ahhh caterpillars

[teamladd]

I have just been in the garden and noticed caterpillars all over my tomato plants. Is there any way to get rid of them quickly or do I need to go over every leaf?

Cheers all.

[johninblackpool]

Not got them on my tomato but all over my Brussells, Cabbage and Peas
Off to garden centre to see what they have.... Pesky Blighters
Hope you get the answers you want.

[rana]

It's unusual to get an infestation on tomatos. Is there something else nearby that is attracting them?

Try hosing the plants down - hopefully knock most of the blighters off.

[coreopsis]

I have the buggers on my sprouts and cabbages-I have walk-over garden inspection every day at least a couple of times-everytime I find the culprits and give them death sentence for munching my veg.Little bas%@*ds

[onefivenine]

I squished one of the bugs in the photo below on my chilli plant - thinking it was a leaf sucker, but after taking a photo of one and looking it up in a Collins Field Guide it's seemingly a predator.


Anthocoris nemorum; appx 3mm long
Don't kill em - they eat other insects

Is there a thread anywhere about beneficial insects, or a sticky?
I tried to search for one but nothing stood out of the results.

[tracy]

i found about 30 little buggers today on my lettuce plants they were fine 2 days ago and now i reckon third of crop is gone i am organic so other than picking them off is there anything else i can do ?

[WeeGarden]

Tracy, there is a nematode you can get that you can water on. I haven't tried this myself but seriously considering it, as I'm out every evening picking them and eggs off, but still fighting a losing battle. Bit pricey though....

[tracy]

sorry to be thick but whats a nematode ?

[danski]

sorry to be thick but whats a nematode ?

its a parasitic predator that eat the caterpillars from the inside out.urrgh. on a lighter note iv got an infestation of caterpillars that only seem to be eating my stingy nettle crop! did kill a few before i realized they wernt touching anything else so im leaving them there now.black spiny looking critters ,the mrs reckon their red admiral, im not too sure could this be right?

[tracy]

ah ta for that dont think that the nematodes are an option for me i doubt i could get them here oh well back to picking them off