’t enjoy my labor/vegetables, neither can they! I’m so over seeing my garden every single morning being wiped out more and more and it’s only been less 7-9 days of battling them. It’s like they emailed all their friends and gave them my address!
For anyone interested- I found a solution! Mix 1 liter water and add 3 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cooking oil 1 tsp dish soap Add to a spray bottle. Spray onto your plants. It cut the bugs way back and no harm to humans or environment.
Every year from mid-April to mid-May, my garden suffers what I call the Earwig Apocalypse -- literally tens of thousands of earwigs take over my yard. I can't plant out any seedlings or they will get eaten to the ground overnight. I've seen them decimate a very large pumpkin plant overnight. It's absolutely insane; I've never lived anywhere with so many earwigs!
FANTASTIC INFO!!! I will use everything you said. I've got earwigs up to my ear lobes. They have been eating the crap out of my sunflowers. The "wig" is up. Thanks sooooo much!!!
I would suggest that if you don't have a bunch of little bowls laying around, you could cut down some red solo cups to about 1.5 - 2" left and use that for the oil trick. Cheaper and disposable/recyclable
Didn't know about the soy sauce; got to try it! Have been battling earwigs in my sweetcorn for years- they eat the silks and it makes for poor pollination. Every summer I'm out in the corn patch with a flashlight and a pail of soapy water.
We just built raised garden beds with woven ground cover. I don't want to leave the black fabric bare, and I've ruled out pea gravel. The power company is trimming trees this week so I can get all the free wood chips I want. After seeing this episode maybe I should rethink wood chips!
I don't work for Monterey even though I should since I keep reccing this, but their ant bait also helps control earwigs/pincher bugs and pill bugs. Really helps keep their numbers down. The oil/soy sauce trap works too I can confirm!
I got an assassin bug inside my shirt collar while hiking a few years ago, a Black Corsair. He stuck that nasty little proboscis in me! Thankfully, he didn't suck my insides out. LOL
Wow! Really good tips, thanks! They like to hide in the petals of artichokes and it’s a bit of a shock when you go to prep one and 5-10 earwigs come bouncing out!
I have got 20 million pill bugs (or rolly polly) if you like that name better in my yard and in my gardens! For every strawberry I pick they have eaten at least a dozen! Any ideas on these little buggers?
Lovely information, i’m learning how to combat leaf eater insects to keep my green looking beautiful and you provided on awesome descriptions. Keep them coming.
Japanese beetles and earwigs are my biggest pests. I despise them so much! Also my brothers told me the thing you joked about at the beginning of the video a when I was very young and it scared the crap out of me. I know it’s not true but I still cannot shake the fear I have for them.
Everyone in my family has been sent this video. We've all been told that story Brian. That's funny right there. I'll never kill another praying manis again. GOD BLESS YOU BRIAN & FAMILY IN JESUS NAME.
I had a chuckle about the "don't worry, for those who worry about the sea turtles, it a reusable straw" lol I'm rolling.. Talking about the bugs mouth. That was amazing, thank you
Commercial organic grower here. We consider this a beneficial. I have high density plants all year long I have never seen anything but good things . Even agricultural extensions classify as good.
OMG! The Twilight Zone episode where the earwigs crawled into the villian’s ears as he slept because his assassin put them in the wrong bedroom! Still haunts me 50 years later! Brian, I guess I need to do some nighttime hunting with both types of flashlights to see what’s eating my beloved plants. Thanks for always having a variety of possible solutions. Let’s get growing!
I tried the cardboard- no luck. I have had more success going out into the garden after it gets dark. They were quick to flee when I tried to pick them off. What worked well is getting a container and putting it under the leaf and flicking them into the container. This has been working, so I haven't tried the oil/soy sauce yet. Thank you for doing this video as I couldn't figure out what was chewing up all my greens!
Finally information on how to clear my garden of earwigs. Hateful, scary looking, destructive, icky, nonessential (maybe) bugs. Thank you! Still not certain they wont crawl into my ears and eat my brain.
I've found that they're mostly a problem for young seedlings. What works well for me is removing the mulch from the bed when I plant young seedlings or direct seed, so that they have nowhere to hide. I just water more often until the plants are big enough to fend for themselves, and then replace the mulch.
