I'm a Brug newbie and have three all about 4' tall. They are potted and located fairly close to each other. For some reason, one of my plants has been attacked by insects a lot more than the other two. The leaves have so many holes, they look like green lace! Caterpillars are my guess. Are some brugs more susceptible to insects than others? My other two plants are barely touched.
Selective insects
Yes some are more "edible" try spraying fish emulsion over the leaves (as per directions) it seems to help ...I don't use poisons but others may suggest something. Sadly some critters like them all ...however some are much more repellant than others. I also try to hand pick most bugs off the leaves ...go out at night with the torch.
Here it is almost always caused by slugs.
snails do that too... yuk..
If it is slugs or snails, try putting a few shallow containers (like a mayonaise jar lids) with a little beer in them under the plant in several places. They are attracted to it and will crawl in and they die...It is yucky, but it will work.
I'm almost sure the damage isn't due to slugs as there isn't a slime trail to be seen anywhere. I have seen caterpillars though. I've been thinking of using BT (bacillus thuriengensis). Has anyone else tried this and if so, was it successful?
I use BT on my cannas and it works great for what attacks those.
Yes.. BT is great on the cats.. but don't discount the slugs...you'll not always see a slime trail.. alot depends on the surface they move over and the moisture level at night .. and where they were spending the day awaiting their night time meal... you might put out a few saucers of the beer.. and you'll get an indication as to whether they are about or not
what BT to water ratio do you use.Tthe bottle I have has the mixture portion of the label deleted.
my BT is in a powder format.... just sprikle it on the leaves.. so I can't be of much help there...
Well, I caught the little critters last night. Lots of caterpillars, fat and happy. I have very few leaves left on my brug, so it's battle time! I'm going to spray with BT and place a tray of beer at the base. I'll let you know if this works. Thanks for all of your advice!