How do i know if a caterpillar is eating my plants in my greenhouse?
Question:as i planted some plants in there on sunday and a came to water them this afternoon and there wasnt any trace of them. wasnt slugs as there wasnt a trail.
Answers:
It's not likely a caterpillar would eat your plants leaving no trace...unless he brought his cart with him to remove the evidence.
Seriously, though, caterpillars usually eat holes into leaves and parts of them. They can usually be found under the leaves, as can their eggs.
If the whole plant was missing, I would suspect an animal, like a rabbit or squirrel.
I recently had a whole cucumber plant disappear. It was in the ground, not in a pot or planter. It might have been a vole/mole or some underground animal.
Try putting a little hot cayenne pepper on the plant. That deters many animals, birds and caterpillars. However, one year my goats got into my vegetable garden and ate the hot pepper plants, peppers and all. But they eat rose bushes and blackberry vines, to mention a few things they eat, but they won't eat hay once it falls on the ground.
Can I say one more thing? Two of our goats had 5 new kids yesterday (one had triplets).
Keep the goats away from your greenhouse.
Somebody nicked em.
Go in and say "I know your in here, come out with your hands up". Then whatever comes out is the culprit.
Was the whole plant gone or just the leaves? It may be that a raccoon, skunk or other critter got into your greenhouse and ripped up the plants. If it was just the leaves, then look for holes or jagged edges munched out.
Close the greenhouse door at night to keep nocturnal animals out and spray the leaves with a weak solution of dish soap and warm water to keep the bugs off. That should do the trick.
Good luck.
cctv........ technolgy
Caperpillars rarely eat the stems of leafs. or if the green house has been left open for a long period time then it could be a rabbit. or you forgot to sow the seeds.
hope you find them
From the M.O. you have described I would say you should be looking for a goat.
Insects or insect larva don't make your plants disappear without a trace.
Caterpillars usually eat in a c pattern on the leaf. Could it possibly have been a rodent of some sort? Rabbits usually nip off in the middle of the stem and eat the middle. You will usually find the top and the bottom of the plant while the rest is eaten in between. How many plant and how big were they? I would think if it were a lot of seedling or such, you would see signs of caterpillars or insects whereas a small rodent could get in, eat it's fill and leave.
If that's the case, you need to figure out where they are coming in and close that opening, otherwise, your plants will never survive. You can look under things for the caterpillar as well. They like to hide during the day and munch away at night. That's why it's good to make sure your beds are clear and weed free to prevent them from having hiding places while they munch on your plants.
I hope this helps!
you will find little balls of black droppings
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