Anyone else have high numbers of caterpillars in garden?

[Francis Barnswallow]

After the army worm invasion almost got out of control, I broke down and carpet bombed the tomato plants with Seven and so far it's worked. Had I didn't I'd lose my mind squishing larger army worms....which was disgusting.

And thanks for the hugs btw.

Now the reason for this topic. Today alone I've killed the remaining army worms (which got to their max size), five 2 inch horned worms, and maybe 14 of these long green caterpillars that are especially hard to find. Is the reason for the massive increase in caterpillars is because of the constant above normal temps.....along with decent amount of rain?

I only have an 8ft by 4ft raised garden and it's been a constant battle this year against the caterpillars (some I've never seen before)...not to mention my old friends the leaf miners stop in and say hi once in awhile. This is my 3rd year gardening and this year is out of control.

[rainbowgardener]

Let's see. The Sevin killed the predatory wasps and other beneficials that would have helped to keep the caterpillars under control and maybe killed the birds/ lizards etc that ate any of the poisoned insects, that also would have helped keep them under control. So now everything else is going haywire.

I really think you need to find a way to get your little garden in better balance. Garden with your seasons, which are different from ours in the north, garden with plants that are adapted to your climate, work on attracting a lot of birds to your garden, use more organic controls.

I'm sure you've heard it mentioned here a few times that Bt (Dipel, Thuricide) is good against caterpillar type pests, but won't kill beneficials (since it is a bacterium that only infects certain caterpillars).

It's a vicious cycle - the more out of balance things get, the heavier duty weapons you bring out to deal with it, the more out of balance things get. Work for balance instead.

[Francis Barnswallow]

The Sevin killed the predatory wasps and other beneficials that would have helped to keep the caterpillars under control and maybe killed the birds/ lizards etc that ate any of the poisoned insects, that also would have helped keep them under control.

Had I'd done nothing the garden would have been destroyed. Too many back breaking/gardener shadow hours went into the garden just to see it being rapidly destroyed within days. The beneficials activity was very limited this season. This time around, I couldn't rely on them. It literally was an overnight invasion.

Now, back to my main point. Has anyone in the south especially the SE experience an increase in caterpillar activity this year?

[TWC015]

I have actually seen a decrease in the amount of caterpillars I've seen in the garden this season.

Back in April and May, I had a cabbage moth heaven garden and I only found a few worms in some plants.

I still have Brussels Sprouts plants outside and I haven't seen any caterpillars on them in a while. I've only found one hornworm this season as well.