Natural Repellent Ideas to Keep Earwigs Out of Your Garden

Earwigs are nasty little pests that can turn your garden into something not so desirable. If you notice bite marks on your flowers, dahlias, zinnias, and the leaves of your beets and beans, you might have earwigs. An earwig is a strange-looking insect that has pincers on the end of its back abdomen. The places that these insects like to hide are dark, dry places. But the great news is that you can get rid of these nasty pests from your garden with a few simple strategies.

Rolled-Up Newspaper

There are several different methods you can try to effectively trap earwigs. Since earwigs love to hide in dark, dry places, you can take a rolled-up newspaper and place it in your garden just before dark. Earwigs will be attracted to it and hide in the newspaper. In the morning, just toss the newspaper out with the earwigs still inside.

Small Piece of a Garden Hose

Take a garden hose and cut it into a six-inch piece, and place it in your garden just before dark. You can place the hose just lying on the ground or you could stick it into the ground. At night the earwigs will go into the hose piece to hide, in the morning just shake out the hose piece with the earwigs still inside. Shake out the garden hose piece into a bucket of soapy water.

Bait Traps

Another effective strategy to get of earwigs from your garden is to set bait traps. It's really very simple, just bury a small can that is flush with the ground and then fill it with beer, just a little less than half should do the trick. Since earwigs are attracted to the beer, they will investigate and fall into the can and drown. This trap works for another garden pest, which is the snail.

Formula for Earwig Repellent

Not only does this repellent work on earwigs, it also works on other garden pests as well.

1 cup of water

5 cloves of garlic

3 drops of liquid detergent or liquid soap

You need to puree the garlic and the water in a blender until it is liquefied. Then strain the mixture, and then add 3 drops of the liquid detergent or liquid soap. Make sure to add enough water, so it will amount to one quart. Now you can put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray on the plants in your garden to help keep them free of pests. Check for burning on all of the plants in the garden before you attempt to spray a full treatment.

These strategies are easy and natural, and are very effective in keeping earwigs under control so your garden can flourish.

Sources: Natural Pest Control for Your Garden