I'm trying to help a group that is growing veggies for their families without using chemicals, if possible. A big problem for them last year was cutworms that were under the plastic row mulch. The worms went right down the row under the plastic and dined on the stems. There were also some that were earing the leaves. I would like to suggest something that would help them get ahead of the problem this year. I've never used bt. Would that be useful to treat the soil before planting? The group used sevn on the leaf chewers and it worked pretty well. Any advice for the stem chewers. I just put paper around the stems when I plant my own stuff but the numbers they are dealing with are too large to do that.
preventing cutworms
Anytime I plant my summer veggies (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants ....) I stick two tootpicks in the soil, just near the stem: one on each side.
The cutworm will not be able to cut the plant because of the toothpicks.
Easy fix. Good luck !
They can treat the soil with beneficial nematodes to destroy the cutworms before they have a chance to do anything. That does take time, though. In the meantime, you can use toothpicks or plastic straws to keep the cutworms at bay.
Those are fine ideas for smaller numbers but we're dealing with nearly 4,000 plants here. I'd never seen cutworms feed on leaves either before last year. But that's what the little buggers were. Would toothpicks keep them away?
wow ... I think you will need more than toothpicks ...
I have a small veggie patch. Good luck ...
I am having a problem with cutworms this year and they're eating first the leaves, then the whole plant. I sprayed with Bt and if the worm eats the plant with the Bt, it will die. Bt has to be ingested to kill the worm. I have spinosad but haven't used it, but it kills caterpillars and is approved by OMRI in some states. There is a product called Sluggo Plus with spinosad, it is granules you apply to the ground. I have not used it either.
I go out each morning and check for cutworms (large commercial farm) and dig around any damaged plants (sometimes they take out several plants in a row) and look for the cutworm and smash him! We have birds in the garden and they will dig around looking for the cutworms but sometimes they do more damage by digging up the plants. Yesterday I only lost two plants.
I think Neem oil will control them and you can spray it on. I buy it at the local nursery.
http://homeharvest.com/insectspraysneembased.htm
Also Bt
http://www.ehow.com/how_9369_control-cutworms.html
http://www.saferbrand.com/advice/insect-library/garden-insects/all-about-cutworms/control-options
Most articles I read (Google how to control cutworms ) say the best control is prevention by clearing old plant matter from the garden before planting.
Good luck!
I feed wild birds year round, and in return they eat the bugs. As Calalily said, they do tend to dig up plants in search of such delicacies, but overall they are much more of a blessing than a pest. I wish they would eat slugs, though.
I have the same problem w/ cucumbers every year. I just planted two beds w/ cucumber seeds. Should I spray for cut worms now before the seed emerges in 7 days or so?
Thanks for the useful advice everyone. I'll check out all the suggestions and links. There will be time to do that yet as we still have SNOW on the ground here. Most has melted but more due on Wed.
The beds where I'm having the cutworm problem had salad mix before. I noticed a few cutworms when I was clearing the bed. I should have left it bare for a few days so the birds could have eaten more worms. Instead I planted it that evening. Day before yesterday I lost 36 plants to about 10 cutworms, dug the little pests out and smashed them then tossed them to the birds! I didn't lose any plants yesterday.
I've used neem, it didn't work on cutworms. Neem works great for mites and thrips, and sort of works to keep snails and slugs from eating plants (tastes bad). Also if you spray neem on squash, cukes, etc., be careful if you spray anything else. Oil sprays can make cucurbits sensitive to other chemicals.
Sometimes when digging in the soil I see little crysalis thingies, brown, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long. Wonder if those are cutworms turning into moths? I was afraid to smash them in case they were something good.
This isn't practical for thousands of plants, but my Grandpa would stick a 10-penny nail down next to all of his plants to keep the cutworms from being able to wrap around a stem.