How do I get rid of caterpillars that are eating through my Valerian, Viburnum, and Nasturtiums?
I was overwhelmed with a caterpillar invasion that swept through my medicinal herbs like a dose of castor oil in a constipated patient. These horrible little grey things were chomping through specific green leaves which showed they had good taste, but why can’t caterpillars eat grass? If they liked grass as much as my herbs then I would never have to mow the lawn again…
My knee-jerk reaction was to cut back the growth to bare stalks and throw the cuttings on the bonfire. The new growth seems fine, but while I was in the midst of the frantic hacking, a friend suggested rhubarb leaf tea as a remedy for ridding myself of the hungry caterpillars with very little effort.
It is too late for me to try it now but I do have another species of caterpillar on my nasturtiums that comes every year and wipes the plants out. So I am going to try the rhubarb leaf tea of these pesky little chompers. These are my nasturtiums caterpillars, and they are reducing what was a healthy, thriving population of green leaves to skeletons:
Has anyone else tried this?
Honestly, I would be grateful for any advice/tips/feedback/personal experience/reliable theory/anything.
Meanwhile, I am off to harvest some rhubarb leaves…
please buy hens and roosters they will eat all caterpillars.
I have two chickens, but they stay in the coop otherwise they escape. But what you say is true….
I had this problem on 1000 trees I planted. I made up a herbal spray of olive oil, water, garlic and a Jalapeno chilli. Whizz up in the blender and then dilute – not one tree was lost to the pests but do stay upstream when you spray as it burns like mad!!