Xref: 127.0.0.1 austin.gardening:19304

One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty green
caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or are
these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really don't
do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?

And, on an unrelated note, has anyone here treated black spot on roses
with skim milk? It was a recommendation from Natural Gardener, and
we're going to give it a try ... I'll report back with results when we
have some.

"ratSenoL" wrote in message
om...
One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty green
caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or are
these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really don't
do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?

They'll eat most of the leaves and stunt its growth. I had success this
year with a cup of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, a cup of Palmolive dish
detergent, a cup of Listerine, and a can of beer........... It's what I had
lying around........ I added water to make two gallons and sprayed when the
new leaves were budding. So far, so good.

On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 10:30:28 -0600, "cat daddy"
wrote:


"Terry Horton" wrote in message
.. .
On 25 Mar 2003 20:23:11 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty green
caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or are
these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really don't
do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?

Trees and shrubs evolved in the presence of caterpillars and are
well-adapted to recovering from the damage they cause. But if the tree
is stressed already or if you're losing a fairly large amount of
canopy (say 30-40%) you might consider spraying with BT (Bacillus
thuringensis). BT is an microorganism that infects only caterpillars
and is completely non-toxic to people, birds, other beneficial
insects, etc. Last year I used it for a Texas mountain laurel whose
top was being laid bare by Pyralid moth caterpillars; one application
was all it took.

Caterpillars are of course young butterflies and moths, and are a
critically important food source for wildlife. So when my little
Texas kidneywood is heavily grazed by Southern dogface butterfly
caterpillars each year, I leave them alone. The tree always comes back
and looks beautiful, and we get butterflies in the bargain.

I never saw the tiny caterpillars that ate my oak tree turn into moths or
butterflies. For years, they so decimated the tree that I didn't even
recognize it as an oak tree. For most of the year, the tree appeared covered
in cobwebs and I assumed it was some kind of spider.

Webworms. Been lucky here never to have had webworms (probably can't
compete with all our other pests!)

tried watering and
feeding the tree with the hope it would become healthy and find a balance
with the pests, but it never did. Last year, I tried dormant oil and was
ineffective, so I tried the soap spray and it slowed them down. I don't use
insecticides and hoped some natural predator would move in balance out the
little devils.

I've read that if you can tear open the webs with a pole or water jet,
that birds and hornets will do the job for you.

"Terry Horton" wrote in message
...
On 25 Mar 2003 20:23:11 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty green
caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or are
these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really don't
do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?

Trees and shrubs evolved in the presence of caterpillars and are
well-adapted to recovering from the damage they cause. But if the tree
is stressed already or if you're losing a fairly large amount of
canopy (say 30-40%) you might consider spraying with BT (Bacillus
thuringensis). BT is an microorganism that infects only caterpillars
and is completely non-toxic to people, birds, other beneficial
insects, etc. Last year I used it for a Texas mountain laurel whose
top was being laid bare by Pyralid moth caterpillars; one application
was all it took.

Caterpillars are of course young butterflies and moths, and are a
critically important food source for wildlife. So when my little
Texas kidneywood is heavily grazed by Southern dogface butterfly
caterpillars each year, I leave them alone. The tree always comes back
and looks beautiful, and we get butterflies in the bargain.

I never saw the tiny caterpillars that ate my oak tree turn into moths or
butterflies. For years, they so decimated the tree that I didn't even
recognize it as an oak tree. For most of the year, the tree appeared covered
in cobwebs and I assumed it was some kind of spider. I tried watering and
feeding the tree with the hope it would become healthy and find a balance
with the pests, but it never did. Last year, I tried dormant oil and was
ineffective, so I tried the soap spray and it slowed them down. I don't use
insecticides and hoped some natural predator would move in balance out the
little devils.
I just inspected the tree and they are still there, although in greatly
reduced numbers. I guess I'll try BT next...

"Terry Horton" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 10:30:28 -0600, "cat daddy"
wrote:


"Terry Horton" wrote in message
.. .
On 25 Mar 2003 20:23:11 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty green
caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or are
these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really don't
do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?

