I’ve picked a couple crawlers off my outdoor plant in the last week. I assume they’ve been eating the leaves because a few have been stripped down to nothing.
Here’s one of them that decided to wrap up in a fan leaf.
Is there any reason for concern?
Can I or should I try to prevent this?
Yes, they will eat them up.
I had 2 big ones inside on my plants.
Moth musta laid some eggs.
I picked em off and set them free outside…
I was trying to be nice about it but a chicken saw me throw them on the ground
And well …
What @GrouchyOldMan said. BT thuricide is what you need. It’s an enzyme that shuts down the catapilars digestive system. They stop eating and die. Very effective but you need to use it regularly to get of an infestation. Buy in concentrated form, you’ll save a lot.
Just so!
Also worth mentioning is the warm gratification glow you’ll feel when you see their wormy little bodies turn black and swell up as they die from munching your leaves!
BT is an active bacteria that kills every caterpillar exposed, it was used extensively in Canada for aerial spraying our forests, it’s harmless indoors BUT depending on your ‘environmental sensitivity’ level can be disastrous to the natural diversity of moths and butterflies. Our gov’t has made a few changes, I don’t use it outdoors. Botanical sulphur after removal by hand and direct waterhose blasting, is what I do. But I only have a dozen trees or so…I would prefer a short term insecticide over a bug virus, but thats anyones personal choice.
I had this experience but it was mouse, sticky trap & local kitty…
On topic Trichogramma did the treat on my raised beds this year, all the leaf lettuce was fit to eat, the pillars tear me up…not this year.
Thanks!
I bought some of this last year after hornworms destroyed a tomato plant. How often should I spray?
I use captain jacks also. When I know I have an infestation I spray once every 2-3 days. Once a day of bad. Try to avoid spraying anything during intense sunlight as it may cause leaf burn. Then I spray aboubt every week or so. Keep an eye out for catapilar poo on leaves. They burrow into the flowers and can be hard to spot. But poo is a dead giveaway.
