Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Margaret on July 01, 2020, 11:26:33 PM

Title: A plague of earwigs.
Post by: Margaret on July 01, 2020, 11:26:33 PM

I have a very large number of earwigs on my allotment this year and wonder if anyone else has the same problem.
Title: Re: A plague of earwigs.
Post by: James Cheshire on July 03, 2020, 01:19:19 AM
Have you had a lot of rain so far this year? I've found they're most abundant when the weather's been consistently wet through spring and early summer.
Title: Re: A plague of earwigs.
Post by: Diane Whitehead on July 05, 2020, 01:58:09 AM
I disliked them until the year we had trees defoliated by the recently introduced winter moth. The caterpillars ate all the flowers of the fruit trees too. Then I saw earwigs carrying caterpillars away. There weren’t enough to make much of a difference, but my feelings towards earwigs certainly changed.
Title: Re: A plague of earwigs.
Post by: Margaret on July 05, 2020, 07:53:14 PM


Hi James, We had a wet winter in London but an incredibly dry Spring. It got to the stage where they were threatening a hosepipe ban.  The allotment soil is light and free draining, the beds are edged with wood which in some areas has started to rot, and the paths are covered with wood chippings. I often see a dozen or more earwigs when pulling a weed but recently tidying away my seed trays I was shocked by hundreds of them between the trays. I would like to try and change my growing conditions so as to be less attractive to them.

Title: Re: A plague of earwigs.
Post by: Margaret on July 05, 2020, 07:56:40 PM

Hi Diane, I had winter moth on my pear tree this year. Very disappointing. I didn't see any earwigs on the tree but they would be hiding during the day. I will try and remember some of their good points when they come scurrying out of lettuce all over the worktop or leave the dahlias in ribbons.
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