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JovianPyx
Joined: Nov 20, 2007 Posts: 1988 Location: West Red Spot, Jupiter
Audio files: 224
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 6:57 am Post subject:
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Grumble wrote: | Why would you want to get rid of earwigs?
Quote: | Earwigs are nocturnal feeders that dine on other insects, as well as vegetation like moss, fungi and lichens. Additionally, they do eat decaying organic material ā think mulch or piles of leaves ā and may also feed on greasy food items that may be left out in the kitchen. |
They look like useful insects to me... |
If you own a home and want a vegetable garden, earwigs are not your friend. My first approach was to plant in pots instead of just planting in the ground. This has been ineffective, so I need a more aggressive approach. I am not trying to kill all of the earwigs in the state of California. Just the ones that attack my vegetable seedlings.
They are destructive to young seedlings, especially when there is an inordinate number of earwigs. I've planted many peppers which germinate and within a day or two the earwigs snip them off at ground level and eat the trimmings. All of my new plants have typical earwig damage - serrated cut edges of leaves, leaves with holes and new buds snipped off. This year they are especially numerous because we've just come out of an 8 year drought. Recent rains have caused an explosion in their birthrates. And they can and do bite humans if they remain on the skin long enough. It wouldn't bother me if it wasn't all of the seedlings I've planted. Bean plants are normally quite robust here, but mine are stunted because the insects chew up any new growth that occurs during the night. All three of my bean plants look like they are going to die.
I also read that wiki article, but the article doesn't say what their preference is. My experience is that they prefer young tender seedlings and new tender bud shoots. Plus, I live in the desert - there is no moss and very little fungus. Also note that there are many varieties of earwigs and not all are insectivores. There are also many other creatures that have beneficial aspects - the black widow spider is an example - yes they eat insects - but they also bite humans (we have black widows here and I do what I can to eliminate them in and around the house - even though they have a beneficial aspect - I'll let less nasty spiders take care of that). I also searched for remedies which are quite numerous indicating to me that I'm not the only one with this problem.
I never trust Wikipedia to tell the entire truth. _________________ FPGA, dsPIC and Fatman Synth Stuff
Time flies like a banana. Fruit flies when you're having fun. BTW, Do these genes make my ass look fat? corruptio optimi pessima
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JovianPyx
Joined: Nov 20, 2007 Posts: 1988 Location: West Red Spot, Jupiter
Audio files: 224
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Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 4:35 pm Post subject:
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Before applying the petroleum jelly, I found 6 earwigs in the pot at 04:30 with a flashlight. The morning after I applied the petroleum jelly (unscented) there was only one earwig in the pot (which could have been a culling escapee from the night before). The next day and thereafter (3 days I think) there have been zero at a time around 04:00. It is dark and the insects are nocturnal. I find them everywhere under objects in the yard, pots, bricks, etc.
I'm waiting to receive a large container of the stuff because I have other planting vessels I'd like to protect.
I like it because it's inexpensive, not toxic and doesn't get into the soil. The band is about 2 inches wide and is just thick enough that you can see random dabs. About 5 inches (to 7) off the ground. One morning I saw 1 earwig on the pot but below the petroleum jelly band.
It may need to be wiped off and re-applied from time to time.
I can already see new growth coming out of everything that was chewed up, which was everything. It seems I might get radishes, cilantro and beans after all.
So far, I am very happy with the petroleum jelly method of earwig defense. _________________ FPGA, dsPIC and Fatman Synth Stuff
Time flies like a banana. Fruit flies when you're having fun. BTW, Do these genes make my ass look fat? corruptio optimi pessima
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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JovianPyx
Joined: Nov 20, 2007 Posts: 1988 Location: West Red Spot, Jupiter
Audio files: 224
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Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 10:52 am Post subject:
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The petroleum jelly is still there, have to wait until later in the summer to observe thermal resilience, but petroleum jelly doesn't liquefy at weather temperatures even here, so I don't expect running down the container. However, with mowing and weed whacking nearby it could accumulate plant particles which might make it ineffective. However, by that time, it may no longer need to be there since older plants develop a tough outer skin that is no longer attractive to the earwigs. In any case, I've ordered a very large container of the stuff so I can just wipe it off and apply new jelly. The plants are looking much healthier now. _________________ FPGA, dsPIC and Fatman Synth Stuff
Time flies like a banana. Fruit flies when you're having fun. BTW, Do these genes make my ass look fat? corruptio optimi pessima
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Cfish
Joined: Feb 24, 2016 Posts: 477 Location: Indiana
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Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 10:36 pm Post subject:
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Could I get a picture of an earwig? Iām sure I just call them something else. |
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JovianPyx
Joined: Nov 20, 2007 Posts: 1988 Location: West Red Spot, Jupiter
Audio files: 224
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 705
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 12:58 pm Post subject:
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Lots of birds seem to be enjoying the balcony garden. Tits feeding chicks (ehm) and there also some sparrows that have found their way here.
Although those aren't uncommon I actually hadn't seen them on my balcony before. So there is a lot of chirping throughout the day.
