The reason you have catapillars is that the plant is a HOST for them.
The cats are probably butterflies or moths in the making. The eating of
the plant is not harmful for the plant, just in your eyes. Open your
eyes and find out what butterflies are hosted by your passionflower.
Then you can observe the beauty when they metamorphose. If you are
keeping watch so you can squash, look for the cocoon and put it in a jar
with a metal top and some air holes and a leaf or two from plant, wait a
short time and you'll have a butterfly.
JK
T.B. wrote:
i have a passionflower vine that is doing great this season after not doing
so hot last year. I think it will finally bloom this season, if I can keep
the caterpillars off of it. They tore it apart last year and even though I
was checking daily, they still were winning the battle.
My question to the group is, aside from keeping an eye out for them and
squashing them and/or using pesticides, is there any way to keep them off of
the vine?
TB in Austin
--
J. Kolenovsky, 2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
τΏτ -
http://www.celestialhabitats.com - environmental resource
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http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/
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http://www.peakoil.org and
http://www.endofsuburbia.com -
start becoming attuned to the "new lifestyle" ahead of you
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http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal