Earwigs eating my rhubarb?

[newbieveggie]

Hi there.
I did used to have five lovely crowns of rhubarb but some nasty little critter has been making the leaves look like lace. I have found earwigs on it. Would it be them? How can I stop them without having to tap out upside-down flower pots every morning as they are not close to the house? Any advice would be great otherwise I fear I may have to move them.

[sunshineband]

It is not likely to be earwigs as they eat decaying plant material usually.Could be either slugs/snails or something called shot hole, where the litle brown pieces die and fall out.

Either way, as the stalks and crowns are OK I shouldn't worry too much

[endymion]

That's a coincidence because something's munched some of our rhubarb leaves right down to the midrib. Haven't a clue what's doing it.

[Two_Sheds]

Earwigs are becoming a real nuisance round here: last year they ate into the tops of all my sweetcorn (it was them, they were all nestled up inside), they nest inside the guinea pig hutch and they eat lots of things, not just dahlias.

I'm trapping them in flower pots and tipping them into boiling water ~ it's quick and, I like to think, painless

[taff]

if only they were amercian crayfish you could eat them too, but there definitely wouldn't be much left of the plants
Somethings munched mine too, no idea what, but I took the decaying bark off a tree stump about half a meter away from it a few weeks ago and there were hundreds of the buggers hiding in there so it could be either...don't usually have slug problems though, too many slow worms. I'm stumped...

[gojiberry]

I would think any damage would be slugs and snails. However at this time of year I don't worry about things like rhubarb leaves as they will be dying of soon in any case. I know dahlias and earwigs don't mix but I have not known them to be a problem with anything else.

Ian

[sewer rat]

Earwigs do eat healthy plant material as well as decaying plant matter - In the last couple of years they are responsible for making a lace pattern of two cukes and seven aubergines in my tunnel. I'd rather have slugs!!