I thought for a split second “mice”!!! I was a little more horrified of them than before and then you said “mites”, whew! Putting some cotton in my ears when I go to the garden 😂
Could you please add to your series, fungus gnats? I've tried so many *solutions* but have been losing that battle for a long time. (In the yard, on the patio, and in the house.) Thank you so much.
Thanks for the ideas to try. I want to try the oil traps next. 1000s of earwigs on my patio at night and maybe why my first plantings of seeds failed in my garden. It's a bad insect year. Flea beetles, 4 line bugs, earwigs. Aghh!! Diatomaceous earth has no affect on these earwigs. They walk right through it and thrive.
I use the Vaseline trap method on my plum trees to control aunts. My plum trees have had aphids and to keep the aunts from herding them and spreading honeydew everywhere, the Vaseline works like a charm.
I've had problems with slugs. So I placed bowls of old beer in the areas where they are. Earwigs also like the beer, they crawl in & drown. Sometimes local convience stores might have out if date beer they will give you. Can cover the bowls with a clay pot, just leave a crawl space open with a thick piece of mulch.
Good video. I have a serious infestation this year and I am throwing everything I can at it. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! I know the organic pesticides is a last resort, but I would have appreciated some more information about those. Diatomaceous earth works to keep them off the plants but must be applied daily or whenever you water. The beer and oil traps work but I have a lot of ground to cover and they fill up every night with no end in sight. The war rages on!
Brian! I’m watching this before bed and now am totally creeped out thinking of earwigs crawling in my head🤣! J/k but seriously I picked an artichoke the other day and about 50 earwigs climbed out as I dropped it on the ground!
My grandad put tins up side down with some straw in side to catch them , never knew why he done it at the the time but we had fun standing on the earwigs to dispose of them.
LOL, took me a bit to catch the "reusable straw." BTW, earwigs also like to crawl into lawn sprinkler heads. There, they die and swell up enuf to block much of the water spray.
The oil seems like a good idea but pay attention to the rain forecast because I put a tin of oil in my basil pot and the rain came and splashed the oil everywhere huge mess on my plants.
I love the idea of s series! I had no idea that it was earwigs that have caused damage in previous years. Watching this, I now know! I've seen this creepy crawlers in my garden! Thank you!
When I was a kid I had one of these crawl into my ear and bite my eardrum for 2 days. Eventually my mom agreed something was wrong. Doctor pulled out an earwig. It was more painful than the two kidney stones I had.
Vegetable oil works great also. Even if it is a bit rancid. I don't bother with the soy sauce. I also don't bury the cups. Earwigs crawl everywhere and can crawl into the cups easily. t hasn't been necessary for me. A spray bottle with Dawn dish soap and water sprayed directly on the earwigs kills them quickly. If you get some on plants, just rinse it off with a hose.
Love your channel and all the good information. Id like to see something about pill bugs / rolly polly bugs I have them everywhere in the garden and hate em.
Remember that not all insects are bad in the garden. Most are beneficial. It's when the populations get out of control is when the issues start. Rolly Polly's? Really? They are so harmless to pick up. We used to pick them up and watch then roll up into little balls.
@@beebob1279 I love pill bugs so much. Whenever I spray the perimeter of my house for carpenter ants and I see a few roly polies died it makes me so sad. I don't know why, they're one of the few bugs that I love
Every kid believed this!! So I watched this tonight, Sunday and when I saw pics Of what Earwigs do I got my flashlight and went out to the garden, and sure enough, everywhere!!! I was blaming rabbits or some other animal. Thank you!!! I’m trying the olive oil tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I had some come in with my garden bed soil mix or with mulch. I have never seen them before. They got into my celery blanching paper and mushed up my celery.
I was battling to get basil seedlings to a large enough size to withstand earwig attack and then I heard about using a 25%solution of rubbing alcohol and water - just go out at night and spray those suckers. I ended up with masses of basil after persisting for a few weeks of nightly forays.
