green caterpillers on wave petunias - Knowledgebase Question

Trees
Swansea, Ma
Question by RVqueenofang
August 22, 2010
I have green caterpillers on my wave petunias in my flower beds can you tell my what they are and what u i should do? They were flowering but now they seem to have no flowers on them, will they go to surrounding shrubs? Is it from heat? Should I pull them out of t he ground?


Image
Answer from NGA
August 22, 2010

0

 What you describe sound like budworm caterpillars and you can control them either by handpicking and destroying or by spraying your plants with Bt which is sold as Dipel or Thuricide. Bt targets only caterpillars. Since these are budworm caterpillars they can invade nearby plants and feed on unopened flower buds so check your nearby plants for the pests. If you find any you can handpick them or you can use Bt. Best wishes with your garden.

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