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You are here: Home / Gardening / How to Make a Homemade Earwig Trap

How to Make a Homemade Earwig Trap

July 3, 2015 by Emily Leave a Comment

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Use this tutorial on how to make an earwig trap to catch the earwigs in your garden.

How to Make a Homemade Earwig Trap - Tutorial for a quick and easy homemade earwig trap made with oil and soy sauce to protect your garden.

How is your garden coming along this year? Are you having any problems with garden pests like rodents or invasive insects? Earwigs can be a big nuisance when they start to chew the leaves of your plants. Sure, just about any insect can do this, but with earwigs will gnaw on your plants until the leaves are completely gone. Starter plants don’t stand a chance when their new growth is chewed down to the stem. Earwigs seek out damp, dark dwellings and will feast on just about any organic matter.

Earwigs Eating Plant

If any of your flowers, veggies, or herbs are starting to show holes chewed through the leaves, there’s an easy way to see if earwigs are the culprit. Wait until the evening when it has been dark for a good hour or two. Use a flashlight to take a look at your affected plants. Are they covered in earwigs? Do earwigs take off running when you gently shake the leaves? Homemade earwig traps are an easy and affordable solution to combat these little pests. They’re made with just a couple ingredients from your kitchen, further eliminating the need for pesticides.

With a little persistence you’ll be able to reduce the number of earwigs in your garden and hopefully save your plants before it’s too late.

How to Make a Homemade Earwig Trap

Homemade Earwig Trap Supplies

Materials:

  • 1/3 cup cooking oil
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 shallow plastic container or lid, about 2 to 3 inches deep
  • Scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut your container if needed to shorten the depth to 2 to 3 inches.

2. Add the oil and soy sauce.

How to make a homemade earwig trap with oil and soy sauce

3. Dig a shallow hole in the soil a few inches away from the plants being targeted. Bury your trap completely in the ground and fill dirt around the lip of the container. You will want your trap to sit evenly at ground level.

DIY Earwig Traps

4. Let the trap sit overnight.

5. Remove the trap in the morning and reuse until full or it needs a clean mixture.

Homemade Earwig Trap Tutorial

Simply put, the earwigs are tempted by the soy sauce and trapped by the oil and salty mixture. It is best to remove your homemade earwig traps in the morning to prevent attracting other insects and to avoid overflow in the event of rain or watering.

A few ideas for containers that work well are yogurt cups, emptied dip containers, and used party cups. You can usually use them for 2 to 3 nights before they get full and need to be refilled.

More Natural Ways to Repel Pests

How to Attract Ladybugs to Your Garden

Tips for Attracting Praying Mantis to Your Garden

How to Make Homemade Rabbit Repellent

Natural Ways Get Rid of Cockroaches

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Wasps

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Ants

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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