This earwigs kind of insect eat my cabbage and also bite on leg or hand if they are in bed room, thanks for sharing to us such informative and educational tips
Always informative. I love your show. I’m looking forward to your book. Earwigs, I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen one in the garden; I’ve got my eyes pealed now. Loved the ‘reusable straw’, lol. Thank you. Ok... my lunch break is over. Time to head back out to the garden. Earwigs.. hmmmmm....
I heard ducks will eat snails, which if they came to my rock garden, there's enough snails for a feast for many. If that's true, how do i attract the ducks i see flying overhead to land in my rock garden??
I made a beer trap for slugs (because I thought I had slugs) and it's pretty effective for earwigs too. The downside is it's pretty effective for some beneficial insects.
You should do something on wasps as a beneficial as long as they do not get over populated they are a great for your garden they love catapillers, grubs, young box elder beatles, and other small insects
Im in California and got hit hard this year with ridiculous amount of rain, and now we have a ridiculous amount of earwigs they're getting inside my house and destroying my plants and one got into my "COFFEE ☕ as I drank it and immediately spit it out 😵💫🤮 it's WAR now I never want to experience that again so "Thank you all for the great tips and Blessings everyone & Good luck!!🙏✨🌈💕🌻🐜🦗🪲🦟🪳🐝
I'm at war with an earwig population explosion. They're wrecking everything. Using oil traps have done some work. Neem oil is not working. I'm about to try pyrethrin. I'm trying to remove habitat for them and I'll try to use that cardboard method to see if I can get some results.
Brian...I've been putting Tanglefoot directly on my tree trunks for all the years I've been gardening. (A lot of years.) It's never hurt my trees. Just some info for your future endeavours. 😁
If you're throwing an old hose away, cut off some pieces first. Cut into short pieces and put them in the garden. The earwigs crawl inside and the next day just drop the piece of hose into a bucket of soapy water. It's the same principle as the cardboard and paper rolls but they're easier to handle, reusable and store nicely in my shed.
I read that as horse first! Yeesh.
Excellent idea. Thanks mate
Yeah baby.👍 Im infested...they even get into the house.
We have had a huge amount of earwigs this year. They are even getting into the house.
same here... oh my
I've been having the WORST earwig infestation this year, I can just pick up a random rock and have a 50/50 chance that there are a bunch of earwigs under there. Anytime I put my seed starts out into my garden, they get eaten within a day or two if I'm not protecting them. So far I've had to restart all my seedlings three times this year because they keep eating everything. I'm slowly getting them in control and what works for me is the oil traps (you can just use vegetable oil and not olive oil since its like 10x more expensive), double sides tape around the base of plants and trees (this also works for ants trying to get inside your sweet peaches and figs), and finally I found that they're really attracted to cheap hot dogs for some reason so I just put the liquid that comes in the package inside the oil container and it will be filled with earwigs every day.
Great tips!
Awesome , thanks!
Same here, major infestation, thousands. I tried the oil traps, but some 4 legged creature, perhaps a raccoon, comes at night and slurps the oil containers empty! I also used neem oil and soap sprays with little success. I resorted to granular pesticides and now I really have to search hard to see one.
Where are you guys located if I may ask? I just bought a house in wisconsin and I'm having the same issue
@@aaronb5161 Southern California. Seeing a lot less after treatment with Talstar granules (Sevin granules near fruit trees), but it took a few weeks to see results (I had started treatment a lot before my comment). Now I see a few hiding underneath pots instead of hoards everywhere. I also used a liquid pesticide in areas where they transit. Next treatment I will add a growth regulator that does not allow them to grow and reproduce. Took out the big guns, but I had too much damage to my ornamentals and fruit trees. They all look like lace, and no, it was not caterpillars. I saw the earwigs chomping on them at night.
I had a chuckle about the ear and brain eating part. As a child, I also believed this.
Oh. Good I'm not the only one!
My ears itch
Me too!!!
Just like the Wrath of Kahn
I didn’t even know they were called earwigs until I met my Husband, and I thought he made it up🤦♀️. I just thought they were called pincher bugs… in my defense I met my Husband when I was 17(not sure if that helps my defense or not).
