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Earwigs and cabbage worms #935633

Asked June 15, 2026, 5:38 PM EDT

Lots of holes in cabbage and peppers. See pics. I saw a few earwigs and one cabbage worm at night on the plants. What is a good remedy?

Lane County Oregon

Expert Response

Greetings Daniel,

Here is a great handout on earwig control that should help reduce your population to a more manageable level:

https://workspace.oregonstate.edu/hubfs/Extension/qtearwigs.pdf

To summarize a few key points from the handout: It looks like you may already be doing so, but using drip irrigation instead of overhead watering is helpful, as is creating “traps” using toilet paper/paper towel tubes. They will seek shelter in the tubes overnight and early in the morning you can shake them out into the disposal container of your choice. Another strategy is using shallow (tuna) tin cans with water and a few drops of bacon grease or fish oil to attract the earwigs and they will drown in the water. Place both types of traps near your most affected plants. 

A clever long-term strategy for cabbage moths is discussed in this article:

https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/osu-extension-master-gardener-discovers-novel-way-control-cabbage-white-worm

Basically, you would sacrifice one crop of your cabbage plants to use as a decoy, while planting another crop in a different area of your yard. Other gardeners report better success with cabbage as an early spring and or fall crop. This allows the produce to mature during times when the cabbage moth is not particularly active.

If you would like to try a chemical control solution for cabbage moths, bifenthrin mixed with zeta-cypermethrin is usually quite effective, or you can try an insecticidal soap for an organic option.

Happy gardening,

Katherine Bravo Replied June 16, 2026, 3:59 PM EDT

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