[Crumbly Oldy]

Just started growing vegetables and have some excellant Chinese cabbage which appear to be riddled with ear wigs.  What will kill them but still allow the vegetable to be eaten?  Secondly the adjoining allotment has Horse tail.  He recently rotovated to get rid of it and you can guess what has happened.  What is the best weedkiller or other to get rid of it?
Regards
Crumbly Oldy

[Yorkie]

The only weedkiller which is of any real assistance and legal these days is a glyphosate-based one.  Round-up & Resolva are two brand names but it is far cheaper to get unbranded equivalents, and dilute them according to packet instructions.

Marestail has a silica coating on its leaves so it will need to be bruised in some way before application of weedkiller or it will not be absorbed & therefore not of any great use.

As for earwigs, don't know of a chemical off the top of my head.  Try putting flowerpots with straw in them upside down on canes, the earwigs go into them and then you can shake them out and stamp on them.

[sunshineband]

You can always try digging out every shred of marestail you can see -- if there is not too much.
Earwigs are a real nuisnace as they seem to eat anything. They do especially like damp oatmeal though, so a small saucer of that nearby will attatrct them for hand picking, and as Mumofstig says, you can get the to hide in upside down pots on stciks stuffed with straw (or damp shredded paper works too)