Yesterday the marigolds had to give up their shade. They had three days of peace and now must face the elements. I noticed even as they first were exposed that their leaves had some insect damage. At least there were petals still on them though. Much better results so far than last time. But today, the damage worsened. I decided to hold a stakeout to figure out who the culprit was.
I waited until it was dark. When the time was right, I peeled myself away from Enter the Dragon - Sidebar - Why, even though they're speaking English, does it still seem like everyone's speaking Chinese with radio personalities from the 20's doing the voiceovers? Anyway, I grabbed a flashlight and told Woody the plan. Complete silence and darkness until we get to the plants. The element of surprise is vital. Woody looked at me and sat at the door. That meant he was ready. I opened the backdoor and Woody went out screaming. Well, at least he was enthusiastic.
I checked the marigolds and saw, nestled between the soft orange petals, earwigs! I didn't really have much of a plan as far as bug removal. I definitely wasn't prepared to pluck them off with my bare hands. So I went to the garden shed and grabbed my shears. The first one dove for cover before I could get him, the second wasn't so lucky. The third I'm not sure about. I was in such a blind rage by that time I was running the shears through the dirt just hoping by volume I'd kill me a bug.
I sprayed (for the second time today) with the insecticidal soap, which specifically lists earwigs. If this is the effectiveness of organic gardening pest control, I'm going to seriously rethink organic gardening. As a last resort, I've consulted some voodoo methods on the web and am implementing them tonight. More on how well the bugs like to read newspapers and drink veggie oil tomorrow.
UPDATE:Apparently Woody likes to eat veggie oil, the bugs? Not so much.
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