I love the moments when you can laugh at yourself in the videos. It makes you seem like it is more of a conversation with a friend than a lecture. And in case you were really wondering, the wiggly things in cardboard are called flutes but... wiggly thing probably gets the point across better with non cardboard producers than using the correct term.
Thank you lol. I didn't know that! Learn something new every day 😀
@@NextLevelGardening I only know it because I buy cardboard boxes for a living and have to know the specs to make sure they will work for what we are using them for.
Awesome, and very timely for me. I've been battling earwigs as long as I've been gardening. Did NOT know that they also eat aphids, and the vaseline trick was new to me, as well as the cardboard trap. Gonna try that one. Yes -please do a series on pests and diseases!
They do eat aphids so it's all about balance
Vaseline around the trunk could slow them down. But remember. Ear wigs are also fliers.
Thanks for sharing the photo of Earwig damage as that’s exactly what was attacking my first true leaves on my Okra starts! I lost nine plants. And yes, the damage was only happening at night. Thanks!!!
Hi Brian. I recently discovered the YT channel " Suburban Homestead". He is a little quirky and has recently changed his channel a bit but I like it. But when I went back thru his archives, I saw a amazing public conversation between the 2 of you that was so supportive of him. Wow that was really kind of you.
Thanks for doing this series on garden pests. Earwigs have annihilated most of my garden starts this year. I have been using the oil/soy sauce and every night am catching about 50. However, the thing that has worked the best is Sluggo Plus. I had tried Neem and DM to no avail. The DM is gone with the next watering and the other organic sprays are only good if you spray directly on the insect. Sluggo Plus is the one thing that has been most effective. The earwig population is not completely gone, but diminished enough that I can keep using the oil traps. I already removed all cardboard from around my house as well as mulch until I get this under control. Never had such an issue as this and don't know why this year is so bad.
Are you located in California?
I ask because I’ve lived in California for 50 years and never had any real issues with earwigs until the last 3 years which I’m assuming is the unusual excessive rainfall we have had.
Despite most googling gardening sites with useless information about how earwigs aren’t a problem and don’t eat healthy plants, clearly they never met my Ca earwigs! Man, these bugs destroy everything and fast!
For being a small bug, they literally took out an entire row of Swiss chard in less than a week. Even more frustrating is their love of potato plant leaves. Once they decimate 50-75% of the foliage, the potatoes underneath are doomed and months of waiting is gone in a short time. I’ve brought the population down considerably, but even a dozen or so of earwigs can literally kill an entire potato plant in a few days.
I refuse to use harmful chemicals otherwise I’d just buy my veggies at the store 😉
I’m at my wits ends and may give up gardening. To put so much time and money into this and have an ugly little bug destroy it all 3 years in a row…this may be my last straw
Baited the earwigs with olive oil an soy sauce and before I went to bed I caught about 15 in each bowl. They have been eating my poppy blooms, lupin leaves and clematis leaves. We just bought this house and there are tons of earwigs here…not for long 🤣. Thank you !! I am now subscribed.
Oil and Soya sauce may kill earwigs, but will attract armies of ants!!!!
This is what I needed! Currently dealing with an earwig infestation in my garden. Thank you!
Your ideas on dealing with moles would be great ,they are such an annoying problem. Love your videos lots of helpful information, thank you!
Thank you for leaving that outtake in 😂🤣
“They eat mice” 🐁
LOL I was like DAYUM, these guys are more formidable than I previously thought 😂
MITES! Silly!!!
They eat mice?! LOL That would be terrifying, though.
They also crawl in mice's ears to eat their brains. Earwigs are scientifically the most dangerous animal on the planet
@@sslocke oh how SILLY! He said MITES, not mice.
Waited ages for my Dahlia to flower and as the flowers begin to open they're eaten. Going to get a flame thrower. 🔥
Arborists/professional farmers here use hollow bamboo sticks relocate them from soft bodied fruits to harder fruits (put them up before night and relocate them after sunrise, when they hide in the sticks). They can't nib on the hard fruit and will instead start to attack aphids.
Love the idea of a series. Thanks. You're my go to channel for great information.
Thank you. I appreciate that!
Squash bugs please!
