Can someone tell me what this is on my melon vines?? What should I treat the plant with? Thanks!!
Flip
Early Hanover Melon - What is this Worm Eating my Leaves?
Don't know, But it looks like some type of caterpilar. Since it is eating the leaves Bt should take care of them.
FD - what does Bt translate to at the local Home Depot? Thanks for your help. You're the melon man!.
Bacillus Thuringiensis , kustaki strain. Trade lables are usually Dipel (dust) and Thuricide (liquid). I notice a third brand earlier this year I can't recall the name. some thing that translates to caterpillar killer. This stuff is used by both standard and organic gardeners. It works great on any type of chewing caterpila. Could not grow Brassicas here with out it. Useless on those blasted pickle worms you Floridians export every summer tho. It is a stomach poison, they have to eat some of it.
Edited to add link
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05556.html
This message was edited Aug 2, 2005 7:56 PM
Thank you very much. I'll try it today.
FD - one more question - why are the worms on just the cukes and melons but not the watermelons? Any idea?
About the only insect that has ever bothered my watermelons is the striped cucumber beetle. Watermelons are pretty pest free. Coons and crows and an occasional foliar disease is pretty much it. Crossing my fingers, that I don't get gummy stem blight. I hope that you can identify that sucker. Pickle worms destroy any summer (july-August) crop of cucumbers and melons (Cucumis). But they bore into the fruit where Bt can't touch them. Don't bother watermelons tho.
Well, that's good news on the watermelons - I don't have coons or crows and actually the Yellow Petites look real good and I have little melons on the Blacktail Mountain. Thanks again
FDill - Does BT need to be applied directly on the caterpillars (on the undeside of the leaf) or can it be sprayed on the top side of the leaf and when the leaf is eaten the caterpillar goes down?? Thanks,
Flip
Just dust or spray it on the leaves. It is a stomach poison, they have to eat it for it to be effective.
Thanks FD