Help! I'm being over-run by Earwigs!

This message was edited Sunday, Jul 14th 1:08 AM

They're terrible beasties, I know! Last year was our terrible earwig year. It's moisture they seek, so keeping things as dry as possible in and around your house will help. You can leave damp newspaper on the ground at night, and smash the earwigs that congregate there the next day, too. They're a scourge and so disgusting!! Yick!

Oh, how gross. You'd be better off purchasing something to kill them if you have that many. Put it around the base of your foundation. You can get it in a dust and in granular form. Good luck!! "T" :)

check this out, same discussion is going on in the brugmansia forum....I did a bit of research and found a homemade remedy I am going to try

http://davesgarden.com/showthread/281271.html

for the ant problem, i use l-cup borateem and 3-T sugar, mix up and sprinkle on the ground where the ants come up, they track it back to their nest and WHAM, their gone!! now for the earwig, beetles, and worm war!!!! yes, we too are being invaded!!!

What is Borateem? is it readily available? I would like to try this...

If nothing else, the ants will be nice and clean...lol >>> http://www.tecprod.com/cat/fx290013.htm

HCZONE, thank you - I had just done a search, I'm going to go out and get some, it is a bleach, I hadnt heard of it, and I will have to try some on the laundry.....wow, double duty, I love double duty things....

I'm not sure if that's the borateem tootsie was talking about...I just thought it was funny :) I'd like to find something for ants myself. Something safe around my dog. I have them sneaking in under the door :(

Borateem is a brand, and the product is a salt of boric acid which has been hydrated. It is useful in controlling many insects, as it swells once they ingest it, eventually using up all of their body fluids. They will puff up inside and have a sort of implosion. For this reason, it should be kept away from children. You can probably get the same results with boric acid as with the laundry product. Last year, I was deluged with scorpions, killing more than a dozen a day for two months. I had an exterminator out, but told him I wanted to use organic products, no chemicals, as I am recovering from cancer surgery and don't want to take any chances with chemicals. He went into the attic and spread some white powder around, wrote out a bill and left. I looked at the statement the state requires him to give, describing exactly what products he used, and it didn't take an Einstein to figure out that he had used plain old boric acid and charged me $200. I get a small bottle of it for less than $6, and it lasts years. The scorpions kept appearing for several more months. But this spring, I have seen fewer than ten. Maybe the small ones ingested it as they hatched and never grew up. As for the double purpose of borax, there is nothing better for getting a sweet smelling wash. Cloth diapers were soaked in it when my children were babies, and it neutralized the odors. Cleaning your fridge with it eliminates some of those persistent odors, too. Many of the jobs you use baking soda for, borax can also perform. Borax is the Latin word for boric.

Oh Aimee, you must be deluged with pests...first the fire ants, then scorpions. how scary...I would be really scared. How is the fire ant population this year? ohhhh it just scares me to think about them.
sounds like the borax does the same thing as yeast and grits, expands when enteres into their system and since they cant expel gas they blow up.
I am on my way to the store to get some batteries for the store, and will get some BORAX....can I use it on colors too? or just whites?

Yes, Pebble, it is very good for brightening colors. In fact, in the past there were laundry products containing borax for that purpose.

I am indeed overrun by pests. But I do live in a rock house that was built in 1939, am surrounded by pastureland and rocky terrain and have stopped my former practice of setting off about 18 insect bombs once or twice a year, underneath and inside the house and even in the attic. Did I mention the squirrels and field mice in the attic, large rats in the outbuildings and possums everywhere? Oh, and the deer are really getting bolder. One problem is that the land around me is being developed, and my place is a haven for the displaced critters. I think the fireants have been this bad before but I got better results from Orthene than I seem to get now. And not having goats and sheep allows vegetation to get out of control to shelter and feed many things. It's a jungle out there!

ohhh Aimee....It's a good thing that the critters have a safe haven, but what about the unwanted critters?

You may have heard that you have to take the good with the bad. 'Tis true. If I ever (!) get back to normal energy levels, it won't be so overwhelming, but I can't seem to hurry that stage. I have learned more patience, though. No choice.

Aimee, you must have the patience of Job....
hang in there will all your creatures, big and small..