There are myriad pests ready to attack your vegetable garden and landscaping. And some attack in a group. In this edition of our gardening program Grow, GLT's Mike McCurdy talks with Patrick Murphy about how to control worms that attack as an army.
What are they?
Your questions don’t go unanswered here at GLT, Kathy Sully asks about what she describes as least 100 small brown worms on her back patio. These little pests are a group of moth larvae, that are often seen in large groups “marching” which is why they are called armyworms. These worms are from a common moth, which can lay up to 8 bundles of eggs each spring. Full-grown larvae are from 1 to 2 inches long and almost hairless. They can vary in color but are brown when fully grown. They primarily eat grass blades but will also eat some vegetables from the base. If the group of armyworms is large enough they can destroy a whole lawn in just a few days. Their eggs can be laid in spring but can hatch throughout all of the summer.
What to watch for
If you see a lot of moths around your house you may want to be on the lookout for armyworms. Eggs can also be found in pots of soil brought from a store or another garden. If you want a strategy for how to deal with these pests you should check out last weeks Grow, which featured garden cameras. You could place a camera near an outdoor light source to see how many moths you are attracting to your lawn or garden. You could also try and eliminate outdoor lights, so you don’t attract more moths.
Control
There are several ways to get rid of these pests. Murphy recommends not using pesticides unless it's your last option. It can cause lasting damage to your yard/garden and may take years to recover. Pheromone traps could be used to try and get natural predators into your yard to take care of your pest, but this could lead to more pests coming into your yard. Murphy recommends neem oil. Which is a natural competent of botanical extract from a type of tree. This effect the various stages of larval growth. It can also affect the eggs when they are laid which other, more harmful pesticides might miss. Murphy recommends you only spray where you see the armyworms and in brown patches of grass. Neem oil does have a certain scent to it that can either be pleasant or foul depending on induvial preference. You mix the neem oil with water from your garden hose. You could also buy, some natural predators. Like predator wasps, lacewings, or ladybugs. Ladybugs are great predators, but often don’t appear until it's too late. Murphy recommends using a mail order service like A.M Leonard if you want to get a natural predator.
On next weeks GLT’s Grow Mike McCurdy and Patrick Murphy will talk all about sod and its benefits.
GLT's Grow is your source for gardening advice and down-to-earth tips. Mike McCurdy and Patrick Murphy are ready to take on all your gardening questions, so submit yours today.
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