treating for insects in my vegetable garden - Ask Extension
Had a bad time with earwigs and cutworms last year. used diatomatious earth and neem oil on the plants but wondered about treating the soil this sprin...
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treating for insects in my vegetable garden #819271
Asked January 26, 2023, 5:04 PM EST
Had a bad time with earwigs and cutworms last year. used diatomatious earth and neem oil on the plants but wondered about treating the soil this spring. I am fine with using chemicals if needed. Also had something in my strawberries, only saw the pupae about the size of a grain of rice looked like a beetle grub. It would eat all the roots and I didnt notice till half my bed was gone. any advice appreciated.
Deschutes County Oregon
Expert Response
Hello Vickie, earwigs and cutworms are tough to manage for sure. I see that Azadiractin, a little different than Neem oil is mentioned for the control of both earwigs and cutworms. Another organic soft chemical for both is spinosad. In order to stay unbiased I cannot give the names of specific products but if you look at labels of insecticides you can see if products have either of these ingredients and if those products control both earwigs and cutworms. One actually controls snails and slugs which we don't have much problem with except the little milky slug. Both of these are safe in the veggie/fruit garden. Be sure to read the label and follow instructions completely. This should help control these pests. Here is a link to see more ingredients to control earwigs and cutworms, look at table 2 pages 6-7 of the link.
https://pnwhandbooks.org/sites/pnwhandbooks/files/insect/horticultural-landscape-ornamental/content/pdf/pdfs/insect22f-9chemicalcontrollandscapenklbnk.pdf
There are other non-chemical things you can try. Here is a link to information about non-chemical management methods. https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/hort/landscape/common
Simply scroll down to find the insect in question and click on it for more info.
As far as the little insect pest in your strawberries I cannot suggest anything other than hand picking as the description is confusing. Perhaps you would be able to bring in several specimens to the Deschutes County Extension Office for someone to view the insect to ID it.
Good luck to you as you continue to work on pesky insect management in your garden.
https://pnwhandbooks.org/sites/pnwhandbooks/files/insect/horticultural-landscape-ornamental/content/pdf/pdfs/insect22f-9chemicalcontrollandscapenklbnk.pdf
There are other non-chemical things you can try. Here is a link to information about non-chemical management methods. https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/hort/landscape/common
Simply scroll down to find the insect in question and click on it for more info.
As far as the little insect pest in your strawberries I cannot suggest anything other than hand picking as the description is confusing. Perhaps you would be able to bring in several specimens to the Deschutes County Extension Office for someone to view the insect to ID it.
Good luck to you as you continue to work on pesky insect management in your garden.