Me too. I’ve learned a lot. And you make me laugh, all good.
OH WOW BRIAN, WE GOTTA GET YOU A RAISE! SMART & FUNNY. NEVER KNEW ANY OF THIS.
Lol. Thanks Melinda!
Ear wigs are a problem here, when I had chickens I would put pinecones out in the problem ares and the ear wigs would hide in them ,I just toss them full of ear wigs in with the chickens ,when they were done scattered pine cones around again and repeat. Little bit of work but really cut down on ear wigs damage.
You found esr wigs in your chicken ear?
I lost my $*!% on "reusable straw" 🤣😂😜🤣 too funny and great info to boot, Thanks Brian!🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱💚
Lol. You're welcome
Lol, sea turtles, reusable straw! And you say it so nonchalantly. Brilliant sense of humor, I LOVE it and needed it!
20 videos later I find this guy . Omg this is the only video worth watching . Thank You for making this video ! Definitely a new subscriber.
Everytime you make a bug video. I find it that's the bug terrorizing my garden. Glad we live so close. 👌
This is a great approach Brian, you've always been one to respond well to your viewers. Thanks for another suoer useful video.
these videos have been nice because Aphids and Earwigs are the 2 major pests I see in my garden every year. Unfortunately I cant use my chickens to control earwigs because the chickens would rather eat the plants but letting them free range and clean the garden after harvest has helped control the population. I might get some portable fencing to allow them to clean the beds in between plantings.
I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything with that "they eat mice" statement! I laughed right out loud!
You can also use beer traps..just like the olive oil and soy sauce..place the container just as Brian suggested the yeast attracts them and they drown in the beer...thanks for the other ideas the more knowledge you have the better for your garden.😊
Chuckles are good...reusable straw...😅
The tip for petroleum jelly on plastic on trees was new for me. Thx
Lol. You're welcome
Thanks so much for this! I was having an apocalyptic earwig infestation this year! Those little bastards were ruining my flowers and herbs. The Buried Oil container! Wow! I just used vegetable oil - nothing fancy, in a shallow, oblong plastic container. It took a couple of days for them to find it, then it just started filling up with their ugly little carcasses! My garden is completely rid of them. My zinnias, basil, parsley etc are all looking beautiful.
I also noticed they were infesting my container plants by going up through the drain holes. I repotted every plant with fine window screen mesh over the drain holes, and a layer of small rocks holding that in place. Bingo! Problem solved. Zero damage in my potted plants.
Thanks for this video. We had earwigs so bad, we finally gave up on our lettuce, spinach and other cold weather crops. Ugh.
Awe man, that’s so incredibly frustrating! I’m actually at the point right now where I’m about to rip my Swiss chard, Brussel sprouts and potatoes out just because if I can’t enjoy my labor/vegetables, neither can they! I’m so over seeing my garden every single morning being wiped out more and more and it’s only been less 7-9 days of battling them. It’s like they emailed all their friends and gave them my address!
For anyone interested- I found a solution!
Mix 1 liter water and add
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tsp dish soap
Add to a spray bottle. Spray onto your plants. It cut the bugs way back and no harm to humans or environment.
Every year from mid-April to mid-May, my garden suffers what I call the Earwig Apocalypse -- literally tens of thousands of earwigs take over my yard. I can't plant out any seedlings or they will get eaten to the ground overnight. I've seen them decimate a very large pumpkin plant overnight. It's absolutely insane; I've never lived anywhere with so many earwigs!
This sounds like a horror film... I'm not happy about the few getting into my house.
FANTASTIC INFO!!! I will use everything you said. I've got earwigs up to my ear lobes. They have been eating the crap out of my sunflowers.
The "wig" is up. Thanks sooooo much!!!
I would suggest that if you don't have a bunch of little bowls laying around, you could cut down some red solo cups to about 1.5 - 2" left and use that for the oil trick. Cheaper and disposable/recyclable
I use the red solo shot cups in hanging baskets
Wow! That cardboard trick worked so awesome! These earwigs were killing my companion Marigolds. Thanks!!
Didn't know about the soy sauce; got to try it! Have been battling earwigs in my sweetcorn for years- they eat the silks and it makes for poor pollination. Every summer I'm out in the corn patch with a flashlight and a pail of soapy water.
