How do you get rid of caterpillars?

Seanie M

I am not usually an advocate for tampering with nature, but one of my gooseberry bushes is being decimated by the little green feckers! I spotted yesterday that a lot of the leaves were eaten. Just within the last half hour, I checked it again, and the plant is teeming with them, munching away! I don't know the species, but all I can say is that they are no more than a centimetre in length, are completely green save for a tiny black head. I was picking them off by hand and throwing them into the grass before the rain came (just now).

Does anyone have any ideas?

Seanie.

ShowUsYourXbox

The main pest of Gooseberries Dave is Gooseberry Saw Fly and the caterpillars of the Saw Fly can devastate the leaves of the Gooseberry Tree in a very short period of time. The first group of caterpillars will appear on your Gooseberries early May time but with this year's very hot summer the Saw Fly has produced three to four batches and I am sure it is the Saw Fly Caterpillars which are now damaging you Bushes. To keep the caterpillars under control you need to spray your bushes with an insecticide such as Spray Day - which will kill aphids, black fly and also caterpillars.

That's what i found googling the problem, it's a reply from some guy to another with the same problem as you.

Seanie M

Hhmm... did what you find referrence anything about harming nearby plants such as strawberries and blueberries? Either the sawfly, or the insecticide?

Seanie.

pops

The best thing is to just pick them off, they're easy to spot and squash, or drop into a container and chuck away from the gooseberries. I have noticed that a family of blue tits have been feeding these little caterpillars to their babies so have left them alone. If you spray them with insecticide, it will probably do a lot of damage to any birds eating the caterpillars. Just a thought.

Irish Gardener

Seanie M wrote:

Hhmm... did what you find referrence anything about harming nearby plants such as strawberries and blueberries? Either the sawfly, or the insecticide?

Seanie.

Hello Seanie.
Here is a recent boards topic on the sawfly that I was involved in....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054978746&referrerid=59211
You will see that "liquid derris" is mentioned, be used on crops right up to one day before harvest. It is claimed that this insecticide can be used on crops right up to one day before harvest, so it will be quite safe for you to use next to your strawberries and blueberries.

A home made organic and safe option is to mix 1 tablespoon of salt into 2 litres of water which you can spray onto the larvae.
This may kill some of them and stun the others which will then fall from the bushes.
Ready to be swept up with dustpan and brush or eaten by the birds.
Good luck.

Seanie M

Irish Gardener wrote:

A home made organic and safe option is to mix 1 tablespoon of salt into 2 litres of water which you can spray onto the larvae.
This may kill some of them and stun the others which will then fall from the bushes.

That sounds like a brilliant idea, I might give that one a go, as I am reluctant to use insecticides. Picking them all off by hand, I reckon I got almost 60 of the little buggers.

Seanie.

Seanie M

Well, I simply kept an eye on the bush every day, picking off the buggers as I saw them. Must be around 70 little larvae I picked off. I couldn't try the saltwater method because all the rain would have defeated the purpose. Most of the gooseberry bush seems to have been saved. But I must say, those little buggers were quite hungry!

Seanie.