Catterpillar?

Question

How can I get catterpillars to stay away from my plants without using insectiside, etc? Don't believe in killing any kind of animal.

Answer 1

Short of asking them nicely, you've got to make a decision. Kill them or let them eat your plants.

Answer 2

A mix of 50% dish soap and water sprayed on the plant will keep insects away. Just reapply after it rains and heavy dew. It might leave you plants with a milky white residue so test a spot before applying to the whole plant.

You might want to check the variety of Caterpillar though. It could be a bag worm that if not killed will eat everything in sight. I have seen one set up a colony and strip a 100 year old oak in 4 days of all leaves killing the tree. Some insects are bad and need to be controlled.

Answer 3

without using insectisides, you cant keep them away - and I agree with you. Look at it this way, you are perhaps feeding a potentially endangered catterpillar/moth/butterfly. Plant more plants, and think of all the butterflies you'll have in the summer....

Answer 4

Hello,
We have had a Nursery and Garden Center for over 50 years and we have had customers who donot believe in using harmful insecticides. The most organic way that you can control the caterpillars is tobacco tea. Buy a plug of the most inexpensive chewing tobacco, soak it in water just like making sun tea and spray it on the plants. This will keep them away for two to three weeks. Then reapply as needed.

Answer 5

What's a few holes among friends? Take this as a learning opportunity and identify the caterpillar, it's host plants and the plants the caterpillars prefer to eat. This might help you in making a decision now and on what plants to grow in the future.

I had mourning cloak caterpillars emerge last year and smother my young willow tree. I donated the bulk of the caterpillars to a local nature center, and visitors got to watch their progress and watch as the adults were later released.

Good luck.

Answer 6

My grandmother uses egg shells. You roughly crush them and then sprinkle them around the plant. Apparently it dissuades them from crawling onto the plant but I cannot tell you how successfully. Otherwise you need to know what pest species you're dealing with. Here is an excellent site I found. Most of the preventatives are natural and harmless.

http://www.rinconvitova.com/pests.htm

Good luck!

Answer 7

Please don't kill caterpillars. Each species eats a different kind of plant, and most turn in to beautiful moths. If you find the plant that they are eating you can identify the species on the net and see if it is rare before killing them.

Answer 8

Well get it out of your mind that your plants are going to be perfect.

Some of your leaves are going to get eaten. Face it and move on.

Never mind the hippie organic crap too.

They won't eat much! Best thing to do is simply remove them when you see them and throw them into the woods. Let them eat those trees.

Answer 9

you could try reasoning with them but i've always found them to be quite unreasonable creatures.
looks like the pesticide is the way to go, either that or let them live on the plants and learn to love them.

Answer 10

well, certain kinds of bugs have an odor that keeps other bugs away... like a stink bug? that's the most "organic" thing i could think of. but, you could also visit:
http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/pestcont.htm
^^^ this site it great for organic gardening.
hope that helps. good luck with the caterpillars!