Sounds like Earwigs to me,they come out at night and disappear during the day unless disturbed.My Brugs are being eaten alive with these pests.I have sprayed round the bases with Earwig killer and so far so good.I don't know how long the repellant will last but I will keep repeating the spraying until I don't see any more damage.

Hi woodsgranny,
Do you see any droppings (usually brown looking) on any of the leaves? If so it could be either caterpillars or earwigs. Sometimes the caterpillars which can be the same color of green as the leaf will hide and lie down vertically along the leaf vein on the underside of the leaves. Sometimes I almost miss them when I'm checking! Earwigs usually come out at night and hide during the day. Slugs, snails, and grasshoppers can also make holes in leaves. You can go out at night with a flashlight to check for slugs and/or earwigs. Some people spray the slugs with ammonia and water to kill them or you can put down some type of slug killer at the base of the plants.

For earwigs: take an empty tuna or catfood can and dig it into the ground a little. Add 1 tablespoon each of veg. oil, molasses, and soy sauce. They will climb in and get coated with the oil and die.

As for things to spray on the brugs. There are quite a few home remedies for different problems. Try a search in the GW search menu. One I use sometimes for plant bugs involves water, dishsoap, and veg. oil spray.

For chemicals, ortho systemic works well- dilute as per instructions on the bottle. Some people have also used the 3 in 1 for roses very diluted.

Neem is a more natural extract from the NEEM tree and it takes care of/repels most pests but it cant be sprayed in direct sun or weather over 80-85F degrees. So you would have to spray at night and keep them in the shade a few days.

Hope some of this helps ya. I sure do miss it there in S. LA, The first thing I'm gonna do when I go back is to go to Cajun Charlies !! yum
~SJN

sultry,thanks so much for all the info.let me know when ya are coming this way,i'l treat at cajun charlies.i live 5 miles south of there..thanks again,patricia

For those crawling critters get some of that ground cover that stops weeds(cloth fabric) make a circle around the plant and put some diatomacious earth. It will cut them up as they crawl across it plus keep the weeds away. I used it for fleas (DE) and worked great. So I had plenty left it is cheap and I tried it on my plants getting slashed during the night. It put a stop to it.

I favor mechanical means when at all possible. It works for a long time and offer other benefits.

Jim

has anyone tried making a nicotine 'tea'? I have a sister who swears by this...she gathers cigarette butts (Honest!) and puts them into a gallon milk jug and fills with water...lets it sit for a few days. I've never tried it...

beth7happy
Be very careful using nicotine of any kind around Brugs or Dats. There is a strong potential virus that spreads deom those 2 plant families. You are cruising for bad trouble if you use a nicotine spray I have read on many sites.

jeep,what kind of earth?

Thanks woodsgranny. I will be sure to take you up on that, probably sometime this fall. I'll try to root you up something special :) I will let you know. Meanwhile email me and let me know what brugs you already have so I won't duplicate.
~SJN

Thanks for that info, Ruth...I've read that, too, but had forgotten! Appreciate the heads up before I tried this one!

They sell it at all the feed stores and maybe the box stores like Lowes or Walmart. The last bag I bought was $ 5.00. The pool stuff is cheaper but has been fired in a kiln and is siliconized. Supposed to be bad for your health if you inhale the dust.

It has micro sharp edges and cuts them up and dries them out.

Pest control

Diatomite is also used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the cuticle, the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. Beekeepers are apparently experimenting with it, to keep small hive beetles from breeding. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and humans. It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and eventually eliminate a cockroach infestation.

If it is used directly on the ground it mixes with soil and looses it efficiency. I like it a lot.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: diatomaceous Earth defined