Caterpillars killed my bush. What now?
Discussion
PhilboSE said:
Ordered some Xentari today. Picked about 50 of the little darlings from one infected plant but they were going dormant so will start again tomorrow morning when they’re more active and visible. Still had a few trying the silky rappel to freedom.
Turns out they can’t swim.
Upon reading this assertion, I made a swimming pool for the wriggly bar stewards... Turns out they can’t swim.
...and it seems to be correct. Within seconds of submerging them the wriggling stops, and not a single escape attempt.
Yesterday I put them into a small brazier and killed them with fire. But drowning them is simpler and doesn't annoy the neighbours. I'll order the XenTari stuff too, but until it arrives every chomping caterpillar I can dispose of will hopefully buy the hedge some recovery time...
I’m seriously impressed by you guys getting them off.
When mine was fully under attack it was hard to see them - then I realised it was because there were SO many. Each ‘twig’ had dozens on. Must have been a million of them!
Long run, no way I’ll be having any more box in the garden - just isn’t worth the effort.
When mine was fully under attack it was hard to see them - then I realised it was because there were SO many. Each ‘twig’ had dozens on. Must have been a million of them!
Long run, no way I’ll be having any more box in the garden - just isn’t worth the effort.
MDifficult said:
I’m seriously impressed by you guys getting them off.
When mine was fully under attack it was hard to see them - then I realised it was because there were SO many. Each ‘twig’ had dozens on. Must have been a million of I them!
Long run, no way I’ll be having any more box in the garden - just isn’t worth the effort.
This , unless it’s a prized piece of topiary it’s not worth the effort/cost of spraying for the rest of your life. There are many substitute plants that are just as good and not affected. When mine was fully under attack it was hard to see them - then I realised it was because there were SO many. Each ‘twig’ had dozens on. Must have been a million of I them!
Long run, no way I’ll be having any more box in the garden - just isn’t worth the effort.
Simple, safe and very effective treatment for just about any plant eating bug.
Add 500ml of canola oil to a plastic container. Has to be canola oil.
Add 2 tablespoons of dish soap.
Shake well to mix.
This is the base insecticide solution and will keep indefinably in a cool dry place.
When you want to use it add about 30ml of the insecticide solution to 500ml of tap water, shake and spray.
Kills the bugs and their eggs, plus it's safe, and cheap enough to use once a week.
You can also add a teaspoon of baking soda to the sprayer as this is a fungicide.
I've used it for years and it just works
Be thankful you don't have these little darlings in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XLMCeejvw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aje4g4S_sY
Add 500ml of canola oil to a plastic container. Has to be canola oil.
Add 2 tablespoons of dish soap.
Shake well to mix.
This is the base insecticide solution and will keep indefinably in a cool dry place.
When you want to use it add about 30ml of the insecticide solution to 500ml of tap water, shake and spray.
Kills the bugs and their eggs, plus it's safe, and cheap enough to use once a week.
You can also add a teaspoon of baking soda to the sprayer as this is a fungicide.
I've used it for years and it just works
Be thankful you don't have these little darlings in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XLMCeejvw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aje4g4S_sY
This is the third year I've them and I've given up now so going to replace my box trees with something else. My box tree is the front boundary with neighbours and it's big 20ft tall approx x 35ft in length so not a minor job, they are about 2/3 of the way through it as if today. I tried most of the things but over the years they seem to have adapted a bit to get around it hiding more etc. It does recover the following years and looks ok for a month then they start appearing again.
I've got quite a lot of box that I want to preserve including 'Topiary Ted' that we've been cultivating for something like 20 years. I sprayed with Xentari today as there were signs of the little b
ds on some of the box shrubs around the garden. I wonder when it will be approved for use in the UK because I assume that's why Amazon have dropped it from their product list.
ETA: Here's Topiary Ted photographed back in 2017, he's grown a bit since then!
ds on some of the box shrubs around the garden. I wonder when it will be approved for use in the UK because I assume that's why Amazon have dropped it from their product list. ETA: Here's Topiary Ted photographed back in 2017, he's grown a bit since then!
Edited by RichB on Tuesday 17th May 21:02
T5GRF said:
I’ve just got hold of some Xentari, the product doesn’t contain any info about what kind of area the 3 litre recommended solution would treat. I’ve checked online and the Uk site doesn’t cover it and the European site seems to be down, does anyone know the answer please?
Cheers
Says on the box One box of TOPBUXUS XenTari contains 5 individual sachets, each containing 3 grams of product; Simply dissolve the contents of 1 sachet in 3 litres of water to treat 30 square meters of Boxwood surfaceCheers
ultrastapler said:
T5GRF said:
I’ve just got hold of some Xentari, the product doesn’t contain any info about what kind of area the 3 litre recommended solution would treat. I’ve checked online and the Uk site doesn’t cover it and the European site seems to be down, does anyone know the answer please?
Cheers
Says on the box One box of TOPBUXUS XenTari contains 5 individual sachets, each containing 3 grams of product; Simply dissolve the contents of 1 sachet in 3 litres of water to treat 30 square meters of Boxwood surfaceCheers
We have 3 x Buxus bushes in the back garden, all of which got attacked last summer.
The first one (nearest the house) was ravaged and by the time we realised what was happening, picked off the little cretins and had treated it, it was pretty much dead. That same bush has recovered at least 70% this year.
The other 2 on the other end of the deck had only just started being attached and a real good dousing with Resolva Bug Killer (yellow bottle) saw any remaining caterpillars off. They were around 25% dead last year, but this summer are back to full health, no dead patches.
We noticed neighbours bushes getting attacked again over the last month or so, so we have sprayed the bushes again and this also seems to be keeping them at bay.
In summary - Resolva Bug Killer seems to be quite effective....but only if you catch it early
The first one (nearest the house) was ravaged and by the time we realised what was happening, picked off the little cretins and had treated it, it was pretty much dead. That same bush has recovered at least 70% this year.
The other 2 on the other end of the deck had only just started being attached and a real good dousing with Resolva Bug Killer (yellow bottle) saw any remaining caterpillars off. They were around 25% dead last year, but this summer are back to full health, no dead patches.
We noticed neighbours bushes getting attacked again over the last month or so, so we have sprayed the bushes again and this also seems to be keeping them at bay.
In summary - Resolva Bug Killer seems to be quite effective....but only if you catch it early
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