Great idea to post some earwig trap ideas! I don't think that you need the sweet stuff at all but they are apparently attracted to the smell of soy sauce. Floating some oil on top is a good step. Earwigs are also attracted to beer....just as slugs are.

My favorite trap is to fold a couple of sheets of newspapers, then roll them into a tube. Soak in water, then place in an area where the earwigs have been seen overnight. In tbe morning, toss out the newspapers and all of the lodgers.

Well rhizo I have tried your way with rolled newspaper and didn't get near as many earwigs as with these traps. I have also tried pieces of bamboo and lots of other ways. I tried beer too for slugs in a small plot where I had planted lettuce.

The slugs ruined all the lettuce I put out beer and got all of 2 slugs. I decided to pull all the lettuce and the slugs in the row were laying one on top of the other. I had boiled water for instant coffee and grabbed the kettle and boiled the buggers. Then I put out safers slug bait. I seldom have a problem with slugs now

I consider these traps to be the best way to deal with Earwigs and putting them out drastically cuts the number of them I have to deal with. I have never cut out the sweet stuff and I don't think I will. They cost very little to make because you only use enough to cover about 1/2 inch of the bottom of the container. Why fool with something that works

Although many people love to hate earwigs many do not seem to grasp that they are also predators of many of the insect pests that are in our gardens.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Earwigs

dowling, I wasn't trying to negate what you've said....just adding to your good suggestions with my own. There are plenty of ways to get the job done, I think, and I'm just glad that you've brought the subject up and made some good suggestions!

Kimmsr....one day I would hope that you could learn from others' experience. Occasionally, even a healthy, balanced garden can become over populated with earwigs and that can be devastating to young plants, in particular.

I do thank you for that link...it describes mentions the many plants that earwigs love to eat and several other control strategies besides the ones that dowlinggram and I offered. Housekeeping practices can be quite important (changing the environment) in keeping these insects under a pest status threshold.

Rhizo, I know many people that have had 1 years experience 30 times and many others that have had 30 years experience. When people such as Ann Lovejoy, Lee Reich, Rebecca Coles, and numerous others tell us that making the soil good and healthy so our plants will grow up strong and healthy and will be better able to withstand insect pests, but also encourage us to do what we can to encourage the beneficial insects perhaps we should listen to them.,

Nice post regarding earwigs control.

I tried with just vegetable oil and it works pretty good too, but that only help a little. Maybe I'll try adding corn syrup next time just to see if it'll trap more. Here I have a picture of what my trap looks like --> earwigs problem

Good ideas. Male egos under control, guys?

This year I have an infestation of earwigs so I am going to try some oil and molasses traps. Look what they did to my marigolds! Practically just stalks left on this baby. And now they are starting on my lupines, morning glory vines and petunias!

Garlic, made into a spray, is an effective deterrent for many insect pests. While your garden may smell like a pizzarea Garlic sprays are better than some of the broad spectrum poisons that also kill beneficial insects.

kimmq is kimmsr

badabingbarb, I too, have experienced the sort of earwig infestations that you have. I've learned over the years that it's important to start scouting early in the spring and kill them before they are able to multiply geometrically on you. Look in the tiny spaces between the soil and the foundation of your house, especially if you have lawn that extends to the foundation. Look around the base of trees, and under any loose pieces of bark at the base of trees near, or even not very near, your garden. Look under any pieces of wood or bark lying on the ground. Have any stacks of firewood sitting around? That's earwig heaven. Look under any tool sheds you may have. I go scouting early in May here in Colorado and I carry a little propane torch with me. When I find the colonies of earwigs I light the propane torch and quickly incinerate every one of them. It's much more effective than trying to stomp on them. You need to get them before the overwintering adults successfully multiply.

I also set traps of the sort that dowlinggram described. These are best set near plants that the earwigs like to eat, though that seems to include just about everything. I also leave a few boards lying around the garden and check under them frequently.