Trees and shrubs evolved in the presence of caterpillars and are
well-adapted to recovering from the damage they cause. But if the tree
is stressed already or if you're losing a fairly large amount of
canopy (say 30-40%) you might consider spraying with BT (Bacillus
thuringensis). BT is an microorganism that infects only caterpillars
and is completely non-toxic to people, birds, other beneficial
insects, etc. Last year I used it for a Texas mountain laurel whose
top was being laid bare by Pyralid moth caterpillars; one application
was all it took.

Caterpillars are of course young butterflies and moths, and are a
critically important food source for wildlife. So when my little
Texas kidneywood is heavily grazed by Southern dogface butterfly
caterpillars each year, I leave them alone. The tree always comes back
and looks beautiful, and we get butterflies in the bargain.

I never saw the tiny caterpillars that ate my oak tree turn into moths
or
butterflies. For years, they so decimated the tree that I didn't even
recognize it as an oak tree. For most of the year, the tree appeared
covered
in cobwebs and I assumed it was some kind of spider.

Webworms. Been lucky here never to have had webworms (probably can't
compete with all our other pests!)

Nope, not webworms. I have those in my pecan trees. These worms are tiny
and hard to see. They leave a silk that more closely resembles a cobweb and
is specific to the oak tree.

tried watering and
feeding the tree with the hope it would become healthy and find a balance
with the pests, but it never did. Last year, I tried dormant oil and was
ineffective, so I tried the soap spray and it slowed them down. I don't
use
insecticides and hoped some natural predator would move in balance out
the
little devils.

I've read that if you can tear open the webs with a pole or water jet,
that birds and hornets will do the job for you.

I've tried that, but the survivors begin anew. I wonder if BT works on
them? The soap thing is only marginally successful, but I'm going to try to
keep on top of them this year.

On 25 Mar 2003 20:23:11 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty green
caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or are
these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really don't
do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?

Trees and shrubs evolved in the presence of caterpillars and are
well-adapted to recovering from the damage they cause. But if the tree
is stressed already or if you're losing a fairly large amount of
canopy (say 30-40%) you might consider spraying with BT (Bacillus
thuringensis). BT is an microorganism that infects only caterpillars
and is completely non-toxic to people, birds, other beneficial
insects, etc. Last year I used it for a Texas mountain laurel whose
top was being laid bare by Pyralid moth caterpillars; one application
was all it took.

Caterpillars are of course young butterflies and moths, and are a
critically important food source for wildlife. So when my little
Texas kidneywood is heavily grazed by Southern dogface butterfly
caterpillars each year, I leave them alone. The tree always comes back
and looks beautiful, and we get butterflies in the bargain.

"Terry Horton" wrote in message
...
| On 25 Mar 2003 20:23:11 -0800, (ratSenoL)
| wrote:
|
| One of my baby Monterrey oaks is just covered with little bitty
green
| caterpillars, and I presume they are the ones responsible for the
| holes in the new leaves. We sprayed it with rather diluted Ivory
| liquid soap, but they don't seem to be leaving. Is there something
| else we should be using, preferably low to nontoxic in nature? Or
are
| these one of these pests we should try to ignore as they really
don't
| do that much harm (not sure hubby can do that!)?
|
| Trees and shrubs evolved in the presence of caterpillars and are
| well-adapted to recovering from the damage they cause. But if the
tree
| is stressed already or if you're losing a fairly large amount of
| canopy (say 30-40%) you might consider spraying with BT (Bacillus
| thuringensis). BT is an microorganism that infects only caterpillars
| and is completely non-toxic to people, birds, other beneficial
| insects, etc. Last year I used it for a Texas mountain laurel whose
| top was being laid bare by Pyralid moth caterpillars; one
application
| was all it took.
|
| Caterpillars are of course young butterflies and moths, and are a
| critically important food source for wildlife. So when my little
| Texas kidneywood is heavily grazed by Southern dogface butterfly
| caterpillars each year, I leave them alone. The tree always comes
back
| and looks beautiful, and we get butterflies in the bargain.

And the birds get food.