Earwigs or some other insect have been voraciously nibbling on my bean and radish leaves. I saw it mentioned in several places to put out a dish with oil and a little soy sauce. I figured it’s worth a shot.
Do you have a favorite way to keep the tiny critters away from your leaves?
I spray soapy water on the leaves. Works for a Week or two depending on the rain.
Earwigs are drawn to textiles for some reason. I’ve left gloves in the garden and they’d literally be filled with them the next morning (and new gloves purchased immediately!). You could try leaving a carpet remnant upside down in the garden with a healthy dose of diatomaceous earth under it. Diatomaceous earth is excellent for creepy-crawly control.
One of the creepiest scares I got was going to a state park bathroom, pulling out a seat cover from the dispenser and having hundreds of earwigs coming out with it.
Similar tactic- leave balled up, slightly damp newspaper around directly on the dirt overnight, get up early and collect them, they will be chock full. I do it the night before trash day and put them in the municipal compost cart. I’m sure some escape, but the majority stay in the bin until collection. Lots to eat in there.
If the oil and soy doesn’t work, try cheap beer. Will get earwigs and slugs for sure, but might work on other parts as well. They also work better if you sink them into the ground so their lip is almost level with the soil or cover. Makes it more likely that they will find it and fall in.
Slugs definitely love Miller high life.
Shame they like to eat gardens, because I like slugs and snails.
If you can manage to catch a bunch of them, burn them and then sprinkle the ashes around the area you want protected. My dad does this with his garden and swears it keeps bugs away (but he’s also really “out there” so it’s very likely not to be true).
