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kielemoani

Weeping Cherry Tree Pests (earwigs?) Controlled!

kielemoani
14 years ago

So, we planted this tree about a month ago after it was sitting in a root ball burlap sack for who knows how long, and when we were finally able to get it in the ground, a couple of big earwigs and a few babies climbed up the trunk. Didn't think too much of it at the time. Then about a week ago, leaves were turning to lacey bits with stripped branches and dropping off the tree like crazy, so I read up on a bunch of posts on this site and others. We checked the tree day and night for bugs, and nobody made an appearance, but the earwigs were the prime suspect. Since I only do organic stuff with our garden, I thought I'd try a garlic spray. Ground the garlic up with a morter and pestle and mixed it with water and ran it through a sieve into a spray bottle and sprayed it the first night. Still no sign of bugs, day or night. Then the neighbor handed us some neem oil so I put a tablespoon in with the garlic stuff and kept spraying it every other night. I also set a beer bottle trap and a cardboard tube out at night, and nobody was there come morning - so it looks like the bugs have made a break for it - whatever they are; earwigs, beetles, slugs, whatever! So if you are having mysterious bug issues that chew your leaves to bits, maybe try this method - it's organic and way cheap.

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