It's a bit difficult to take photos as I have to do it from the inside through a small window but here are some of the birds.
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 1:03 pm Post subject:
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At the same time there is a bit of an aphid genocide going on as the parasitoid/predatory wasps have arrived.
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 705
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 4:03 am Post subject:
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Among the regular visitors of my balcony garden is a family of 5 blue tits (1 parent, 4 chicks). I managed to capture 4 of them in 1 photo.
Also the return of,...
edit: the blue tits just arrived again (can't miss it with all the noise they make) and I now see 2 parents so that's 6 of them in total
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can you spot all 4 of them ?
also visible in this photo are the snapdragons and foxgloves that are starting to flower. |
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it's back! Probably a different pigeon and it doesn't seem to show any interest in nesting (yet) but I've spotted it foraging around in the witchgarden, picking at things. It doesn't seem to be pulling out young plants though. |
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube Last edited by PHOBoS on Thu May 30, 2019 11:09 am; edited 2 times in total |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 705
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 4:45 am Post subject:
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Last year I grew some passionflower from seed. Once it started to get colder and the leaves were turning brown I cut them back, wrapped the
container in some bubblewrap and placed it inside another container. They are pretty hardy plants but in a container (above ground) it can
freeze solid easier. When spring arrived this year and it got a bit warmer I unpacked it and they still had some healthy looking green stems.
However, instead of producing new growth they just turned brown and seemed to die off, so I didn't have much hope for them.
well, surprise! although the parts above ground have died off I just spotted some new growth on all 3 of them.
Also one of the seeds I planted as a backup has sprouted.
The Tiger lily is another one I wasn't sure about. Looking back at photos from last year it was already producing flower buds around this time
but this year it hasn't even surfaced yet. I just did a bit of careful digging and there is actually a growing tip slowly rising up. Apart from not
really storing the bulb properly it might have to do with the fairly low temperatures we are having this spring. (I wonder if that is also causing
the higher than usual amount of aphids)
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 705
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 5:00 am Post subject:
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PHOBoS wrote: | Speaking of sprouting,. Daturas are sprouting everywhere. They always do but it seems to be a lot more than usual this year.
No luck yet with the purple ones but the Belladonnas seem to be doing ok. |
I already removed a lot of seedlings a couple of weeks ago but a lot of new ones have appeared so I have some more work to do.
Also one of the purple daturas has finally sprouted
Phacelia tanacetifolia is flowering which is getting a lot of attention from (bumble)bees and the Armeria maritima 'Alba' is flowering too.
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 10:52 am Post subject:
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I removed a lot of datura seedlings and moved others around a bit so it looks more mangeable now.
I will have to remove a couple more but I'll wait to see which ones do best.
Also a photo of the Snapdragons. (after using a spraybottle with water to get rid of some aphids)
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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AlanP
Joined: Mar 11, 2014 Posts: 746 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 10:56 am Post subject:
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Tell the pigeon that if it doesn't leave, you'll take it's feathers away to make a new pillow |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:22 pm Post subject:
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some older photos I hadn't uploaded yet.
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:28 pm Post subject:
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and some recent photos.
A lot of plants that were supposed to flower towards the end of the summer have died but I have some plants left.
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2019 11:23 am Post subject:
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time for another update
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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AlanP
Joined: Mar 11, 2014 Posts: 746 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 8:20 pm Post subject:
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Possibly Phobos' fault, this. Dill, parsley, and chives, all in a pot just outside the kitchen door. |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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blue hell
Site Admin
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24079 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
Audio files: 278
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 4:21 pm Post subject:
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What a nice face :-)
_________________ Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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AlanP
Joined: Mar 11, 2014 Posts: 746 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 1:36 pm Post subject:
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Dill first, then the chives appeared, and the parsley is just now putting in an appearance. |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2019 12:33 pm Post subject:
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Nice to see some fresh greens from the other side of the planet
On this side things are dying off but I got some peppers and the Ipomoea lobata (Spanish flag morning glory) is flowering.
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not a pepper and actually poisonous |
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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AlanP
Joined: Mar 11, 2014 Posts: 746 Location: New Zealand
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JovianPyx
Joined: Nov 20, 2007 Posts: 1988 Location: West Red Spot, Jupiter
Audio files: 224
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:54 pm Post subject:
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Starting my garden this year with planting of pepper seeds indoors. I have them inside at night and in the sun during the day. I planted 8 jalapenos and 4 serranos. 6 jalapenos and 2 serranos have already germinated and none of the plants have trapped cotyledons in the seedhead (seen that kill pepper seedlings). So these look healthy and I hope to have most of them grow to fruiting. I LOVE peppers I'll probably do Cherry tomatoes too, but I need to buy seeds, I tried my old ones by they were too old and didn't germinate. Currently waiting for the ONE avocado I have on the tree to ripen. We had a bumper crop of oranges, lots of juice. _________________ FPGA, dsPIC and Fatman Synth Stuff
Time flies like a banana. Fruit flies when you're having fun. BTW, Do these genes make my ass look fat? corruptio optimi pessima
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