Dahlias and Earwig control

[thistle]

I absolutely love Dahlias but I was having so much damage to them caused by Earwigs.I tried the crushed Eggshells,and all the other controls I could find with little success. I think I have finally found something that does work.I bought a jar of inexpensive Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) and coated the stems all the way up to the Buds and Blooms and it seems to be working.I have not had any Earwigs on my Dahlias for over a Week now and my new Blooms are damage free,I am so happy,I wanted to share with anyone else having the same problem.

[otnorot]

Good idea,I found that growing dahlias in containers really cuts down on earwig damage.
Bill

[thistle]

Good idea,I found that growing dahlias in containers really cuts down on earwig damage.
Bill

I agree that would help with the problem,but I grow so many Dahlias and I don't have the space for so many containers. I love the dinner Plates,but they take up a lot of room. I am happy with Petroleum Jelly results so far,at least I have had the pleasure of seeing the Beautiful Blooms undamaged this Year

[B_BQ]

Earwigs have been a big problem in my neck of the woods this year. They're everywhere, and have decimated many of my perennials and even started on a Brug that I put into a perennial bed in a pot! Nasties. Does anyone know what their function is to better this world? Right up there with the black fly, the deer fly and the mosquitoe I would guess! lol
~BBQ

[otnorot]

B_BQ they eat rotting plants but when that's gone they eat anything that grows.TO get rid of some of them lay down bamboo or hollow tubs in the garden at night or crumbled up newspaper that you have pressed down with your foot,in the morning these will be filled with earwigs,now kill them.
Bill

[agedgardener2]

Does Wilsons' Earwig bait work? I bought some but haven't been well enough to put it out yet.My Chrysanthemums have had their petals eaten off the last couple of years.I have Malathion but hate to use it....it stinks!!

[Albert Pietersma]

My problem last spring was that when some of the dahlias were a couple of inches above the ground they were being eaten, with the eventual result that they died. I never saw the culprits eating them but suspect that it was the earwigs. At night with a flashlight I looked for slugs but never found any.
I tried the rolled up paper method and little containers with vegetable oil and caught some earwigs, but the problem continued. The vaseline cure intrigues me. Presumably, it could work on young sprouts as well as full grown plants. Does anyone have my problem?
Albert

[thistle]

could it possibly be Cutworm? Were the stalks eaten? My Dahlias were getting attacked by Earwigs this Year but they were quite large at the time they appeared. I put Vaseline on the stems to stop them crawling up and it did prevent a lot of damage.

[Albert Pietersma]

No, the young stalks were not attacked but the leaves were devastated.
Albert

[Northpine]

Probably doesn't help you, but my dahlias were devastated by slugs this year. I thought putting them in pots would prevent that, but it didn't help at all. I think the slugs liked living in the pots. Dahlias seem to be the absolute favourite food of slugs.