How to Kill Earwigs & Slugs in the Garden

Earwigs---as well as slugs---may infest a garden, eating the leaves of your plants.

Earwigs are not detrimental to a garden under normal circumstances. If, however, you have treated your garden with a lot of pesticides and created an imbalance in the insect population, they can become overwhelming and start eating your greenery. Any number of slugs in a garden, on the other hand, is a problem that requires immediate attention. Whether the challenge is the presence of earwigs or slugs, you may eliminate them by following a few simple steps.

Things You'll Need

• Powdered earwig pesticide
• Bran
• Milk carton
• Pencil
• Oily tuna fish can
• Cooking oil
• Soaker hose pieces
• Vinegar
• Honey
• Yeast
• Water
• Salt
• Spray bottle

Instructions

Earwigs

1. Mix bran and pesticide in a milk jug. Fill it about 1/4 full of 3 parts bran to 1 part pesticide. Poke holes in the carton above the level of the mixture, using a pencil. Use pesticide recommended for earwigs. The earwigs will go into for the bran and come into contact with the poison. Set the jug on the edge of the garden.

2. Fill an empty oily tuna fish can halfway with cooking oil and place it in the garden. The earwigs will climb into the container, drawn by the odor, and drown. Use several containers. Empty them every few days and add new oil.

3. Place 2-foot-long pieces of soaker hose near plants. Earwigs will stay in the dark tubes during the day. Pick the hoses up in the morning and shake the bugs out and into a tray of vinegar, which will kill the earwigs.

Slugs

1. Boil 1 tsp. of yeast and 1/4 cup of honey with 1 cup of water and fill a tuna fish can or a container of similar size halfway. Dig a hole and put the container in the ground so that the top is even with the ground. The slugs will crawl in, drawn to the smell, and drown.

2. Mix equal parts vinegar and water and put it in a spray bottle. Spray the slugs with the mixture to kill them.

3. Sprinkle salt directly on to the slugs to kill them.

References

• Paghat: Are Sowbugs & Earwigs Beneficial to Your Garden
• Pest Control Products: Earwigs
• Weekend Gardener: Snails and Slugs