Damn Catterpilalrs eating EVERYTHING!

[kadakuda]

OK so i was ok with a few of teh little fellas eating a brugmansia leaf here rivea leaf there....that was a couple months ago and we got along ok. but no wi am finding hundreds of them all over my brugmansias, riveas and hbwr. they have completely eaten ALL of the leaves on my variegated hbwr! which really pissed me off!

But now it has really gone to far. they have eaten 3 f my variegated L. fricii plants (2 can recover, one i am not so sure), a lot of my lophophora flowers, unknown amounts of pereskiopsis, my pachanois tips and bridgesii tips and they have even eaten some small bits out of my large loph's! frankly i am a little pissed, maybe 30+ cacti have been damaged now, 5 probably cant recover (seedling grafts). i have now removed all other plants from there so its only cactus there. its on a 3rd floor deck so its high up.

i am not just posting this to bitch. i am wondering what non chemical, aside from manually squishing them (which i now love, but dont have time for), ways can be used to kill them. or at least non dangerous chemicals? thoughts?

[JustAskSally]

Have you considered companion planting to discourage these pests?? I had a big problem with caterpillars (little green bastards) eating one of my sage plants last year and feasting on just about everything in sight including my Loph's, a few veges and they also absolutely demolished my papaver patch(before they set seed). Also they loved my comphrey but this was no concern to me as it is isolated and i could easily remove them and feed them to my geckoes.

My next door neighbour has a garden on the other side of my greenhouse (litterally 1 foot away) and grows heaps of tasty petro-chemical seed stock..yay.. uses chems to control, then where do all these pests end up?? I found that most the plants around my garlic chives were unaffected last year(not all) so this year i separated all my garlic chives, re-potted them individually or in small clusters and strategically placed them around my greenhouse and to my surprise i haven't seen a single caterpillar for about 4 months..

Not saying this is the best way to deal with your problem but i sure found it eye-opening just how well certain plants can look over others..

Considered getting geckoes? lol

'be the change you want to see in the world'

[Ace]

Have a look HERE for a little info on some caterpillar control methods. It would be well worth looking into the bacterium 'Bacillus thuringiensis' (more info HERE) which only effects caterpillars, but as it seems to rapidly spread among populations it may do some damage to the local ecosystem. Perhaps look into it and see if it is suitable for your situation.

Dont forget that them pesky little buggers will eventually turn into butterflies and moths

[Auntyjack]

those tiny green loop caterpillars are chomping my brugs atm too, they seems to fall out of the sky onto my plants...damm paratroopers

AJ

[incognito]

those tiny green loop caterpillars are chomping my brugs atm too, they seems to fall out of the sky onto my plants...damm paratroopers

AJ

one soulution-Dipel,an organic control u can get from any nursery, bunnings etc. contains a bacteria/fungus???( which one help a brother out...)

which u spray on the cacti/leaf which the cats digets and then are eaten from the inside out. Brutal but effective.

Dipel-its great.

[Ace]

contains a bacteria/fungus???( which one help a brother out...)

'Bacillus thuringiensis', I'd be guessing

[kadakuda]

excellent thanks for the info. actually i used to keep may many geckos but many caterpillars are poisonous, so i would only use moth larvae, not butterfly...just to play it safe. these are black and long thin hairs. i am raising some in a jar with brugmansia leaves they fuck up (so i fuck them up in return lol)...but i want to ID them. There are also a LOT of geckos wild here (i feed trhem on my deck cause they keep some of the ants away). Various Hemidactylus sp. here.

i have lots of large plants, not just cacti, so a spray is rather difficult...a bacteria/virus etc would be GREAT! i live in a fairly enclosed area so no forests around. if i think it will cause the environment some damage i wont use t, but i am in a concrete jungle so i doubt its an issue. thanks for the suggestions! more are always welcomed!

[incognito]

it is quite tedious i grant u that, but dipel will break the cycle which u need to do, make sure that u spray the underside of the leaves as well if ur using dipel, andmake sure the dipel dries on the leaves i.e dont water the plants leaves for a day or 3 after application.

theres a great book out therethati highlyrecommend any gardener to get, its become a great ally to me -'whatplant,pest or disease is that? by jusy mcmaugh. lists organic and non-organic contols, very comprehensive, and best of all if ur simple likeme, it explains everything in laymans terms. what is a layman anyway? like a male escort?

[Big George]

I had a tree in my yard that I didn't particularly care too much about, but it was covered in caterpillers a few months ago.

I went into my shed and started looking around for something that might be helpful, or at least fun....

So I pick up a can of WD40 and I sprayed a few of them, they weren't too happy, but the WD stuck to their hairs and soaked them pretty good.

To my surprise, I found a lighter in my pocket, so I attach the plastic tube to the WD40 can, and I have myself a poormans flame thrower.

After 1/2 an hour, I had the caterpiller problem under control, but the tree didn't look too good.

Hehehehehehe...

[incognito]

id try and id them b4 going to extremes like that, may have been some rare butterfly helped en route toextinction!aneveryone loves flutterbys

edit- i think theres a big difference in controlling a predator that is putting a valuable plantslife in danger, to killing something for fun, im not saying dying by wd40 is no more pleasant than being eaten alive by bacteria, but the aforementioned verse at least has a point. cruelty for crueltys sake is fuct up, and id prolly expect some sort of weed/plant predominance from removing a natural control. seriously caterpillars in particular should be treated with utmost respect, as alot of our native butterflys are disappearing. i mean i only use dipel if the plant is in real danger, as im happy to donate leaves to a hungry caterpillar. learn ur caterpillars!!

Edited October 11, 2007 by jono

[watertrade]

for those interested.

http://www.usyd.edu.au/museums/larvae/

[The Dude]

for those interested.

http://www.usyd.edu.au/museums/larvae/

looking at that caterpillar museum i'm reminded that they are a beautiful animal. But it's like yer dog chewing up the sofa and then doin ye ole puppy dog eyes to get out of it. If you're a caterpillar and I catch ya on my plants you aint gettin away with it. too bad i never catch em in the act, sneaky buggers!

[watertrade]

looking at that caterpillar museum i'm reminded that they are a beautiful animal. But it's like yer dog chewing up the sofa and then doin ye ole puppy dog eyes to get out of it. If you're a caterpillar and I catch ya on my plants you aint gettin away with it. too bad i never catch em in the act, sneaky buggers!

If it’s a native (checking the above link ;) ) Don’t kill it, just chuck it over the neighbors fence;) give the locals a chance.

[kadakuda]

i agree i do not like to kill anything. i tried making peace with them. my vegetables, brugs, vines and all that grow fairly quick...s them eating a few leaves is totally cool. but when i loose whole cacti (they killed 2 variegated fricii and fucked up a LOT more!), thats the line. i dont want to kill them so much as remove them...but i cannot be relocating thousands of caterpillars lol!

i have removed ALL of my hbwr and rivea.....their numbers have reduced significantly...i am hoping that will do the trick, but i think i may have cried in my sleep the night i tore them all down

thanks for the site and the book reference, sounds like a good one (i am especially interested in organic approaches as i am very against harmful chemicals in my home (or garden).

[Conan Troutman]

Some extremely fragrant plants, like geraniums, herbs like wormwood ect. planted around your vulnerable plants will deter the flying insects that lay the caterpillars, prevention is better than cure

Edited October 12, 2007 by Conan Troutman

[kadakuda]

wormwood you say......butterflies dislike this plant? i have some out my front door starting out, maybe i will move them.....is this to good to be true?

[macro]

I feel your pain. Three tips eaten out, and one down the middle causing a 2 foot pach to fall in half. Unhappy with the catterpillars!