Earwigs are eating everything!

[DeneciePie]

Any help appreciated!
Our house had been vacant for a couple of years (you have heard of the foreclosure problem in the States) when we got it and it had virtually no plantings around it. Now we are noticing holes in a lot of the leaves of our baby plants and LOTS of earwigs hiding in the mulches! How do we protect our tiny plants from these marauders?
What in the world did they eat before we came along and planted this banquet they are enjoying?

Help!!

[frozenthunderbolt]

scrunched up newspaper, in a darkish place. leave a day or two and you should be able to harvest lots of 'wigs. freeze 'em, spray 'em, squash 'em or burn paper and all as your ethics dictate.

[Clara]

I could be very wrong....but is it definitely the earwigs? I remember reading somewhere that they are virtually harmless to gardeners and should be tolerated as they do deal with some pests. They are quite often found in fruit etc in the holes that other insects have made, they are just squatting!!!

[Odsox]

I could be very wrong....but is it definitely the earwigs? I remember reading somewhere that they are virtually harmless to gardeners and should be tolerated as they do deal with some pests.

I'm afraid you are very wrong Clara ... I am pestered with earwigs too, not so bad this year (so far) but the last three years they reached plague proportions here.
Inspecting my plants with a torch after dark showed thousands of the little beggars all munching away at the tender shoots.
Carrots seedlings are the most vulnerable here, they can get totally grazed off in one night, but just about everything else is as well until they get big unpalatable leaves.
Newspaper laid down does work, but it's difficult to kill them all as they all run in various directions when you lift the paper.
The best trap I have found is several empty tins can filled with hay/dead grass upside down on a short stick. The earwigs climb the stick at daybreak and sleep in the hay, then it's a case of tipping them out into a container and doing what you will with them.

[DeneciePie]

I'll give trapping a try. Wish I knew of some way to get bats down to eat them up at night! I am finding piles of a hundred or so in odd nooks and crannies, but they do run all directions and are hard to squish before they hide elsewhere!


YUCK!

Thanks for the advice! I'll let you know the results.

[Ellendra]

Bats aren't much for ground-dwelling insects, but birds are. Are you allowed to have chickens there? Or ducks? Even a few birdhouses in strategic places might help.

[Odsox]

Bats aren't much for ground-dwelling insects, but birds are. Are you allowed to have chickens there? Or ducks? Even a few birdhouses in strategic places might help.

Problem is earwigs are nocturnal and are asleep hidden away when the birds are about.

[frozenthunderbolt]

I'll give trapping a try. Wish I knew of some way to get bats down to eat them up at night! I am finding piles of a hundred or so in odd nooks and crannies, but they do run all directions and are hard to squish before they hide elsewhere!
YUCK!
Thanks for the advice! I'll let you know the results.

Perhaps a bagless cordless hand vac?