I've posted this before about earwigs but maybe it bears repeating. I had an infestation of the critters. I planted a bed of different varieties of marigolds and those suckers ate every one down to the nubs in 1 night. I went searching on line for something to control those pests and found this. I tried and was amazed at how many I caught in 1 night Bait for Earwigs. Equal parts of soy sauce, cooking oil and (molasses or corn syrup). The molasses or syrup is bait to attract them--the oil doesn't allow them to crawl back out and the salt in the soy sauce finishes them off and makes the mixture dark so they think it is just a hole. Put it in a small container— I use those small scoops from laundry soap and place a stone on top but you can use any small container even the bottom of a soda or water bottle and anything for a lid. Cover 1/2 inch of the bottom of the container with the mixture and bury it up to the brim in the soil where you have a problem with them. Prop a lid over it so it doesn't get diluted by rain and so it is a nice dark place for them to hide for the day--ha. When you prop the lid, leave a small space for them to crawl into the container. You might have to wait a couple of days for it to work, but the first time I tried it I used a baby food bottle and it was full to the brim with little grey baby earwigs the next morning. I was surprised at just how many I did get. Try it. It really works. Now I put out the bait in the spring when I plant my flowers and occasionally during the summer if I feel I need it. The spring is when the baby earwigs are hatching out and I get them before the do much damage to my flowers and garden

Thanks so much for your reply! I've been wondering about the sun...I first used this bed in 2008, and had a bunch of squash then. I didn't plant anything there in 2009, so the bed was unused for 2 years. Now I'm wondering if those trees are, in fact, a lot bigger!. I have cut branches back several times, and the squash do get direct sun for a good 6-7 hours a day, but maybe that's not enough. There's a spot nearby that gets much MORE sun, but I've been afraid to move them. Maybe if I very carefully dug up the entire surrounding dirt, and disturbed them as little as possible? Or just write it off to experience? I'm still pretty much a veggie newbie. Thanks again! Betty

Hi Laura, For me the HOTTER the better..I have let my greenhouse go up to as high as 100 this time of year..The sun is still not high enough to burn my plants, especially with no leaves yet..But it certainly speeds the process up of making them start to leaf out.. My the time they do leaf out, I am getting inflo's and the greenhouse is then kept only as high as the nineties..they love this warmth... You know what I do to keep the temps in my greenhouse up to at least the 50's by night, when temps outside at night are still falling to the 20's? I use a space heater, sometimes two at once, and it stays toasty warm in there until the sun comes up again...If it is going to be a cloudy snowy, or rainy day, I keep them on all day. This works wonders to me...I was able to keep my greenhouse outside till December last year, so now I know I can start it much earlier this year, and make my plumies happier much quicker.. I will tell you that even if your temps go as low as the 40's by night, and warm nicely by day in the full sun, you will still see your plumies react quite nicely, better than keeping them indoors, unless you can give them 15 hours of sun and light, which can never compare anyways to just having them out in your greenhouse as you plan.. One more IMPORTANT thing I always do to prevent problems for mine.. I SPRAY THEM WITH A GOOD INSECT SOLUTION, AND WASH ALL THE TIPS AND STEM WITH SOAPY WATER..THEN I SPRAY WITH A GOOD MOLD PREVENTOR, SUCH AS "SERENADE", then I never have a problem with black tip rot or insects as the leaves emerge..No spidermite issues for sure..Hope this helps.. I am listening to everyone here about fertilizing and taken in other ideas, and I really appreciate it everyone! Good luck! Let us know how it goes, karyn, please... Mike..:-)

I was one of those little girls who charmed the socks off a childless neighbor couple. This couple were in fact the beloved go to friendly neighbor to countless youngsters in the very small town where we lived. Moving in next door at age 5 was one of the top 5 best things to happen in my life. I had a good home life, but if the chips were down for any reason, I could be found at Bert and Dave's house pouring my heart out. Bert taught me things that my Mom didn't do like knitting, crocheting, quilting and cooking with her Italian twist to everything. And Dave instilled in me the love of gardening. I helped him plant the flowering sweet pea seeds in always cold mid March. My fingers would be freezing to the point of pain, as we wound the string on the 50 foot long frame that the plants climbed on. But I was helping Dave and would have it no other way. He always saw to it that I got that first picking of those oh, so sweet smelling flowers for my room. Twenty years ago DH and I were making the 400 mile trip 'back home' to take my Mom out for Thanksgiving dinner. We stopped at the nursing home where Bert was living. Slight dementia had at age 88 taken hold on her, but she was other wise doing ok. I told her that we had come to take her out for Thanksgiving dinner. "Oh, no" she said, "that is just for family, you go on ahead and enjoy you time with your Mom". Bertha, I told her, you are family! "Well then", she replied, "by God I will go with you". I was so pleased and proud to have her with us for that day. My "Bertha" would be gone within a year. Rhizo, over the years, I have always tried to be that 'go to friend/neighbor for the kids around us. I hope I have succeeded and hold even a small place in the good memories of those kids like you are doing now.