QUESTION:
Some of my strawberries have insects inside them. We nearly ate them! What are they, and how can we stop them from invading our crop in the future?
ANSWER:
They’re earwigs, and you don’t want to use chemicals near strawberries, as the fruit absorbs everything. That’s one reason many home gardeners grow strawberries in pots – to keep the berries off the soil and away from pests. Alternatively, you can use straw or sugarcane mulch as a barrier between the fruit and the soil.To catch earwigs, try a few simple traps. Loosely rolled-up news paper left on the ground makes a warm,dry overnight hideout. Replace it each morning. If you have bamboo growing, cut it into 20cm lengths and lay them near your vegetables –earwigs crawl inside overnight, and you can tap them out into a bucket of soapy water in the morning. Empty takeaway containers also work well. Punch large holes in the lids, add a few drops of soy sauce inside, and half-bury them near your plants. Check and empty them daily
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