Gypsi moth be gone

[Spike188]

Last year I took a shop vac to the young trees and over a month took off about 5 gallon of worms. The trees here were near complete defoliation but leafed out again and seem to be doing ok this year.

Spike

[Eugen]

They're like zombies, just keep on coming.

[Spike188]

Eugen,

A diluted soap won't even phase them at that size. Last year that size was eaten by a shop vac.

Spike

[Harry]

I noticed the caterpillar's showed up today. I found two in my pool filter basket and one crawling up the side of the pool. My wife just called me she found one on our back patio concrete. I quickly checked our trees and found none yet. Is there a spray I can apply to get rid of them if I see more? We seem to have an abundance of birds around this year. Robins, blackbirds, grackle's and starlings. I was hoping they would eat all of them if they found them.

Keep the Peace
Harry

[Gordy]

Years ago I had caterpillars eating the needles off of my pine trees, they were a hairless variety, Malathion pesticide worked very well, many had dropped before I finished spraying the tree.


Gordy

[Eugen]

Had an idea today, and got this

That tacky paper that flies stick to. Shook the tree again and applied some above the red tape.

[Toolslinger]

Tanglefoot is the go to choice my father used for specific trees. We never tried to protect everything, obviously, but he did his fruit trees, and the lone decorative trees. Same idea as the fly paper. That stuff is horribly sticky, but it works...

[Eugen]

Tanglefoot is the go to choice my father used for specific trees. We never tried to protect everything, obviously, but he did his fruit trees, and the lone decorative trees. Same idea as the fly paper. That stuff is horribly sticky, but it works...

That's a great tip, thanks! I had read about it in this great guide which I found yesterday:

Controlling gypsy moth caterpillars with barrier bands https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/division ... rBands.pdf

Which mentions Tanglefoot, Bug Gum Mastic Barrier, Roxo Bug Glue, and how to do it. I used what I had on hand, but I'll be better prepared for next year.

We have a very young cherry tree, one sour cherry tree, and the poplar and oak that I mentioned. There is a wooded area right next to us, I can't save those hundred of trees. But I sure would like to save these young ones that are more at risk and I have planted myself.

[MattA]

Years ago I had caterpillars eating the needles off of my pine trees, they were a hairless variety, Malathion pesticide worked very well, many had dropped before I finished spraying the tree.


Gordy

My father used an Ortho? pesticide with similar results. Not 100% sure on the brand as this was ~20 years ago. I do remember my father burning the caterpillar nests with charcoal grill lighter fluid. That was a lot of fun

[Harry]

I would think a propane weed burner would work really fine to burn the nests.

Keep the Peace
Harry