- Joined
- Jun 25, 2012
- Reaction score
- 139
(probably this would be better in an animal rights/welfare/ethics section but I never look down there so I don't know if anyone else will either)...
I have a garden that mostly consists of greens like kale, collards, chard and a couple other things. I put a decent amount of time into it, and money into new organic soil. I noticed little white butterflies flying around occasionally and thought they were pretty great. I also noticed that the leaves of the greens were getting demolished by slugs. Turns out they aren't slugs, but caterpillars that turn into those little white butterflies...
I thought that they were just eating the kale and collards and was ready to just let them have those...but now I notice that they are eating the chard too. A few of my plants are nearly destroyed and there isn't a single leaf in my garden without lots of holes in it.
When I looked at natural ways to control the population I saw something called Bt which is a bacteria that is safe for animals but deadly to the caterpillars (it exploits the fact that their guts are alkaline rather than acidic). I have tried picking off the caterpillars and relocating them, but I can never seem to find more than one or two. I already have mint planted (which could be a deterrent). It's too late to put the plants under covers because the caterpillars are already living on them.
I considered using the Bt to save my plants until I saw that how it works is that it makes the caterpillars stop eating, then they die in a couple-few days. If they died right away maybe I could deal with that. I do spray the aphids with soapy water or they completely take over the garden (I lost my entire garden to aphids before). But the idea of a long starvation is pretty horrible to me and I don't think I can do it. But then I think I lose my garden.
Thoughts?
I have a garden that mostly consists of greens like kale, collards, chard and a couple other things. I put a decent amount of time into it, and money into new organic soil. I noticed little white butterflies flying around occasionally and thought they were pretty great. I also noticed that the leaves of the greens were getting demolished by slugs. Turns out they aren't slugs, but caterpillars that turn into those little white butterflies...
I thought that they were just eating the kale and collards and was ready to just let them have those...but now I notice that they are eating the chard too. A few of my plants are nearly destroyed and there isn't a single leaf in my garden without lots of holes in it.
When I looked at natural ways to control the population I saw something called Bt which is a bacteria that is safe for animals but deadly to the caterpillars (it exploits the fact that their guts are alkaline rather than acidic). I have tried picking off the caterpillars and relocating them, but I can never seem to find more than one or two. I already have mint planted (which could be a deterrent). It's too late to put the plants under covers because the caterpillars are already living on them.
I considered using the Bt to save my plants until I saw that how it works is that it makes the caterpillars stop eating, then they die in a couple-few days. If they died right away maybe I could deal with that. I do spray the aphids with soapy water or they completely take over the garden (I lost my entire garden to aphids before). But the idea of a long starvation is pretty horrible to me and I don't think I can do it. But then I think I lose my garden.
Thoughts?