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lilcee
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Worms eating my bean plants

I've been finding the leaves of my bean plants folded over in areas and under the fold there is a greenish color worm. I've been killing what I can find. What can I spray on them? Would Neem work or would it be better to just keep killing them by hand? My beans are finally getting blossoms and I would hate to have the worms kill all the plants before I get any beans from them.
Thanks

hit or miss
Green Thumb
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Those little green worms don't seem to do much harm to my beans, at least not yet! They do bore some holes in the beans themselves though. I just break them out and throw them away before I can or cook the beans.

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lilcee
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I don't think they are eating the beans - not yet anyways. But they are distroying the leaves.

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applestar
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Is it one of these? https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=97528#97528

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lilcee
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I think so, I didn't get a good look at them. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow and post it here. They look light green with a dark brown or black head and they leaves are folded over where the worm is. They hide under it.

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lilcee
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Here's some pics of the worm problem I'm having.

[img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/100_1200.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/100_1203.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/100_1201.jpg[/img]

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applestar
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Yep that's them. The dark colored blob of a head is the giveaway.

Maybe you can move them to host plants that can sustain the damage.
Here's one source of info: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in774

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applestar
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Oh wait, sorry, it could also be this one -- actually more likely to be this one:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in127

garden5
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Hand picking and relocation may work. Cornmeal is said to work for cutworms since they eat it but can't digest it. Perhaps it would work for your caterpillars as well.

I prefer to relocate them myself as (and, I know this sounds wimpy) I hate to kill potential butterflies.

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lilcee
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How do you relocate them? Just pick them off and take them somewhere else? Sorry, I've never done this before lol.

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applestar
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If you want them to survive, it's usually not a good idea to pick them up. Most of the time, the caterpillar is going to try to hold on the best it could, and you'll have to squeeze it pretty hard to force it to let go. With *some* caterpillars, their first instinct is to curl up and let go at the first sign of trouble, to be lost under the plant.

If you can sacrifice the leaf it's on, you can pluck it off with the caterpillar on it and take it where you want to put it. Most caterpillars will move forward if you "goose" it with your fingertip on the rump. If you don't want to give up the leaf, then you could use any leaf, slide it just under it's front end, and goose it along to get on the other leaf. If you don't want to goose it with your finger, you can use something soft like a paintbrush or a weed.

I should also mention that although I don't think these do, some caterpillars have spines (occasionally hidden) that can cause anything from mild skin irritation to severe allergic reaction. Black Swallowtail caterpillars extend orange "horns" from their heads when threatened and release a noxious odor. My kids call that "stinking" -- "Ahh!! The caterpillar STINKED me! P-U!!" :lol:

Also, with these leaf rollers, they live inside the leaf, so you could pluck off their homes while they're still in there and staple or tape them to the plants you want them to live on. (Won't they be surprised when they come out! :wink:)



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