I live in Sydney & always have a caterpillar problem eating the tomatoes,
they start off eating the leaves & I spend a lot of time checking under the
leaves & pick them off, but eventually if I turn my back for a day or so
those darned caterpillars are now chomping into the fruit.
I really don't like using chemical sprays as we get a lot of parents & young
birds eating all our bugs in the grass & vegies, they are quite cute &
amusing to watch...Mum leading the way & bubs following whilst checking
everything they think may be edible, including pecking at flowers falling in
the fish pond & generally looking stupid.
My garden is very small so don't want to use those big spray things that you
see on TV!
Any ideas folks?

PatC wrote:
I live in Sydney & always have a caterpillar problem eating the tomatoes,
they start off eating the leaves & I spend a lot of time checking under the
leaves & pick them off, but eventually if I turn my back for a day or so
those darned caterpillars are now chomping into the fruit.
I really don't like using chemical sprays as we get a lot of parents & young
birds eating all our bugs in the grass & vegies, they are quite cute &
amusing to watch...Mum leading the way & bubs following whilst checking
everything they think may be edible, including pecking at flowers falling in
the fish pond & generally looking stupid.
My garden is very small so don't want to use those big spray things that you
see on TV!
Any ideas folks?

Use Dipel.

To quote from
http://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestc...llar_prod.html

A pest control mainstay for organic growers worldwide. Dipel contains
Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, it is highly effective and
selective against most species of caterpillars. This biological control
is a bacterial stomach poison for all caterpillars, which is mixed with
water and sprayed onto foliage. It must be ingested by the actively
feeding caterpillar, which dies 3-5 days later. It is totally safe to
beneficial insects, bees, and mammals. Bt is broken down by sunlight
within a few days, so repeated applications may be necessary.

end quote

In article . com,
"GreenieLeBrun" wrote:

PatC wrote:
I live in Sydney & always have a caterpillar problem eating the tomatoes,
they start off eating the leaves & I spend a lot of time checking under the
leaves & pick them off, but eventually if I turn my back for a day or so
those darned caterpillars are now chomping into the fruit.
I really don't like using chemical sprays as we get a lot of parents & young
birds eating all our bugs in the grass & vegies, they are quite cute &
amusing to watch...Mum leading the way & bubs following whilst checking
everything they think may be edible, including pecking at flowers falling in
the fish pond & generally looking stupid.
My garden is very small so don't want to use those big spray things that you
see on TV!
Any ideas folks?

Use Dipel.

To quote from
http://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestc...llar_prod.html

A pest control mainstay for organic growers worldwide. Dipel contains
Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, it is highly effective and
selective against most species of caterpillars. This biological control
is a bacterial stomach poison for all caterpillars, which is mixed with
water and sprayed onto foliage. It must be ingested by the actively
feeding caterpillar, which dies 3-5 days later. It is totally safe to
beneficial insects, bees, and mammals. Bt is broken down by sunlight
within a few days, so repeated applications may be necessary.

end quote


Another good product for caterpillar control is "Spinosad". Yates sell
it as "Success".


Paul