There are some pests in the garden that can be difficult to see and then, there are others that are much more obvious like these bagworms. It is easy to see the effect, like I have on plants. For instance, this Leyland cypress of which I used for screening, is much weaker than the ones next to it. It is because the caterpillars are been munching on its foliage.
Let me explain how the cycle of this pest works. You see it all begins in A little bag or pouch like this. Believe it or not, one of these can contain up to 500 eggs and once those eggs hatch, they hatch as caterpillars. They climb out onto the foliage, and munch all over our plants. At the same time, these caterpillars are spinning new pouches or bags for next year. Then what happens is they climb into the pouch, emerge after awhile as a moth. And the females go back in there, and lay more eggs, so the whole generation or cycle can start again. Sounds pretty complicated, does not it?
The main thing to remember here, is that the caterpillar that does all of the damage in the spring. One of the best ways that I found that deals with little devils, is to hit them under the most vulnerable, as caterpillars. And one of the safest methods I found is to use BT. this is actually a concentration of bacteria. You just spray it on. The caterpillar eats it and dies. Since, they are not feeding now, I pull as many off as I can and go after the rest in the spring with BT.
From the garden, I am Allen Smith
If you would like more information on this topic or any other gardening topic, just check out my website, pallensmith.com.
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