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Carabids to fight those hidden caterpillars

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Satya:
I'm really tired of checking my cucumber and other cucurbit vines every day and finding more and more damaged ones from within. Birds and possums are great but they are just not smart enough to dig inside the plant  :o . Leaf rollers, pickleworms - so hard to protect the plants from them without chemicals.
Have you tried releasing any predatory species of beetles? I read that calasoma species is called "caterpillar hunter" or "caterpillar searcher" which gives lots of hope  ;D

Galatians522:
Sounds like we are battling the same pest. I have them on my squash every year and have vowed to win this time. Here are several thougts for you. I have seen some improvement after spraying with bacillus thuringiensis 3 days ago, but it has not totally solved the problem. BT, by the way, is certified organic. It is a strain of bacteria that specifically targets caterpillars (but won't harm bees). They die in a couple days after eating treated plant material. It is totally inert to people (although some people can have an alergic reaction to the liquid spray). It works wonders on the southern army worms that hit my tomatoes, but I think the pickle worms are somewhat protected by being inside the fruit so it is not quite as effective. I would say that it knocked out about half of them or more, though. The Thuricide brand is sold at Home Depot.

Hoping for a better solution, I called a friend who used to grow squash commercially. He told me that spraying with Oxidate (basically a high powered Hydrogen Peroxide if you aren't familiar with it) or even a 2% bleach solution helps. Apparently, the scent repells the moths when they come to lay the eggs? Or maybe it masks the plant smell that they use to target their host? Either way, he says that it works, so I will try it. He has never let me down before. Plus, both products help reduce mildew and mold on the leaves so its like killing two birds with one stone.

Finally, if you want to be completely free of them without spraying anything you could always build a screen house. The moths are pretty big so even the screen sold for porches will keep them out. The only issue with this, though, is that you have to hand pollinate or try to uncover later in the morning after the moths have gone back to bed but the bees are awake. I guess some people just drape the screen over the squash without much of a frame.

Satya:
Thank you Galatians522. I've used BT for many years but am tired of running around with a bottle  ;D  so wanted the garden to take care of itself. Had a bad whitefly infestation from neighbor's ixora wall, introduced predatory mites and the problem disappeared. I hear people do crazy stuff trying to battle whiteflies for years, all it took me was a $83 tube of arachnids. Same thing with predatory nematodes, my overall pest load is much less now, tons of beneficials though. Tomatoes are completely left alone this year, i was preparing for the worse but they didn't give me any trouble at all.
That's why i'm trying to find bio control for whatever pest possible, after all, they are part of the food chain, feeding someone... we just have to find that someone :)

Galatians522:
Well, if you find what works, let me know.  8)

Satya:

--- Quote from: Galatians522 on April 22, 2022, 11:03:35 PM ---Well, if you find what works, let me know.  8)

--- End quote ---
haha sure. Always on the lookout 🧐

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