It's easy for kimmq to cite authors such as Lovejoy, Reich, and Coles, but they haven't had the experience of working in OUR gardens. I've seen no evidence of earwigs having any beneficial effect whatever in any of my gardens in many years of gardening. And I have very healthy plants that benefit from very healthy soil.

A product that will kill earwigs is Ortho Bug Getta Plus, but I don't recommend it because it also kills earthworms.

dowlinggram, thank you thank you thank you soooooo much....your recipe for getting rid of these annoying little creatures worked sooooooo well. Much like you, I have been as frustrated as anything, and was fast running out of patience as each day my lovely polka dot seedlings were running out of leaves, one was right down to the stalk. After reading your post, I tried your method, and was pleasantly suprised...not once...but twice. Firstly because these traps worked and secondly because they were full of millipedes, not earwigs. So for the last 2 nights Ive been outside with the torch, and my garden is absolutely full of shimmering black crustaceans, Portugese Millipedes...and Ive only seen 1 earwig. Your traps worked a treat, and tomorrow I will empty the traps and do it all over again. Believe it or not, my strawberry plants have NOT been eaten, they are in a different planter, sitting on top of our retaining wall....Im going to paint the planter with vegetable oil so they can NOT climb into the planter. So there you go...success...and a little extra info for other gardeners...these traps catch millipedes too....thank you so much. (Southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia)

P.S. I forgot to mention, I used honey, soy sauce and oil.

I'm glad that this was brought up again....so many people have had success with dowlinggram's brew (or similar) and it's absolutely worth a try.

rhizo_1...I cant tell you how many millipedes and earwigs (not as many) that I have caught since trying this method, yet the little b's are still eating my new leaves....there must be millions of them in my garden.

Diamat I am in your camp as to earwigs here in the mountains of southwest VA. After weeks invested in starting and growing many of my veg seeds indoors as i have been doing for years (heat mat, plant lights and all the time & emotional investment that goes with it!) i began to put out many of my tender babies last week. Collards, kale, broccoli, basil and italian parsley decimated in two nights. Heartbreaking! Tomatoes and allium (such as my shallots) are always spared. I used to have modest earwig issues until last spring which is when the area of my raised beds became overrun with them in late April/early May. Inspect for them an hour after sunset or a half hour before sunrise and you may see nothing. But i went out at 2AM in May 2015 with a flashlight and i was astonished to see hundreds of them crawling all over my collards like locusts having a grand feast. Chances are good the dark, non-woven weed control fabric i use as a big work saver/soilwarmer/moisture control has exacerbated the problem by giving the SOBs ideal daytime napping conditions. I set up traps LY which barely put a dent in a population so large. Have also used diatomaceous earth, and pyola, all with inadequate effectiveness. I prefer organic methods but sometimes i'd like to nuke them. Good luck!

How, may I ask do you make the garlic spray? Nancy

Has anyone tried sprinkling boric acid around the edges of your flower/veggie beds, or in the cracks of patio stones? I read on another site that it works well but wanted to get as much advice out there as I can.

Would garlic olive oil work as a spray?

I sprayed a garlic-based concentrate (1 part to 9 parts water) called Garlic Barrier which has a reputation for repelling a host of insects organically. It is only fair to say earwigs are NOT specifically mentioned on the label, but i thought it worth trying. Went out that night well after dark and my flashlight revealed earwigs still dining on my kale. Re-sprayed a couple more times over the next 2-3 days (although it claims its effects are absorbed by the plant as sulfer compounds and is effective for five days i seem to remember). Still saw some, albeit fewer. I can say with certainty it is NOT a completely effective repellent for earwigs, although it is possible it is slightly effective. I think the declining numbers I am seeing now is more a result of the normal seasonal cycle. Earwigs in the mountains of SWVA are most prevalent in moist conditions during late spring and early summer. As the summer wears on and days get hotter and drier, I observe a decline in their visible numbers every year, regardless of what I do. By now they have probably already laid their eggs for the next 'crop' of baby kale munching _astards. (The good news? No vampires in the yard.)

