What do you use for earwigs near your clematis??? Home remedy's please.....
Curious on home remedy's....
Here's what I found on the Web: http://www.remediesathome.com/how-to-get-rid-of/Get-rid-of-earwigs.htm
How to get rid of earwigs
Earwigs can multipy by the thousands if left alone. They can infest hollowed doors and cabinets and are basically just a pest. They can come in through screen doors and windows and can become an inside pest as well. Ear wigs, also called pincher bugs, are one of the most common infestations we find.
Habitat
They are active at night and are attracted to light. They hide during the day in moist, shady places beneath stones, sidewalks, and debris. These insects feed on mosses, lichens, algae, fungi, insects, spiders, and mites. They also feed on fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, and field plants. Often, Earwigs migrate indoors during hot, dry weather. We can provide you the information necessary on how to get rid of earwigs.
Control - How to get rid of earwigs
- To get rid of earwigs that have made it into your home despite proper sealing and landscaping techniques, spreading a residual insecticide like boric acid near baseboards, cracks, and hard to reach places is recommended. Boric acid is a natural insecticide, and works only if the earwig is forced to travel through the powder.
- To get rid of earwigs, you’ll want to make sure that screens on your windows are properly fixed and fitted to the window frame. If you find that earwigs are getting in through cracks between the window and the window frame, the problem is easily solved with weather stripping.
Tips - How to get rid of earwigs
- Try putting boric acid will help. Also Raid indoor and outdoor garden treatment spray (walmart for $4.00 per can) might help if you spray the cracks and heaters in the home, and around the windows both inside and outside.
-Take a small water bottle, cut the top one-third off or so, fill the bottle with tuna or tuna cat food, invert the top part that you cut off with the spout facing down and reattach it to the bottle. The earwigs can crawl in, and are attracted by the smell of food
- Spray a newspaper lightly with water, roll it up loosely and secure with a string or rubber band. Place on the ground near earwig activity. The next morning pick up and discard the paper in a sealed container.
- Get an empty squirt bottle and mix fantastic and water and you have an effective earwig killing solution.
- Encourage hungry birds into your garden by setting out a bird bath or feeders. Birds hunt and consume amazing amounts of insects.
- Fill low-sided cans with 1/2 inch vegetable oil and place on the ground. Earwigs will find their way in and drown.
i like the bird feeding idea. i may establish some feeders near my main clematis areas for prudent protection. great idea. i do see the occaisonal ear wig, but am not infested. have a lot of wild birds, but the feeders could really add protection as well as harmony. great idea.
Glad this helped. I'm going to try adding more bird baths and feeders plus also placing some cans with vegetable oil around the base of Clematis plants that don't have enough room to accommodate bird baths or feeders.
Great ideas!!! Thanks!!! I am going to try some of them for sure....I will let you know how it works out!
somehow i know i can 't do cans of oil on over 300 plants,including my duplications. more feeders for the birds for sure.
I'm only putting the cans of oil next to certain Clematis. For some reason, earwigs seem to prefer the white or light colored varieties.
shirley, i think you are right about that. i have had earwigs before on my duchess of e. i think i will do a can of oil near that one just to see what i can trap, as she is looking a little ragged. and of course i never trim or prune her as i do amost all of my other clems, even my other doubles i never hesitiate to whack away anything unsightly.three i do not touch are the duchess of e and my macropetala markhams pink and odorato.
glad this thread continued. very helpful.
bummer, i just realized i cleaned my pantry about a week ago and threw out some old cooking oils that would have been perfect for the oil in the can remedy. oh well, maybe they were so old the bugs wouldn't have wanted them either.
That's funny, niobe. Do you think that earwigs have a preference for new vs. old oil? (GRIN)
Why don't you cut back your Duchess of Edinburgh, Markhams Pink & Odorato? Do you still give them more food and re-mulch after they have finished blooming?
yes i feed them after they flower, also late fall boost and early spring and several rounds of augmented compost each year.
they bloom on the oldest wood and if you prune them much at all it really effects blooms, like reducing a large plant to 2 or 3 blooms. the markam's pink and odorato in particular. i have had a lot of trouble with the duchess over the years and just find better blooms if i totally leave the vines alone. i occaisionally dead head it a little but i just ignore the brown in the late summer and look forward to next year. i have a couple of other duchess of e's that i am experimenting with, just cut a substantial one all the way down as it was so tangled with a little nell vitacella that needed pruning that there was no recourse. so we will see what 2009 brings on that. regrowth started well , so i predict a healthier plant but little bloom next year. a third one dies back a lot and never does much, but i have not given up on it.
founds some peanut oil in the bathroom that i has used for some home remedy and took it out to the area where i have seen earwigs from time to time.
it is not too old, so hopefully they are not finicky!!
Can you imagine having fussy earwigs? LOL