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I have caterpillars that keep devouring my flowers!?
Any idea how I can keep small caterpillars away from potted flowers? I live on the 3rd floor, and have a few pots out on my balcony, and noticed that little caterpillars have appeared and are literally eating the flowers down to the nubs. They are just your average Home Depot bought flowers, but they were lovely until the caterpillars started showing up. If I see them, I've removed them from the flowers and toss them down into a garden area, but they keep coming back. Even if I don't see them, they keep leaving tell-tale signs of droppings and small holes all over the flower petals and leaves.
Any of you green-thumbers have suggestions? I live in S. California and the caterpillars are small opaque eggshell-colored or creamy light green color.
The flowers have been growing back slowly and the greenery is actually thriving - it's just the actual flowers that are being eaten up almost over night so they never last more than a couple days before they're gone.
What you have are tobacco "budworms". An insect native to America. They are quite gregarious when it comes to devouring flowers. Best time to find them active is at dusk, when they come out from hiding and begin to feed. Their favorite flowers are petunias, geraniums, and snapdragons, but will eat many varieties. The budworm is the larvae of a moth. Alot of the time their color is determined by the color of the flowers they are eating. When young they are light green to light brown. When they reach the right size and stop feeding, they will drop to the soil and pupate. They will emerge as adult moths later on down the road, and the whole process starts over again. You can control them by going to any garden center and purchasing an insecticide that has Synthetic "Pyrethrenes" as it's main ingredient. Or you can wait until dusk and handpick them. Ortho does have a garden insect spray which comes in an aerosol can. If you have only a few plants, this might be right for you. It's only a couple dollars from the pocketbook but well worth keeping the flowers looking good. The budworm is most prevalent during the hot summer months as you have already noticed. Iam providing you a link with some info and pics on the budworm from Colorado State University. Hope this answers your question.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05581.html
http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/adams/2006/budworm.htm
**Billy Ray**
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