Earwigs in compost pile!!

[FresnoFarmer]

How to get rid of them? I have frogs that eat them at night. But I still see lots of them when I turned my piles the other day. I plan on using the compost for amending, mulching, and compost teas sometime soon. I have used sevin dust before to control earwigs, but I rather not. That stuff is horrendous. I am going to spread the piles out on tarps and let dry out. Drying ot will make the compost less hospitable to the ew's and make it easier for birds and frogs to pick them off. I want to know how to deall with them still just in case tey get into the garden. I have already seen ew damage on my tomatoes. I can control them eating foliage but idk about the roots.

 

[FresnoFarmer]

 

[Nutes and Nugs]

I see them in late corn but they never did any damage.
They're ugly but I find them beneficial.

 

[st0wandgrow]

We get them every year in our veggie garden. Nasty mo-fo's ...... and they absolutely munch on plants. They really seem to like the tomato plants. I read this online a few years back, and have been doing it ever since. Seems to work.

Dig a shallow depression in the soil. Place a bowl in the depression so that the lip of the bowl is even with the ground. Fill the bowl half way up with beer. They are attracted to the beer for some reason, and end up drowning themselves in the bowl. Empty the bowl each morning of the beer and dead earwigs and replace with a fresh serving of beer. I started with one, and ended up with a dozen or more bowls-o-beer strategically located throughout the garden. This won't 100% eliminate them, but I have found that it keeps them in check very well.

 

[Da Mann]

Sure sounds like a waist of good beer. Please use the cheep chit so I don't feel bad.

 

[st0wandgrow]

Sure sounds like a waist of good beer. Please use the cheep chit so I don't feel bad.

Busch's FTW

 

[canadiankushman]

"No Mr neighbour I'm not an alchohaulic, it's the bloody earwigs I tell ya!"

I get "the look" often when I have a beer outside after my night shifts..

Ck.

 

[FresnoFarmer]

I have tried the buried beer cans. They are not very interested in n it though lol. The love my tomatoes, and my tomatoes only. They like my pot plants too in the past. I will learn to coexist with the ew's. I found a few under my pots eating root aphids. So thats good. I also have tiny white bugs in my compost pile. Maybe soil mites. Are soil mites beneficial to my garden? Should I just screen out the ew's when making compost tea. What would happen if the soil mites get in the compost tea?

 

[st0wandgrow]

I have tried the buried beer cans. They are not very interested in n it though lol. The love my tomatoes, and my tomatoes only. They like my pot plants too in the past. I will learn to coexist with the ew's. I found a few under my pots eating root aphids. So thats good. I also have tiny white bugs in my compost pile. Maybe soil mites. Are soil mites beneficial to my garden? Should I just screen out the ew's when making compost tea. What would happen if the soil mites get in the compost tea?

Hmmm. The beer bait works for me. You've gotta use shitty American beer though ..... they turn their nose up at the better Canadian beer. j/k

As for the white bugs, those are likely springtails. I have them in my worm bin too. They are decomposers like worms, and will likely end up in your pot plants. I have been assured that they are harmless to the plants. Surprisingly, they do survive the compost tea brew. They all float to the top and seem to carry on about their business after they are watered in. Hardy little things.

 

[FresnoFarmer]

Ill just try different traps for the ew's to keep the population in control. And I have seen a few hop like springtails in my veggie greenhouse. But I had root aphids too so they got killed when I killed the root aphids. Thanks for your input. I'm gonna let the pile dry out some and then start using the (screened) compost.