Ohh Lordy day I had a dead one in my dryer yesterday morning and I had no idea what it was! 😳 Your videos are always sooo timely! 👏👏👍👍🤣
Lol. Thank you
Enjoying your content and the delivery style=we all need to chuckle more. Thanks.
Thank you!
We just built raised garden beds with woven ground cover. I don't want to leave the black fabric bare, and I've ruled out pea gravel. The power company is trimming trees this week so I can get all the free wood chips I want. After seeing this episode maybe I should rethink wood chips!
I don't work for Monterey even though I should since I keep reccing this, but their ant bait also helps control earwigs/pincher bugs and pill bugs. Really helps keep their numbers down. The oil/soy sauce trap works too I can confirm!
I got an assassin bug inside my shirt collar while hiking a few years ago, a Black Corsair. He stuck that nasty little proboscis in me! Thankfully, he didn't suck my insides out. LOL
Is that the same as a "stink" bug?
Funny straw comment Brian! I love the red poppies in the garden behind you. See you next time.
Wow! Really good tips, thanks! They like to hide in the petals of artichokes and it’s a bit of a shock when you go to prep one and 5-10 earwigs come bouncing out!
Uggghh...yea!
Ohhh yuck
I've been lucky so far
Finding those would have had me screaming not kind words lol especially so many at once
They also like burrowing in corn. I had to stop growing corn because of it. * shudders *
I submerge my artichokes in a bowl of water. Gets the earwigs and other bugs out before I cook the chokes.
@@judiburle171 Good call. I’m doing exactly the same from now on!
I have got 20 million pill bugs (or rolly polly) if you like that name better in my yard and in my gardens! For every strawberry I pick they have eaten at least a dozen! Any ideas on these little buggers?
Lovely information, i’m learning how to combat leaf eater insects to keep my green looking beautiful and you provided on awesome descriptions. Keep them coming.
Japanese beetles and earwigs are my biggest pests. I despise them so much!
Also my brothers told me the thing you joked about at the beginning of the video a when I was very young and it scared the crap out of me. I know it’s not true but I still cannot shake the fear I have for them.
Everyone in my family has been sent this video. We've all been told that story Brian. That's funny right there. I'll never kill another praying manis again. GOD BLESS YOU BRIAN & FAMILY IN JESUS NAME.
I had a chuckle about the "don't worry, for those who worry about the sea turtles, it a reusable straw" lol I'm rolling.. Talking about the bugs mouth. That was amazing, thank you
I been using blasts of diatomaceous earth. Seems to work well. Love the cardboard trap idea. Doing that for tonight
Let me know how it goes!
Commercial organic grower here. We consider this a beneficial. I have high density plants all year long I have never seen anything but good things . Even agricultural extensions classify as good.
OMG! The Twilight Zone episode where the earwigs crawled into the villian’s ears as he slept because his assassin put them in the wrong bedroom! Still haunts me 50 years later! Brian, I guess I need to do some nighttime hunting with both types of flashlights to see what’s eating my beloved plants. Thanks for always having a variety of possible solutions. Let’s get growing!
My brothers scared me with the earwigs crawling in brain thing. Still cannot shake it to this day.
I saw that Twilight Zone sixty years ago. It still haunts me.
I remember this episode, after he survived the bug attack, they realized she was a female and had layed eggs. Lol
I tried the cardboard- no luck. I have had more success going out into the garden after it gets dark. They were quick to flee when I tried to pick them off. What worked well is getting a container and putting it under the leaf and flicking them into the container. This has been working, so I haven't tried the oil/soy sauce yet. Thank you for doing this video as I couldn't figure out what was chewing up all my greens!
I would love a video on how to get rid of cucumber beetles!
Finally information on how to clear my garden of earwigs. Hateful, scary looking, destructive, icky, nonessential (maybe) bugs. Thank you! Still not certain they wont crawl into my ears and eat my brain.
They’ll crawl into your ears for sure. Not sure they’ll eat all the way to your brain tho lol
I’ve used the oil traps for years and they really work well! Beer works for those big, orange cockroaches.
