I think earwigs are chomping on my clem leaves. I don't know how to stop this! I think they are hiding up between the runners that are holding the lattice screen in place. Any advice, anyone? Help.
clems and earwigs
I've never seen an earwig on any of my plants, but I'll find one occasionally in the house. I remember growing up they used to like the woodpile.
I HAVE CLEM WILT GOT ABOUT 100 BUDS READY TO OPEN AND NOW IS WILTING TO THE GROUND WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP IT MAKES ME SICK
domijita, I'm wondering if an insecticidal soap or neem oil would help. Hopefully some of the clem experts will chime in.
bobsmo, can you post pic of the clem?
this time of year rule out
earwigs
snails
these are the probablity. sometimes a plant just poops out from not having the vascular system to support the fast green growth, but this usually is way before there are flower buds.
i am using a snail and earwig control granule as a preventative on the ground this year around the clem gardens. first year doing this proactively, and i am having less loss of green vines and "the droopys", i think the earwigs attack mainly the flower buds themselves, you can open a bud and find them in there . you will sometimes seea holein the side of the bud....they usually do not droop from earwigs.
snails cause the droopys, they strip off thin layers of the vines down low near ground and that compromises the vascular capability of the vine , damaging it so it can not function and withers away.
sometimes first bursts of hot weather cause droopies that adequate water and cooler evening temps alleviate. but first rule out your two biggest clem culprits and treat.
Just wondering... you mentioned cooler evening temps to help alleviate the stress. Here, the nights are not cooler and there is seldom a breeze. Do you think putting a portable industrial-size fan to blow breezes on the clem beds during the heat of summer would be a good idea during this first year of growth? Or do clems not like breezy weather?
Here is an earwig recipe posted by Calif_Sue on the climbing rose forum. I mixed a batch up today because I saw some earwigs scurrying about.
Here is an earwig recipe--
l gallon of water
l/4 c ivory liquid (or any dish washing soap)
l/2 c. cooking oil
Mix. Spray or pour over and around affected plant
I sprayed some around the building foundation, and on a couple of susceptible plants. Let's hope it works!
Thank you everyone! I will definitely try the earwig recipe. I did mix up some insecticidal soap made with Dawn for the Sally Holmes rose that is growing along side of my clems and it worked quite well on the aphids. I guess I should have sprayed the clems also. I'll certainly start now. Thanks again. Domijita p.s. here's a close up of the earwig damage
here is a photo of snail (SLUG) damage to the lower vine of a clematis. (happens to be my tie dye from yesterday..gggggggggg) they srtip the outer green flesh form the vines at the bottom. i'll past what the result to the vine looks like now.
that is earwig damage in the photo you posted domijita......if you get them now, they will not chew big holes in the side of the buds. they wait till the buds are very big before munching their way in to ruin the bloom.
anyway here is the slug damage form below where they damage the vines.
at the top if the clem vines you will see this type of droopiness.
gardenquilts, do you have any experience with the oil in your recipe burning tender vines? best to apply at night if so? i am very leery of oil on clem leaves as i have burnt lots of plants in past with neem oil in products.
unfortunately when i saw this damage yesterday (see above photo) i took immediate action.
i first started at top and trimmed off the collapsed vine, several inches at a time, working down to where the vine seemed less affected. then sprinkled some "bug getta plus" to the surrounding area and lightly watered again, per directions. i had recently bought some bug getta for earwig and snail , but only have used it a couple of times....this was war. i was able to find sluggo a few days ago and picked that up too, and am switching to that as it is less harmful to non bugs...but in this case i felt like grabbing the big gun.....i actually treated the surrounding area that is home to about 30 or more clems. i have never had a lot of bug problems, but as i said, mess with my tie dye and it is war.
Insecticidal soap only works when sprayed directly on the insect.
To know if it is really earwigs causing the damage, you can go out at night with a flashlight. You should also check the base of the plant during the day by gently pulling back the mulch. If you see any of your other plants with damage, pulling back the mulch could reveal a horror of earwigs.
I've spent 3 years trying to fight earwigs the safe way. As much as I hate to use pesticides, this year, I'm not messing around. It's either the pesticides, or I might as well give up growing clematis. Last year I barely had any blooms because the earwigs kept chewing the growing tips.
Two years ago was awful - thousands of them. Then last year I noticed something: I saw 2 ants carrying an earwig. Previous to the earwig infestation, we were having trouble with ants making nests in bad places. Hindsight revealed that the new nests were in the same general area where I was having trouble with earwigs.
An over population of one type of insect generally means that something is out of balance in the garden. When we had, what seemed to be too many ants, I didn't have an earwig problem. When I eliminated the bigger nests, that's when the earwig problem started. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but maybe there is something to it.
like your thoughts julia jayne, but we are putting things out of balance too with weeding, watering, fertilizing, spoiling hybrid plants......i don't plan to stop , and hope you don't either, but the garden we enjoy is part of the imbalance in a way, no?
the bug getta is for snail and earwig, and as these are the only two insects that basically bother clems, i felt like i needed it in my arsenal. felt guilty when i applied it , but i am in way too deep with years of clem collecting to not manage the earwigs and snails. luckily i have never had a lot of these issues to deal with, but when you have a big beautful clem , or a tiny one struggling to establish, it's either them or the clems.......
i use a lot of soap and water on sense small evergreens an spider mites , starting like this week, all summer long. try to keep it natural, but those snails ggggggrrrrrrrr
I haven't had trouble with the oil, but haven't planted any clems, just got my first this year. I put it in a pot while I am waiting for the BF to help me remove a big rock where I want to plant it. I will plant it with a soda bottle ring around the base to protect it a bit. (I can always cut it off later.) I do the soda bottle (or cardboard tube when I run out of bottle rings) around sunflowers when they are starting out. Otherwise, the slugs decapitate them. I have chic grit (oyster shell) on my list for when the BF drives me shopping in his truck. We are going to the feed store for alfalfa anyway.
