Earwigs are ominvores - they are not picky with their diet. They eat other insects - aphids, scale, mites, fleas, various larvae, pill bugs, even spiders. They are also scavengers, feeding on decaying plant and animal matter (often found in compost). And they do eat flower, plants and their produce (veggies, soft fruits, berries) but are not all that particular about which they eat.

So it is not really an issue about eliminating certain plants that you find they favor......but rather creating an environment they don't find so appealing. They like cool, damp and dark locations in which to hide during the day - they are nocturnal and come out at nght to feed. In my area of the PNW, this summer has been cooler and damper than normal so it doesn't surprise me you are seeing higher populations. Usually we are bone dry at this time of year and with temps on average 10 degrees higher.

Earwigs will prefer to hide during daylight hours and will use piles of debris, boards, brush, fallen logs, mulch, leaves and other materials that can provide cool, dark and damp shelter. By cleaning up and removing these natural hiding places, you will encourage them to move further afield. And don't over irrigate - water only when necessary.

You can trap and bait for them as well. A rolled up section of newspaper, moistened and set in the garden where you typically see them in late afternoon or early evening will attract them. Pick up and dispose of this in a bucket of soapy water the next day.

Sluggo Plus is also an excellent control, as are other insecticides that target pill or sow bugs and cutworms.

It will also help to encourage as much bird activity as possible in your garden - birds are their primary predator.

Where I live in No Cal they love Marigold. I just gave up growing them.

I put out bait, I went out at night and picked them off, I tried the rolled up newspaper, it did not work for me.

Hostas do not do well in my area but if I had the opportunity to grow them I would not allow earwigs to spoil it.

I've never had a problem with any pest on Morning Glory.

Go out with a flashlight in the evening to see what is happening. Sometimes the culprit is not what you thought.

Emmarene9 I would like to see exactly what is eating the hostas- we definitely have slugs and snails too, so they could be the main culprits. I gave up growing pansies due to the slugs.

We have tree frogs that I want to protect, so I avoid pesticides or baits and mostly try to grow things the pests don't like. Too bad marigolds are off the list.

The ingredients in both Sluggo and Sluggo Plus are nontoxic to amphibians. And they are not inclined to the eat the product anyway. I have an active population of tree frogs on my property and use Sluggo liberally during the growing season as snails and slugs are a major problem. Earwigs are only a minor irritant :-)

If you do not wish to use any baits - the easiest and most effective control - then all ou are left with is trapping and removing anything the earwigs would find as a suitable habitat. They are not all that picky about what plants they eat, so if you don't grow marigolds, they will just find something else.

I also use the pet safe snail killer. The good thing is they crawl off some place before they die.