Yes!
Your channel is perfectly done, like Mary Poppins. Gardeners are from the same tribe.
I have had earwigs fatally feast on my dahlias. Anyone else have that problem? Great content, as always!
For me, not with Dahlias (because I’ve never grown them) but with my Zinnias, yes!! 😡👎
I've found that they're mostly a problem for young seedlings. What works well for me is removing the mulch from the bed when I plant young seedlings or direct seed, so that they have nowhere to hide. I just water more often until the plants are big enough to fend for themselves, and then replace the mulch.
I thought for a split second “mice”!!! I was a little more horrified of them than before and then you said “mites”, whew! Putting some cotton in my ears when I go to the garden 😂
I want to fill every body opening with Vaseline!
Could you please add to your series, fungus gnats? I've tried so many *solutions* but have been losing that battle for a long time. (In the yard, on the patio, and in the house.) Thank you so much.
Thanks for the ideas to try. I want to try the oil traps next. 1000s of earwigs on my patio at night and maybe why my first plantings of seeds failed in my garden. It's a bad insect year. Flea beetles, 4 line bugs, earwigs. Aghh!! Diatomaceous earth has no affect on these earwigs. They walk right through it and thrive.
I use the Vaseline trap method on my plum trees to control aunts. My plum trees have had aphids and to keep the aunts from herding them and spreading honeydew everywhere, the Vaseline works like a charm.
I've had problems with slugs. So I placed bowls of old beer in the areas where they are. Earwigs also like the beer, they crawl in & drown. Sometimes local convience stores might have out if date beer they will give you. Can cover the bowls with a clay pot, just leave a crawl space open with a thick piece of mulch.
Good video. I have a serious infestation this year and I am throwing everything I can at it. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! I know the organic pesticides is a last resort, but I would have appreciated some more information about those. Diatomaceous earth works to keep them off the plants but must be applied daily or whenever you water. The beer and oil traps work but I have a lot of ground to cover and they fill up every night with no end in sight. The war rages on!
Earwigs can be important decomposers. If you trap them in the garden, they could be "spared" the soap bath and moved to the compost pile.
Brian! I’m watching this before bed and now am totally creeped out thinking of earwigs crawling in my head🤣! J/k but seriously I picked an artichoke the other day and about 50 earwigs climbed out as I dropped it on the ground!
Anybody else horrified to learn about how the assassin bug kills it’s victims? 👀
There's alot of violence in the garden.
Did you not read The Hobbit? Spiders are scarier!
Sounds similar to a spider
My grandad put tins up side down with some straw in side to catch them , never knew why he done it at the the time but we had fun standing on the earwigs to dispose of them.
LOL, took me a bit to catch the "reusable straw." BTW, earwigs also like to crawl into lawn sprinkler heads. There, they die and swell up enuf to block much of the water spray.
Nooooo
The oil seems like a good idea but pay attention to the rain forecast because I put a tin of oil in my basil pot and the rain came and splashed the oil everywhere huge mess on my plants.
I love the idea of s series! I had no idea that it was earwigs that have caused damage in previous years. Watching this, I now know! I've seen this creepy crawlers in my garden! Thank you!
When I was a kid I had one of these crawl into my ear and bite my eardrum for 2 days. Eventually my mom agreed something was wrong. Doctor pulled out an earwig. It was more painful than the two kidney stones I had.
they are going after my strawberries i think. thank you for this video. very informative!
Thank you so much. I have an awful problem with earwigs.
Vegetable oil works great also. Even if it is a bit rancid. I don't bother with the soy sauce. I also don't bury the cups. Earwigs crawl everywhere and can crawl into the cups easily. t hasn't been necessary for me. A spray bottle with Dawn dish soap and water sprayed directly on the earwigs kills them quickly. If you get some on plants, just rinse it off with a hose.
Love your channel and all the good information. Id like to see something about pill bugs / rolly polly bugs I have them everywhere in the garden and hate em.
Remember that not all insects are bad in the garden. Most are beneficial. It's when the populations get out of control is when the issues start.
Rolly Polly's? Really? They are so harmless to pick up. We used to pick them up and watch then roll up into little balls.
