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CUTWORMS ahhhhh
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:41 am
by Manda131
So I was messing around in my raised beds and giant (and I mean giant) manure/compost pile and found these nasty buggers.
How the heck do I get rid of them? Nothing is planted yet (its still too cold here) but I would like my future plants to survive.
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:15 am
by applestar
Robins and Flickers are digging them up in my garden... and I saw a Towhee yesterday
Hey! I was pretty sure moles eat them too (last year, I panicked about a wee little mole with a cute pink nose in my veg garden and was reassured that the small non-hilling kind is pretty much harmless, and actually beneficial except for a few earthworms they eat in exchange) and did a search -- came up with this: https://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=pierson&book=night&story=lazy
I assume the hoe-handle hole is a simple trap and you can come back and collect them for disposal (I would put them in my birdfeeder
)
You know to put cutworm collars on all your transplants, right?
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:56 am
by Gary350
If the birds can see them then the birds will eat them.
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:39 am
by Kenzie
The robins are getting fat and happy picking through my compost piles and freshly tilled garden right now
I've counted at least 4 pair every morning for the past few weeks
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:49 pm
by The Helpful Gardener
As cutworms become owlet moths, then BTK (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki) sprayed on the plants, should protect them. It is only effective on moth and butterfly larvae (period), so is completely safe for food use...
HG
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:27 pm
by Manda131
I will have to find some BTK since letting the birds eat them isnt an option since I have 3 yellow labs that keep everywhere free of birdy populations (not by eating them just chasing them away).
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:46 am
by The Helpful Gardener
Comonly sold as Dipel, Bio-trol or Thuricide...
Fpund an interesting white paper from Nigeria comparing BTK to some of the most commonly used pesticides, and while insect damage was slightly higher with the BTK, crop yields were MUCH higher...
[url]https://www.bioline.org.br/request?jb03084[/url]
This also protects the natural predators of these insects (dead meat with the chemical model, either directly or from eating poisoned prey) and protects the soil biologies (also mostly dead meat)..
Organics rocks!
HG