Cutworms are the caterpillar of a brown or gray night-flying moth. The caterpillars are black, gray, or brown and are about an inch and a half long. These jerks can go through your entire garden of new seedlings extremely quickly! It’s important to watch out for them in your garden and do your best to protect again them. They look like little brown worms, and they like to spin around into circles around the plant, cutting it off at the base.
Treatment Options:
- Cover the plants with insect netting (floating row covers) from when they are babies. This will help to prevent them from becoming an issue!
- Cardboard “collars” can be made from toilet rolls or paper towel rolls and placed around each seedling to keep these cutworms out. You can also place toothpicks around seedlings so the worm cannot wrap around the stem.
- Diatomaceous earth can also be laid down around your seedlings to help get rid of them.
- Sprinkling coffee grounds or crumbled egg shells can help repel them from your seedlings as well.
Plants to Especially Watch:
- Peppers, such as:
- Beans (Bush & Pole)
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Cantaloupe
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cilantro/Coriander
- Corn
- Eggplant
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Parsley
- Peas
- Potatoes
- Stevia
- Swiss Chard
- Tomatoes (Bush & Vine)
- Watermelon
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