https://www.businessinsider.com/17-year- ... das-2013-3
https://www.magicicada.org/about/brood_pages/broods.php
It looks like brood II cicadas are supposed to emerge this year in April/May. I read that young trees and shrubs should not be planted until July after the cicadas die down. I had plans to start a new garden in April... are my plans doomed?
I remember brood X in 2004, but can't remember if they did much damage to the plants. I just recall walking down the middle of the street avoiding the tree covered sidewalk so I didn't end up with my hair full of red bug eyes!
Should I be concerned about my young shrubs?
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ElizabethB
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rainbowgardener
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I live in the Brood X area, last emergence in 2004. Yes, actually they can be devastating for young trees and for any trees that might be struggling already. We had a wonderful old panicle dogwood tree in our front yard. It was covered in cicadas in the emergence. For some years after that you could see all the cicada damage in the branches and twigs and branches continued to be "pruned" where they had been damaged. Then we had a couple drought years and the combination was just too much for it.
Healthy adult trees may be pruned a bit, but should not be significantly damaged. If you have newly planted trees, cover them before the cicadas emerge.
Healthy adult trees may be pruned a bit, but should not be significantly damaged. If you have newly planted trees, cover them before the cicadas emerge.
Last edited by rainbowgardener on Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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rainbowgardener
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I think they usually use cheese cloth. The cicadas don't actually eat trees, though they do suck sap from them. Most of the damage that is done is from the female laying eggs into twigs and small branches and then the larvae eating their way out. It leaves a very distinctive little gouge out of the branch in that spot, which stays as a weakened spot and eventually the twig/ branch may break there. And one tree may have thousands of them. (Yes, literally, thousands!)
Our dogwood tree became surrounded with a 3" deep layer of empty cicada shells on the ground in a 6' diameter circle, which start to stink after awhile....
How much damage depends on your concentration of cicadas. Different neighborhoods in Cincinnati had more or less of them. It seemed to be that older neighborhoods with 100 year old houses had much more intense concentrations of them than newer suburbs. I guess maybe when they build houses, they scrape away enough topsoil to remove the cicada larvae down there (but that is a guess).
Our dogwood tree became surrounded with a 3" deep layer of empty cicada shells on the ground in a 6' diameter circle, which start to stink after awhile....
How much damage depends on your concentration of cicadas. Different neighborhoods in Cincinnati had more or less of them. It seemed to be that older neighborhoods with 100 year old houses had much more intense concentrations of them than newer suburbs. I guess maybe when they build houses, they scrape away enough topsoil to remove the cicada larvae down there (but that is a guess).
As their arrival is approaching and my baby trees are now planted I've been searching for mosquito netting or something of the like to protect them. I've checked a couple garden supply stores that recommended bird netting https://www.absolutebirdcontrol.com/prod ... netting-43 but I would imagine that I would need a finer mesh like the cheesecloth recommended. This might be a ridiculous question, but where would one purchase large sheets of cheesecloth? I've actually never purchased cheesecloth 
Or is there something else you might be able to recommend?
Or is there something else you might be able to recommend?I'm sorry I can't answer your question but I have a general cicada question...
I remember growing up (in Northwest OH) and even to this day (in Central OH) hearing the cicadas every year so I have trouble understanding what the big deal is this year with the cicadas emerging in NY. Does OH just have many broods so we have a brood emerge every year?
I remember growing up (in Northwest OH) and even to this day (in Central OH) hearing the cicadas every year so I have trouble understanding what the big deal is this year with the cicadas emerging in NY. Does OH just have many broods so we have a brood emerge every year?
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rainbowgardener
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No. There are two different kinds of cicadas. There are the annual ones that are around every year and then there are the periodic ones that are on a 13 or 17 year cycle. It is very different experiences. I have the annual cicadas every year. I hear them all the time, but only occasionally see one. If you live in the middle of a brood of periodic cicadas, it is like nothing else when they emerge in untold billions (yes, Billions, possibly trillions, I don't know). Trees will be covered in them. At certain times/ places the air maybe be full of them -- people walk around with umbrellas to keep the cicadas from landing on them. I am not afraid of them and mostly think they are an interesting phenomenon. But I remember trying to mow the lawn with our electric lawn mower in the middle of the last emergence. Certain machinery like that makes sounds that attract them and I was mowing right around our dogwood and lilac that were covered in them. Suddenly I had hundreds of cicadas flying right at me. I fled!
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applestar
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We went to see a town where Brood X was really bad about a week after. Well, most of the cicadas were dead by then and we drove through streets where it looked like each tree had a dark shadow exactly the shape of their canopy, except the "shadow" was hundreds of dead cicadas that fell out of the trees. 
For insect netting row covers, most gardeners recommend tulle which you can buy by the yard at fabric stores. I believe they come in wide (folded rolls) too. I recently read somewhere that compared to Jo-ann Fabrics website, sometimes you can get better color selection at the store. Without UV resistance, they may be only good for the one season.
Another option might be shade cloth.
I suppose window screen material which you can also buy by the roll would be more expensive? Never tried pricing all these to compare.
For insect netting row covers, most gardeners recommend tulle which you can buy by the yard at fabric stores. I believe they come in wide (folded rolls) too. I recently read somewhere that compared to Jo-ann Fabrics website, sometimes you can get better color selection at the store. Without UV resistance, they may be only good for the one season.
Another option might be shade cloth.
I suppose window screen material which you can also buy by the roll would be more expensive? Never tried pricing all these to compare.
Yes, that makes sense... I'll have to pay a visit to the fabric store!
Like Rainbow said, it's a whole different experience when you have billions or trillions of them emerge at the same time. They don't bite or sting or really destroy your garden like a swarm of locusts would, but it's a bit freaky to have so many of them suddenly emerge. They are loud and make it unpleasant to be outside, unless you don't mind them dropping from the trees onto you. They don't have wings when they first emerge and then they all molt so you have empty skin/shells all over. Then they make a lot of noise, mate, and die and you have carcasses EVERYWHERE! I remember sweeping piles of dead bodies off the deck daily as they fell from the trees above. Some people travel to see the phenomenon, but I'd rather escape it personally. I'll just have to think of all the happy birds and other cicada predators that will be getting some extra protein in the coming month
I'm just hoping my baby trees will make it!
Like Rainbow said, it's a whole different experience when you have billions or trillions of them emerge at the same time. They don't bite or sting or really destroy your garden like a swarm of locusts would, but it's a bit freaky to have so many of them suddenly emerge. They are loud and make it unpleasant to be outside, unless you don't mind them dropping from the trees onto you. They don't have wings when they first emerge and then they all molt so you have empty skin/shells all over. Then they make a lot of noise, mate, and die and you have carcasses EVERYWHERE! I remember sweeping piles of dead bodies off the deck daily as they fell from the trees above. Some people travel to see the phenomenon, but I'd rather escape it personally. I'll just have to think of all the happy birds and other cicada predators that will be getting some extra protein in the coming month
I'm just hoping my baby trees will make it!