How do I stop getting caterpillars from eating my garden?
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If your garden isn't to big, just the family garden variety, just pluck the little critters off the underside of the leaves. They leave tell tale droppings under the plant they are currently munching on so it isn't hard to find them. It's been working for me for years. Now, what do you do with them? That's up to you. Sometimes I bring them to a field to let loose, other times when my husband has an outdoor fire burning I just toss them. If you throw them into the road, the birds have an easy lunch.
in a watering can, mix together a couple of teaspoons of borax, a couple of squirts of ivory dish soap & fill it up with water. pour over your plants. I use this solution on my roses & it works super well
An old fashioned duster and some SEVIN dust. Insecticide, sold at any Wal-Mart.
Are they eating your Vegetable garden? If so there should be an organic spray that you should be able to find in a garden center that may help to control the caterpillars.good luck
Pick them off by hand (gloves are OK) and remove them from the neighborhood. If you are not squeamish - squish em.
Caterpillars are the larvae or the young of the butterfly; this is the main feeding and growth stage of the butterflies’ life cycle. As most vegetable growers know caterpillars are very hungry and a small handful can turn a head of cabbage into a skeleton within a day or two. Infested leaves are quite toxic to animals and humans even if washed thoroughly.
Control Methods:
So how can you battle against the caterpillars, well there are various chemical and organic methods. The chemical methods are available in all good garden centres in the form of sprays, dusts and bug guns with names too numerous to mention. With cabbage, broccoli etc being food crops that you may grow at home organically to avoid chemicals you should try to tackle the menace organically. Cover your plants with sheer netting whilst the butterflies are around, if they cannot touch the plants then they cannot lay their eggs on them. Ensure the netting allows sufficient sunlight through to enable growth.
Companion Plants:
Try planting tomatoes and celery as companion plants close by as their scents tend to cancel out the scent emitted by brassicas therefore deterring cabbage white butterflies.
Control Caterpillars Using No Insecticides:
Control by Hand: Handpicking makes a sizable dent in most populations of caterpillars and can keep them from getting out of hand if you catch the infestation right away. Drop them into a can of water with insecticidal soap in it.
Control Caterpillars Using Natural Insecticides:
Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a bacterial insecticide. It kills most leaf-eating caterpillars. It comes as a dust or a liquid spray. BT controls tomato hornworms, cabbage worms, loopers, cankerworms and other insects that pass through a caterpillar stage, as well as tree-infesting crawlers like gypsy moths and tent caterpillars. BT must be eaten by the caterpillars to be effective, all parts of the leaves - especially, the undersides - should be thoroughly covered. Spraying the bottom half of leaves also keeps the viable spores more active because they survive longer when not hit by direct sunlight. Always apply Bt according to the instructions on the package. If the caterpillars are not all gone in three or four days try another application.
Remember the songbirds, caterpillars are among the very favorite foods of songbirds.
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My grandmother used to sprinkle her garden with talcum powder, helps with slugs too!
I use sevin dust. just sprinkle it on
BE FIRM!..tell them it is not acceptable behaviour!
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