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Old 19-05-2003, 04:08 AM
Radika Kesavan
 
Posts: n/a
Default systemic for earwigs and rust

Me wrote:
I'm looking for a systemic that will treat both earwigs and rust. I've found
products, but not in the same bottle. I'd like to minimize the amount of
chemicals I put in the soil.


In El Nino years in California, rust goes away once the untimely rains
stop. All you would need to do, after the bothersome untimely rains stop
and the weather actually warms up, is to strip the infected leaves and
dispose off them in garbage (not in the compost). We have such a long
growing season here (and for you even more so than it is for me in
Northern CA) that this approach actually works.

As for earwigs, I try three approaches all of which work nicely: (a) put
out shallow bowls (cut out from bottoms of yoghourt containers work well
for this) cheapest possible beer. The evil-looking insects love beer,
get drunk and drown themselves by the droves; every couple or so days,
clean out the bowls and fill with fresh cheap beer; (b) crumple
newspaper pages or brown paper from bags you wish to recycle and throw
them around in the area where there is an earwig infestation; for
reasons that are not clear to me, earwigs love to go hide in the
crevices of crumpled newspaper (which works better than brown paper as
an attractant); every coupel of days, collect the Earwig Motels and
discard them in plastic bags closed appropriately (so that the earwigs
cannot simply run away) in the garbage; (s) provide a lot of other
organic material in your soil such as compost, etc. so that the earwigs
aren't tempted to chew on your roses and other ornamentals because there
is nothing else to eat.

I have not seen any damage from earwigs to my roses though they tend to
eat leafy green vegetables, particularly chard. However, I find them
very repulsive to look at and so, do not want to see them sleeping
inside the rose blossoms that I bring in for the vases ....

--
Radika
California
USDA 9 / Sunset 15