Defeating Earwigs
Eliminate earwigs in your garden without using poison!
Conquer those little marauders without health threatening chemicals. It’s an easy (though slightly time-consuming) process.
Supplies:
Beer – We choose our beer by price. Earwigs are not connoisseurs, they’re attracted to the yeast in the beer, not the taste.
Small Containers to place in the garden. Most of our containers are the small portion from flip yogurts. When we ran out of those we ordered 2 oz cups.
A Large Container to store the beer during the day. We use a cottage cheese container.
Fabric to strain the beer. The beer accumulates dead earwigs and dirt from the garden. By using a strainer you can clean up the beer after use, prepping it for use the next day. We use silk organza but cheesecloth would work as well.
Clothespin or Rubberband to temporarily attach the fabric to the large container.
The Process
The process is so simple it’s almost embarrassing. Each night you put beer in each of the small containers then place the containers next to vulnerable plants. Sink the containers in the ground so that at least one edge is level with the dirt to make it easy for the earwigs.
In the morning retrieve the beer, pouring it through your straining fabric into the larger container. Cover the container, clean off the outer edge and store in the fridge till the next evening.
Smush the contents of your fabric, earwigs and dirt, then hose it off and put it aside until evening.
You won’t get earwigs in every container. The number of earwigs will change from day to day. Every earwig can cause a lot of damage, so finding even one earwig is important for your garden.
4 responses to “Defeating Earwigs”
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So do you use the same beer each day? How long does it generally last before you have to replace the beer?
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We DO use the same beer every day. It gets dirty (dark) and probably rancid but the earwigs don’t mind. About once a week we have to add a new can. Some beer evaporates and we probably lose some pouring it into the containers and back into the big container.
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