Yesterday when I was trying to get the weeds out of what is supposed to be our melon bed, about a million baby earwigs popped out of the compost I was digging into. I was so startled I almost fell back onto the onion, herb, tomato bed. I, obviously, stopped working on the weeds right after that and went inside. I was completely freaked out. I'd already been thinking about earwigs since that one grown up one popped out of the trellis but I never thought we'd have such an infestation. After reading about how much damage a few could do I frantically emailed Mr. S. about trying to pick up some Diatomaceous Earth. It's not usually used outside but it is 100% organic, food grade, and effective crawling bug killer, so I went with it. I emailed saying that "we can kiss our gardens goodbye" if we didn't take care of this problem before the earwigs spread. Luckily, he is as invested in his garden as I am in mine and his, so he got the email and went straight out at 7am to get the powder. Turns out the hardware store didn't open until 8am but he went back out to get it then and lined all the beds and poured a generous amount on the dormant beds. THANK GOD! When I got up it was all done. He didn't spread any in Patch, I think because he knows I like to deal with Patch alone, but I did. I sat and watched, after outlining the bed, containers and Topsy hook, I watched a potato bug crawl into the powder start climbing up the brick wall of my bed, fall, crawl a little more, try again, and die. IT WORKED! I actually kind of felt bad for the little guy because the powder was meant for earwigs but I think potato bugs are bad for veggies too so I got over it. Considering that Diatom-Earth isn't really for outside use we'll have to re-do everything after the rain but I'm hoping that by then it'll have taken care of the major infestation and just left a few crawling pests and the flying ones behind. Mr. S. picked up something else that we can use to protect our plants against our 6-8 legged pests but I forgot what it was called. I do know it's 100% organic, supposedly effective, and it can be sprayed directly on veggies, fruits, berries, and herbs. I'll spot test it tomorrow and let you know the name and what happens.
Other than that I didn't do much in the garden today. I just checked on everything and made sure the soil was moist. Like I've said before I am trying to suppress my urge to over water so I didn't because it was beautiful but mildly chilly and all of the plants seemed perky and well watered. I think the Sea Magic has helped them out too. The radishes looked bushier and didn't have anymore holes in them. Now, as long as the earwig invasion has been controlled we'll be fine until the "Predalure" kicks in. As of this afternoon I hadn't seen one lacewing or ladybug. If those things don't end up working I'll be pissed. They seemed like such a nice and organic way to deal with pests. I hate having to use powders and sprays even if they are organic. Now, don't get me wrong, I would have used straight poison on the far bed to kill all of those earwigs but those were extenuating circumstances.
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| This is the brand and exact bag we bought. It's 4lb for about $8. Worth it in a pinch. |
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| What diatom earth looks like. |
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