An update. Zucchini, carrot, lettuce, parsnip, climbing bean and French bean seedlings all being skeletonized. Out again tonight at 2300hrs with a fresh Pyrethrum spray mixture. The zucchini leaves you could hardly see for the earwigs. All the other plants, occasional earwigs until you gave a puff of spray - then you could see swarms of them. Maybe they do some good but this is the killing season!! Remember, a quick visual inspection at night may not reveal the true extent of infestation. In some places the garden edge boards are two or more high. Every join, gap etc when sprayed showed thousands of earwigs. I do not like spraying and I will try the cooking oil/fish sauce in ground traps - if there is anything left.

Hello, I planted carrots seeds for the first time in containers, following the planting calendar of Maricopa County, and after 7 days my seedlings started sprouting. Two days later they look burned. Any tips on preventing this from happening?

Having a problem with slugs eating the carrot seedlings shortly after germinating I took a diff approach. I had an odd shaped pallet I brought home from work. Don't have any idea what came on it but it measured 6ft x 18in. I moved the slats on 1 side closer together, filled in the gaps on the other side, then added a 2x4 the full length of what would be the bottom. Nothing had to be sealed just have the slats close enuff to hold in the soil. In essence, I guess it was a raised bed for carrots. I drove 2x4's into the ground to screw into the carrot box and hold it about 6in off the ground. Just enuff to keep the slugs away. Then I sifted the compost and garden soil then mixed in some sand to go in the carrot box. The box is about 3in wide but just wide enuff to plant 2 rows in alternate spacing. It is about 14y/o now, had to repair a couple times but it has served me well. I have gotten carrots 11-or-12 in long many times. This year it is home to a couple of tomato plants which germinated from the compost I added. I have also grown beets in it but this year the heavenly woodchuck sampled some while I was away :(

My carrots disappeared without a trace. No loose top ferns laying around? My carrots are planted in ground and it takes a good pull to get them up (raised beds easier?), esp not breaking the tops when pulling. I have rabbits here but they don't bother the carrots and would have to do some digging to get them up. Does the soil look dug up or were the carrots pulled straight out leaving perfect holes? If the latter it's 2 legged and probably 2 handed.