The Message Board

RE: earwigs in compost

Posted 813 days ago

They're just one of the lots of things that like to call a good compost heap home. They can be a pain if they start chomping at your small seedlings, but while they can get an easy (vegetarian) feed in the compost they'll tend to stay there. The spiders and cockroaches generally keep them in check. Scary, i'nt it !
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: earwigs in compost

Posted 813 days ago

thanks very much hutcho, 'tis a little irky, one of the few things im still working on getting used to....
so there's no problem spreading over the garden even with them in it? will they probably just scramble back to the compost bin?
cheers again.
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plant a seed, start a life

RE: earwigs in compost

Posted 810 days ago

Shouldn't be if you give them some mulch to hide in. They don't like to go across open ground so to help protect small seedlings, DON'T mulch them 'til they're about six inches tall. Same thing for slaters. This WON'T help one little bit for slugs and snails though. On the plus side, earwigs also eat meat, e.g. aphids, slugs, etc. Confused yet?
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

Earwigs in compost

Posted 809 days ago

Well, I am quite surprised to have infestation of earwigs in my compost bin too. One gardener told me that they are rather beneficial in scheme of things. Between other things they get rid of maggots of flies that crawl in compost too. I am not sure if they bother earthworms, maybe some of the tiniest ones. I have hundreds of worms in compost bin. Not to mention ants and little lizards. If anything I am more worried about ants. Quite funny, compost creatures seem to be different this year compared to few years ago, wander why?

RE: earwigs in compost

Posted 806 days ago

Thanks hutcho and Georgen very much, at least i know it's not just me, hutcho; much appreciated for the tips, i have mulched the garden well and do throw some over the compost every so often.
i did mulch too early for one thing, this would explain why one of my cucumber seedlings was eaten alive, still 2 remaining and large and strong now. lesson learned.
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plant a seed, start a life