How to rid of Caterpillars?

[AboveBeyond]

All my maples are getting hit by these caterpillars and are munching on my trees. I just sprayed Bonide Infused, will that help? What can I do to get rid of these guys? Thanks.

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Sly,

You need to find a product specifically for caterpillars containing Bacillus thuringiensis.

Regards,
Martin

 

[JudyB]

and do early morning picking party...look for the poo trail to find them.

 

[AboveBeyond]

Thanks for the help! I ordered a Bonide product and I'll start spraying as soon as it arrives. I manually pick them off but there seems to be endless numbers of them!

 

[Dav4]

and do early morning picking party...look for the poo trail to find them.

I like to squish them right there, using the leaf itself to make a sandwich of sorts with the caterpillar in the middle...satisfying and potentially a good addition to my organic fertilizer program.

 

[AboveBeyond]

Am I safe to spray on my Maples, Pines, and Junipers? What about elms?

 

[Beng]

All my maples are getting hit by these caterpillars and are munching on my trees. I just sprayed Bonide Infused, will that help? What can I do to get rid of these guys? Thanks.

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Bonide infuse isn't an insecticide it's a fungicide so it definitely won't help with caterpillars. Sounds like the other stuff suggested will.

 

[Nybonsai12]

I round them all up making sure to not kill any. Then I lay them all out on a newspaper and separate oe or two from the pack and then squish them with fury, just to show the others what I am capable of.

 

[AboveBeyond]

These guys are back and in full force! I have large red maple trees overhanging my backyard, so I think the caterpillas/larvaes are falling down to my bonsai trees. I've been spraying BT (bacillus thuringiensis) for a couple days on Monday and Tuesday but I still see them all over my bonsai trees.

Any negative effect if I spray BT more frequently (every other day) until the caterpillars are gone?

 

[jk_lewis]

Am I safe to spray on my Maples, Pines, and Junipers? What about elms?

Don't ask us. Few -- if any -- of us is a licensed pesticide applicator.

READ THE LABEL!!!!! on the pesticide package/bottle. It will tell you the dosage, and the critters it will control, and will provide warnings about plants that should not be sprayed with the product.

 

[gergwebber]

Don't ask us. Few -- if any -- of us is a licensed pesticide applicator.

READ THE LABEL!!!!! on the pesticide package/bottle. It will tell you the dosage, and the critters it will control, and will provide warnings about plants that should not be sprayed with the product.

I totally agree with the above. I cannot stand the whole "I saw some issues and got this stuff and sprayed, and that thing that was wrong went away!" What you spray and what you are controlling are the key. This lets you use the least toxic method on the market. Often it is a matter of culture, timing or environmental conditions that create the pest problem, and knowing the pest is key to killing it.

That said, I have taken IPM classes. I have used Bt to control cabbage worms. It really does work well; I had worms jumping off the leaves after application. Bt is a category 4 pesticide, that one level below caution in the category levels. [Danger, Warning, Caution, Cat.4] Never the less, the first rule of application is read the label, and think about what you are doing.

I still think picking them is the best way if you have fewer than say 20 trees to deal with.

 

[jkd2572]

And don't over mix it. Use as directed. I burned some trees this when my pesticide was mixed a little to concentrated. More is not better.

 

[sorce]

I have seriously considered a preying mantis leashed to each tree.

Build a bat box to eat the moths. -60%

A couple hundred mantis for the caterpillars. -30%

Leaving you 10% to taco leaf smush! This is part of the fun of bonsai is it not?