So we had a
bug problem in our backyard last year.
Earwigs to be exact, and hundreds of them. Some of them were finding their way into our
house, while others were content to munch away at our wooden
fence and cause other related
havoc on our
property.
I've never had a problem using
chemicals to kill insects before; in fact, I don't have much problem using chemicals to do pretty much anything, as I feel as long as you follow
instructions and put your faith in our many
federal safety regulations, all is
good to go.
However, I made a startling
discovery with the past earwig problem that made it so I could
manufacture my own anti-earwig solution from
household products. See, the earwigs were avoiding an area behind our
shed in the back. It was actually almost a perfect 3-foot
circle of earwig-free area, right around a bucket back there.
In that bucket? Leftover
garlic cloves and some
water.
So I
experimented. Here's what I came up with:
Derfel's "Killer Earwig Solution"
- 3 cups water (tap is fine)
- 2 tablespoons dish soap (Palmolive is what I used, but using it takes it out of the realm of "organic". Use your homemade soap if you wish.)
- 3-4 crushed garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspooon dried Habanero peppers
- 1 spray bottle
Now, the idea is to let this sit outside in the
summer heat for about 2-3 days after you mix it, so it gets nice and strong. I actually
multiply the recipe by about 4 and use a small bucket to do the
dirty work. Then spray this
sucker (which smells mostly of day-old
Italian cooking!) straight onto the earwigs, and around the areas they are
infesting. Any earwigs
unlucky enough to catch a full spray of the stuff will
writhe around in anger and then (
*POP*) will wither and die. This all happens in about 20 seconds, so if it's taking longer either let it sit for a little longer, or add more peppers and garlic. The
aroma fades after a while when you spray, but I find that earwigs won't come near the areas you spray in for a good week or so, so just reapply until your problem is gone!
I also find this
solution works to keep
flies and
mosquitos away, but the smell really isn't something you want lingering during a
BBQ party or anything anyways.
Ereneta says Yeah. Too bad Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate isn't a natural ingredient. BTW, I suspect your bug spray would work as Deer repellant, too.