earwigs eating all my Herbs

[Birchy]

Hello All,

I have just made my very first new Herbs garden this summer and at first it looked great. But a couple of months later I have noticed my Mint and Sage especially are been eaten by some little insect. I have holes all over the leaves.

My dad reckons they are earwigs but I can't see anything on the leaves so I'm not sure. If it is earwigs where are they hiding and how can I stop them eating me Herbs?

Pleeease Help!

Anthony

[jaguarondi]

Earwings can be devastating to plants occasionally, but attacks seem to be very sporadic. I wouldn't have thought they'd be too difficult to find if there are loads of them, but try sinking a (dry) pitfall trap and see what falls in.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Birchy

Hello All,

I have just made my very first new Herbs garden this summer and at first it looked great. But a couple of months later I have noticed my Mint and Sage especially are been eaten by some little insect. I have holes all over the leaves.

My dad reckons they are earwigs but I can't see anything on the leaves so I'm not sure. If it is earwigs where are they hiding and how can I stop them eating me Herbs?

Pleeease Help!

Anthony

On the plants you mention it is far more likely to be a moth caterpillar than earwigs, - these are likely to become inactive now, but see if you notice any fine webs holding together the leaves and stems that have been attacked. As to what to do, next year your herb garden will be more mature and this should enable you to crop in advance of moth attack, you can either dry or freeze the crop for future use.

CM

[Geoff F]

Going by my garden, small holes are usually the work of Flea Beetles especially during dry summer weather. Larger irregular holes are mostly caused by very small snails. Have a good search around under the leaves and around the stems, especially at night or early in the morning.

If it is these small snails the only remedy that I have found to be effect is to locate them and give them the 'pinch test'. Pinch really hard until the shell implodes. Although I suppose you could collect them together and drop them alive into the garden of someone you don't like!

Some beer filled pit traps might be worth a go; but it does seem like an awful waste of good beer, and there is a risk of accidentally killing some of the 'good guys'.

[davecatt]

A simple remedy which usually works and causes no harm to plant or wildlife is to spray the plants with soapy water.

Try a mild solution of washingup liquid and water sprayed in a fine mist over the leaves.

Dave

[Paul mabbott]

It's very unlikely that earwigs (Dermaptera) would 'devastate' foliage of herbs or any other plants: they are predominantly predators of smaller invertebrates.
Occasionally earwigs will 'nest' in developing shoots - especially flower buds. They have been a special problem for people who grow dahlias, chrysanthemums and other plants for show: showers put paper bags or other protection around the flower buds, earwigs find these a nice place to rest up and, while there, have a nibble of the flowers .....
.... but in most circumstances the are not a problem.

[jaguarondi]

True, usually they are not a problem. I've worked in agriculture for almost 40 years and can only recall seeing bad earwig damage to crops twice, in both cases close to hedgerows. The foliage looked very tatty - but it was easy to find the culprits.