Busted!!
Another night, another earwig
I put petroleum jelly around the bases of the four test plants. I took pictures of two. I also covered the Brunswick cabbage again with a jar since it got eaten a lot last night when uncovered.
Quick checkup before work
Earwig battle
Several interested earwigs on oil jar edges and a few already in oil! Yay!
Less yay: more earwigs eating the Peruvian ground cherry (which is farthest from the oil).
More yay: big beautiful toad patrolling the backyard prairie.
A poem on current events, by Paula
Nibbling on my plants
Damned earwigs took my carrots
Let us go to war
No more diatomaceous earth, now for oil traps
I talked with a nice county extension agent today who said anything soft-bodied could be hurt by diatomaceous earth (DE) including toads, though being large and hopping they’ll be less so than a slug or earwig. But, I love my toads, so no more DE.
She did however suggest oil traps to reduce their population while I work to make the habitat less absurdly full of rotting wood (thanks past Claire for all the mulch).
Earwig prevention attempt again
I saw that the new bok choy and mizuna seeds are coming up so I tried all this diatomaceous earth again. I also put vaseline around stems of one each mizuna and bok choy as I read that can keep them from climbing too, though the seedlings are only barely 1/2″ tall so we’ll see.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT
It’s earwigs.
Good, bad, and !!! news
Bad news: something ate the two baby Rudbeckia fulgida I put out yesterday.
Good news: all the fluttermill evening primrose, same size as Rudbeckia, are fine. This includes the three just a few yards away.
!!! News… A yucca may be sprouting???