There are a lot of great ideas here. I bought this property 2 years ago but I feel like there should have been a separate lease signing for these stupid pests....they owe me a lot of money! First off, if it's leaves around fence lines, outside drains, around house line ect., clean it out! I went to the $ store and got some ant and roach killer(yellow bottle of powder, can mix with water as a spray also) and applied it around the back border of my house and in the morning hundreds of earwigs died. You can buy this almost any where, usually at about $6-7 but I got lucky at the dollar store. Works fine. Just be careful with small children and pets, I like it in places that are not busy with humans like the far reaches of my back yard. But remember this is just ONE suggestion. I will also try the oil mix for other areas like my front porch where the kids hang out all the time.

Does anybody know how long you can use the molasses, oil, soy sauce mixture? I used it last night night and caught about 20 earwigs/ jar and put them in again tonight. When do I need to dump it out and start new batches?

I'm starting a new large garden where it had been neglected for decades as the house had been tenanted. A lot of earth moving and planting. Earwigs are destroying my cherries, roses, buddleia and even fig. I live in mid-north South Australia.

It's not just killing them that's important but doing it cheaply. They do flock to traps of cheap vegetable oil with a touch of soy sauce; using equal parts seems a waste of soy sauce. They will climb into the jars with no encouragement so it doesn't matter if they're partly buried or not. I buy the cheapest from the supermarket in two litre containers and need two for each time I replace the oil.

They will keep jumping into the jars whether there are bodies in there or not so I only empty when full.

They stink something terrible so I often need a mask and dig a big hole to bury them or in winter pour them on the bonfire as I build it up.

Oil kills them because they can't breathe. They're invertebrates. As much as I loathe them I feel sorry for the way they die when hit with fly spray but it's the only way to clean out a nest.

I also spray regularly from a backpack with either Pyrethrum moved with white oil as a surfactant or the last of the Carbaryl I have (it's been banned). I've yet to use Coopex because it's too expensive.

And despite all this I'm losing the battle since they moved onto the twenty roses I planted that I'll have to start pulling out as I have with some of the cherries.

I've yet to try petroleum jelly but will give that a go, although ineffective on bush roses.

The only solution is to introduce chooks, or chickens, but I need to leave home on occasion for months at a time so that's not an option.

Personally, chooks aside, I see no effective solution other than planting trees and shrubs earwigs don't like. More Ash, Oak, Australian natives, Crab apple, Mulberry and others I've yet to look at. Out with roses, which would be a pity, and out with Cherry.

paulhorne, if you have to be away from home for months at a time, you don't stand a chance against earwigs. They will be multiplying by the thousands while you're away. Your only chance is to get chickens and find a house sitter who will look after your chickens for you. There are very few plants that earwigs don't like to eat.

Thanks jtflowerman but I have locals who will do a few things for me while I'm away. Just not everything I'd do.

The tubs of dead earwigs can fill up with earwigs and get emptied monthly at the worst.

And my watering system runs off a timer so I just need someone to check weekly that it works.

On the subject of petroleum jelly or Vaseline advice is to never use it on plants. Ever. It'll kill trees quicker than earwigs.

In the church block next door to me there are a lot of Aleppo pines, and a lot of pine needles that I'm starting to use as mulch, and I'm hoping the slight acidity will discourage earwigs. Likewise spent coffee beans from coffee shops, also slightly acidic and a good mulch. Time will tell.

BEER!!! My flower garden is invaded by earwigs and at first I thought it was slugs...so I used the slug control method of taking lids and filling them with beer at night and setting them ground level...well I found out it was earwigs from All The Dead One's captured in the beer. It attracts them and they drown!!! I am going to now put vaseline around the bottom of the plants after reading this in an earlier post and Hope Soon the problem will be fixed...if not - goodbye plants cause they are eating them like Crazy!!!