I use Neem oil at dusk with no problems; however, I've not used it on clems. I had a serious slug problem last fall which carried over to the early spring. I sprinkled some Diatomaceous Earth in the infested areas and haven't seen a slug since. (When applying DE it's best to wear a mask.) I've not seen an earwig yet this year (in my neck of the woods) but I'm sure they're lurking somewhere nearby. A couple of years ago, during the Cicada invasion, they (the earwigs) were everywhere -- talk about imbalance! The birds ate the Cicadas and ignored everything else, it seems.
i am wary of anything with oil on the clems. hot sun and oil....frying pan.
i plant all my clems using a 3 gallon thin black plastic pot, cutting the top 2 to 3 inches off and place it as a collar around the plant. some of my older plants no longer have the collars, but i find it indispensible in insect control, erosion control and keeping the soil level and compost and ammeded soil where i want it to stay. also helps me identify the plant and keep tabs on it when it is small. keep regular mulch off the clem etc etc. 95% of my clems have a collar like this at the base.
slung some sand and oyster shell myself today, and got some DE, which i am planning to apply to my most prone area. thanks for the mask reminder.....
here is a pic of a small clem plant from last year in the collar that i use. if i have ground cover in an area, i keep it pulled back off the area inside the collar, which helps all the way around too.
this plant in the pic was huvi when it first went in last year. it is past the trellis this spring, with the collar still in place.
I am guessing if you poor the above mentioned mixture around the clematis it would kill the earwigs in the ground around the plant? That might not be a bad idea....I might even try that......might be better than spraying the plant?
Those collars are a great idea.
dawn, i never spray my clem plants with anything except soap and water. if i needed to i am sure i would, but i feel like it is a risk i don't take if i do not need to. usually the soap and water is being sprayed on something else and they get it by accident. if you do not get the earwigs, there are few other bugs that bother clems. if any. thank goodness.
figaro, a couple of years ago when i stumbled on the collar idea, i went back and added them to all my clems. cutting it thru and stapling it back into a circle for bigger plants. it has helped me a lot. in a few cases the black pot lips show, but usually ground cover masks them. some of them are at soil level, some a little higher. a couple of impatiens plants at the base, just outside the collar does a good masking job too and keeps the whole base of the plant cooler thru the hot months too. i would be crazed, if i could not immediately identify the plant and stems, with the collars it has really helped me with a big collection. i tend to water forcefully too and it has stopped erosion of the soil from this and other natural factors. you can run the hose water just outside or inside the collar and quickly saturate the area without hitting the vines themselves.
you can tell i am hooked on the collars. i have not had one problem form using them to my knowledge.
Well unlucky for me we do get earwigs and slugs too! Slugs have to be the most disgusting things ever!!!
I'm definitely going to convert my old plastic black pots into collars. Erosion is a real issue for me, too, since nowadays it seems everytime it rains, it rains at least an inch or more! Half of my Asao died last year after it bloomed. I'll bet it was a slug that caused it. Fortunately, she's recovering nicely with lots of new shoots (and buds).
Here is another recipe I found on the Rose Magazine website. I made some up last night and sprayed around my sunflower seedlings and strawberries. The other earwig recipe seems to be keeping the slugs off my hostas.
All Purpose Rose Disease Fighter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 - 4 cloves garlic, crushed
½ Jalapeno pepper, crushed
1½ tsp baking soda
Cheesecloth or fine mesh
Spray bottle
1 or 2 drops dishwashing liquid (or Insecticide soap) to help mixture adhere to foliage
Preparation:
Steep garlic, onion and pepper in 1 quart of warm water for 1 hour.
Strain the mix through the cheesecloth or mesh and retain liquid, add the baking soda
In spray bottle dilute 1 part of the strained liquid with 4 parts warm water and add the dishwashing liquid.
Mist plants lightly.
This formulation has the added benefit of repelling insects as well. Good luck and happy rose growing!
You are right, CG, our gardens aren't a natural eco-system, but we can get close, and I always try to keep it natural. That is why I am sickened at the thought of using a pesticide. I used snail and earwig bait around my hosta, which worked pretty well. I don't feel guilty about using it. I didn't use it near the clematis, but I will this year. However, at the first sign of damage to any clematis means the wood fence and trellises get sprayed.
We've had such a cool spring that the earwigs haven't emerged as of yesterday, but it should be any day now. I dread it.
the "bug getta" that i bought for snail and earwig, seemed to have controlled the couple of damaged vines i saw.
after i saw them, i treated area around clems in each of the clem gardens, which is a lot of square footage. felt like a criminal when i was sprinkling it. the sluggo is natural, but not sure if it is good for earwigs too. have to check that out.
setting cans of oil or beer out and throwing out drowning bugs, or picking snails off plants at night is not gonna happen here.