War on Bugs

We have holes in our basil, zucchini leaves, and the marigolds were killed off.  I replaced the marigolds with zinia.  Now the zinia are being eaten, too.  A few days ago, I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the basil, to no avail.  I saw the earwigs last night when I went out with my flashlight.  I'm ready to get these creeps!

The first items on the list are to be sprinkled or sprayed directly on the plants.  Although, Sevin says it can be used on vegetables, I don't put anything on my vegetables that has so many warnings on it, so Sevin is going only on the zinias.  The homemade spray is using this recipe that I found online after a helpful neighborhood garden store manager told me about it.  Apparently, dish soap kills bugs.  Here is the recipe, since it took me so long to find it:
Concentrate:
1/2 Tbsp. Dawn liquid dish soap
1/2 c. oil (the cheap stuff)
Mix together:
4 tsp. of concentrate
1 pint water
The directions say to spray leaves and undersides of leaves.  Also, it's best to spray on cooler days (< 85 degrees).

Non-organic poison powder

Homemade bug spray

The other strategy is to make some traps.  The earwigs will come for the beer or tuna juice (yum!) and will stay because the oil will trap and drown them.  A video from an entomologist shows exactly how to do this and how it works.

Beer

Earwig death trap

-吴碧芙