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What will get rid of these in my tree ? (Original Post) Beachnutt Jun 2023 OP
BT piddyprints Jun 2023 #1
Thank you so much Beachnutt Jun 2023 #2
I don't know if I've ever seen it in a garden hose spray. piddyprints Jun 2023 #6
Birds and spiders will eat them, but not if you poison the landscape. Hermit-The-Prog Jun 2023 #3
Birds do not eat these Beachnutt Jun 2023 #4
I live in wilderness; birds eat 'em Hermit-The-Prog Jun 2023 #5
I had these in a fruitless mulberry tree over my patio 2 years ago by the thousands Beachnutt Jun 2023 #7
Did the tree survive? Hermit-The-Prog Jun 2023 #8
Got it thanks. Beachnutt Jun 2023 #9

Beachnutt

(8,027 posts)
2. Thank you so much
Thu Jun 15, 2023, 08:42 AM
Jun 2023

hopefully I can find this in a garden hose spray so I can spray the entire tree.
These things ate every leaf off my tree two years ago and were all over everything on my patio.

piddyprints

(14,795 posts)
6. I don't know if I've ever seen it in a garden hose spray.
Thu Jun 15, 2023, 11:25 AM
Jun 2023

That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It does come in a concentrate that you can mix with water in a sprayer.

It is safe to use and only kills certain insects. It does not kill pollinators and it won't hurt birds who eat the BT-treated caterpillars. It's used in organic gardening.

Hermit-The-Prog

(36,462 posts)
5. I live in wilderness; birds eat 'em
Thu Jun 15, 2023, 10:34 AM
Jun 2023

Trees and critters have been dealing with insects since before people walked the earth. Early leaves feed the bugs; later leaves are too tough or bitter.

Kill 1 predator with poison and hundreds or thousands of pests will then survive to make more pests.

If you have a goal of increasing biodiversity in your yard, ceasing to rake leaves is an easy and effective practice to adopt. Nurturing insect life under the leaves will support a wide variety of springtime plants and animals. Virtually all songbirds require insects, specifically caterpillars, to feed their young. Plants will grow in nutritious soil and receive pollination from butterflies and sphinx moths. You may even attract small amphibians such as toads and salamanders that live under moist leaves and eat insects.
https://ento.psu.edu/news/insect-life-under-the-leaves

Beachnutt

(8,027 posts)
7. I had these in a fruitless mulberry tree over my patio 2 years ago by the thousands
Thu Jun 15, 2023, 04:15 PM
Jun 2023

and they ate every last leaf off my tree and my surrounding neighbors trees and the birds did not eat these caterpillars.
They poop worm poop on everything and crawl on everything.

Hermit-The-Prog

(36,462 posts)
8. Did the tree survive?
Thu Jun 15, 2023, 05:13 PM
Jun 2023

A fruitless mulberry is a male. Only the female mulberry trees bear fruit. Pollinators must carry pollen from the male to the female flowers or there won't be any fruit.

Trees produce tempting leaves in spring, which encourages pollinators. After blooming season, they produce tough, bitter leaves.

Birds won't eradicate the caterpillars, and probably won't eat as fast as you'd like, but they do eat them. That worm poop is free fertilizer -- it's a lot of stuff the tree is able to pull from deep in the ground that other plants can't reach.

Poison the caterpillars and you reduce the local songbird population as well as deplete the soil. That's without even considering the direct effects of the poison.

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