[smiley]

Hello everyone I have just joined after seeing the forum and needing some advice on my gardeners delight tomatoes, thankfully the existing topic was brilliant and answered my question straight away. However i have another gardeners growing pain !!!
Can anyone help me !!!!I grow every year a range of  tall Dahlias Clematis and Passionflower climbers against a wall and they are all no matter how i try being attacked by earwigs and very hungry ants!!!! I am feeding my plants systemic bug killer and dusting Nippon powder everywhere on the bases of the plants but they are persistent and i dont really know what else i can do now )) Any tips out there would be greatly appreciated.

[Patricia]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You might ask your question on the general gardening board as you may get more response from there. I don't grow those types of plants, so can't offer much help I'm afraid. Best of luck.

[Yorkie]

I have read of a suggestion that you put straw in small upside down pots on a cane, the earwigs spend the day in there, and then you can empty them out and squish them.

Might also be worth searching the forum for earwigs, so to speak  - just click search linky near the top of the page

Oh and welcome to the forum btw 

[sunshineband]

Hello there. Seen the advice re earwigs already!

Ants don't eat your plants but could be after aphids as they love the sticky sunstance exuded by them. Have a look and see if you have any on your plants. Quick squirt of soapy water might sort it out and the ants will go elsewhere 

Good luck, and welcome to AVG 

[Yorkie]

Aah missed the ants bit 

Sunshineband's right about ants - they like sweet stuff, some people also suggest putting jam or something above the aphids' level on the plants, so the ants eat the jam and then go for the aphids rather than helping the aphids.

Might be worth the jam trick somewhere to distract them even if you've no aphids?

[SnooziSuzi]

If you amend the title of the post to include Dalihas it might attract one of our regulars who grows them commercially

welcome to the forums too

[mrs bouquet]

Yorkie, is absolutely right about the straw in flower pots.  Dahlias always attract earwigs, and it is good to put the flower pots upside down with the straw in onto canes right beside the plant.  In the morning, tip out the pots and kill them.   I am sure it will help with the climbers as well.
Commercial growers have access to  other sprays than the public can obtain,  for which they need to hold a licence.   
Anyway good luck and welcome, regards, Mrs Bouquet

[Yorkie]

If you amend the title of the post to include Dalihas it might attract one of our regulars who grows them commercially

welcome to the forums too

Good suggestion SS, and it will make it easier for members to find this thread in the future. 

Smiley, I've amended the title to include the word dahlias, otherwise it's the same 

[Yabba]

We don't suffer from ants so I can't help you there, but earwigs are a pita. When we're close to showing we rub vaseline on the stems as we can't afford any chance of a petal being damaged by sunburn and the bu@@ers don't like petrol. If it's any earlier then we spray with gyro which I *believe* is what's called bug clear.

One of the other growers swears by ant powder at the base of each plant as a deterrent against earwigs, so you could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Although we don't do straw in pots I know some other growers do ... in fact, they swear by it

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