@@beebob1279 I love pill bugs so much. Whenever I spray the perimeter of my house for carpenter ants and I see a few roly polies died it makes me so sad. I don't know why, they're one of the few bugs that I love
Every kid believed this!! So I watched this tonight, Sunday and when I saw pics Of what Earwigs do I got my flashlight and went out to the garden, and sure enough, everywhere!!! I was blaming rabbits or some other animal. Thank you!!! I’m trying the olive oil tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I had some come in with my garden bed soil mix or with mulch. I have never seen them before. They got into my celery blanching paper and mushed up my celery.
I was battling to get basil seedlings to a large enough size to withstand earwig attack and then I heard about using a 25%solution of rubbing alcohol and water - just go out at night and spray those suckers. I ended up with masses of basil after persisting for a few weeks of nightly forays.
This earwigs kind of insect eat my cabbage and also bite on leg or hand if they are in bed room, thanks for sharing to us such informative and educational tips
Great informative video. I'm always shaking a bunch of earwigs out of my leaf lettuce when I harvest. Will try the cardboard trick. Thanks.
You're welcome!
Great advice! Thank you! Also, I like your sense of humor.
Thank you. Your videos are very helpful. 🥂
You're very welcome!
Love your videos thinking of you n was wondering how u r doing since your aneurysm? Such a great gardening teacher God Bless
Commercial brand of sticky barrier is Tanglefoot. Use it the same way the Vaseline was demonstrated
Good advice . About the earwigs. Thank you. The bugs I hate most are the vine weevils.
beer trap works well, and as an added bonus It will also take care of slugs and snails
Thanks Brian. Love your organic approach and hey, I learned stuff. And yes, I do care about the sea turtles!
Good!
They eat peppers. I had no idea. I found a few peppers with them inside them!
Always informative. I love your show. I’m looking forward to your book. Earwigs, I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen one in the garden; I’ve got my eyes pealed now. Loved the ‘reusable straw’, lol. Thank you. Ok... my lunch break is over. Time to head back out to the garden. Earwigs.. hmmmmm....
I like this series, Brian. A video on slugs/snails would be great too.
I heard ducks will eat snails, which if they came to my rock garden, there's enough snails for a feast for many. If that's true, how do i attract the ducks i see flying overhead to land in my rock garden??
Sluggo Plus is great for pill bugs, slugs and snails. Granular and easy to use.
@@klattin1501 just get some pet ducks:)
thanks-Banty chickens love ear wigs 😊
Omg!!! the crawling in your ear and eat your brain took me out I screamed. I’m glad he was just kidding.😂
Hey ... everyone Moniee-Mon, is listening thanks for the info vedios keep doing what'cha do best God bless ya!.
I made a beer trap for slugs (because I thought I had slugs) and it's pretty effective for earwigs too. The downside is it's pretty effective for some beneficial insects.
Thank you so much!!! I’m going to try the cardboard first. They are doing a lot of damage.
That Vaseline method,could really prove to be helpful in the future for me. 🤔
You should do something on wasps as a beneficial as long as they do not get over populated they are a great for your garden they love catapillers, grubs, young box elder beatles, and other small insects
Im in California and got hit hard this year with ridiculous amount of rain, and now we have a ridiculous amount of earwigs they're getting inside my house and destroying my plants and one got into my "COFFEE ☕ as I drank it and immediately spit it out 😵💫🤮 it's WAR now I never want to experience that again so "Thank you all for the great tips and Blessings everyone & Good luck!!🙏✨🌈💕🌻🐜🦗🪲🦟🪳🐝
Jeeze, you're living in a 70s Sci fi movie!
I'm at war with an earwig population explosion. They're wrecking everything. Using oil traps have done some work. Neem oil is not working. I'm about to try pyrethrin.
I'm trying to remove habitat for them and I'll try to use that cardboard method to see if I can get some results.
Proboscis is the "beak" you are referring too with the assassin bug.
Brian...I've been putting Tanglefoot directly on my tree trunks for all the years I've been gardening. (A lot of years.) It's never hurt my trees. Just some info for your future endeavours. 😁