Cabbage Looper versus BT
- Thread starter 4mac
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I prefer Spinosad. It has more of a broad spectrum as to what it kills, which is most sucking insects. BT works great for hornworms but if you want to treat potatoes you need a different strain of BT. Spinosad covers them both so it's easier for me to mix up and spray one solution as opposed to two. Plus... I never really liked the "stink" of BT.
Keeps records. Those hornworms are cyclic. Every 60 days or so. I spray late June and if I still have tobacco growing in late August I spray again.
Keeps records. Those hornworms are cyclic. Every 60 days or so. I spray late June and if I still have tobacco growing in late August I spray again.
That's interesting. My cycles have appeared at about 6 week intervals over the past years. Some summers I see three waves of hornworms; sometimes four. By September, only army worms or loopers appear. [I'm still picking hornworms with my little pink hands, rather than spraying for them.]
Bob
Bob, I'm not positive about the cycle length. I do remember reading many moons ago that the south typically could have as many as 3 cycles whereas the north typically would see one.
My recollection of the interval flops between 3 weeks and 6 weeks. [6 weeks was my confident sense of the interval in my previous post, but that feels way off today. Old brain.] I recorded the dates of hornworm egg appearances over a number of years. When I get a moment, I'll go back through those dates and actually count the days. My memory is clearly off, or the intervals may vary wildly. (Consistency is just so tidy.) I'll see what the numbers actually show. And I'll post the actual series of intervals, rather than the less informative average.
Bob
Bob
Darkthirty
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After priming all the plants, I let the suckers, and the caterpillars, grow. Sprayed BT after nearly every rain just to see if it has any effect on next years infestation......................
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