I live in north west florida and have two cascades and three centenials. My tallest plant is almost four feet tall, a cascade. Something is eating the leaves off up to about 12 inches but has left the first two leaves on the buttom. There was a fire ant nest that had started to form near it but I killed them and haven't been able to find any sign of the ants or whant is eating the leaves except for eaten leaves and none of the other plants are being affected. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
hop leaf eating bugs?
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tchuklobrau
Well-Known Member
Id have to say the fire ants didnot eat the hops. I dont remember them being plant eaters(all the same they had to go goodness I dont miss them). Ill keep looking into solutions for you. sounds like a caterpillar of some sort due to the amount that is eaten but id think they would still be there. cant remember do you have japanese beetles there. they are the worse on the leaves up here.
tchuklobrau
Well-Known Member
I have been lucky enough to not need any. however about anything safe for veggies should be safe for hops i think. Problem is not sure if there is a one kind works on all pesticide out there.
Right on. One of the first things you have to do is to identify the pest and then proceed from there. What if it was a 'vegetarian' alligator grinding on them? Never know!
I found a giant green caterpillar on my tomato plants last year (I'll post a pic later); it was far enough away from my hops that I didn't care. The main problem I've had has been with Japanese beetles.
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Most likely caterpillars. They hide on the undersides of the leaves by day when they are digesting. And devastate at night.
Pretty safe to say that if you've seen butterflies or moths around you have a caterpiller or more on a hop plant.
Pretty safe to say that if you've seen butterflies or moths around you have a caterpiller or more on a hop plant.
"Giant green caterpillar", sounds like a tomato horn worm. I'd like to eat one of them so that when the others see me coming they'll run away from my tomatoes. For as much of a problem as the jap beetles appear to cause, I really haven't seen much of a decrease in yield during years of heavy damage. I wouldn't worry about them as it's like fighting an uphill battle on account of them being able to fly in from surrounding areas.
Gridlocked
Well-Known Member
I had a problem with caterpillars last year. It was amazing how fast and how much they ate. I ended up purchasing a spray that I hooked up to the hose.
Before (There were palm-sized leaves everywhere)
One afternoon:
The culprit who did in fact hide on the under side of the leaves:
Before (There were palm-sized leaves everywhere)
One afternoon:
The culprit who did in fact hide on the under side of the leaves:
One thing you could try is spraying the leaves with manure tea. Take a bucket and put some manure in it. Add some water and let soak for a day or so. Put the liquor into a garden sprayer and spray on the leaves. Repeat about once a week. It also will fertilize the plant.
The best battle against japanese beetles is to have things around that they like better than hops. I put down the grub killer to limit the "rise and shine" eaters, but yes, they will fly from neighbors or other areas. They much prefer the roses, pole beans, crabapple tree, and butterfly bush to the hops. Sure, some get the hop leaves, but nothing devastating like caterpillar or severe aphid damage.
tchuklobrau
Well-Known Member
The beetles like butterfly bush? mabye thats why i have not had much problem, I have 4 of those at complete opposite ends of my 1acre plot.
kennethm said:
If it is eating the lower leaves all the way off it could be a slug.
I currently have a caterpillar and spider mite infestation on my hops and basil. Im about 300 miles south off you and am using a diluted garlic/lemon spray to get rid of the caterpillars.
Last shot.
And those prefer my brassicas (broccoli or brussel sprouts) or lettuce to the hops, so I see first signs elsewhere and can treat it before it affects hops. Slugs are easy to deal with in comparison to other infestations.
ashford
Active Member
HOLY COW!! That is a mean looking bug! Imagine running into that thing if you were the size of an ant!
SPR-GRN
Well-Known Member
darn tomoato horn worms... I found them on my tomatoes last year.. KILL EM ALL!!! they destroyed my plants and ate the green tomotoes in no time at all! But they do smush nicely between a couple rocks...
extra_medium
Well-Known Member
check this site out:
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/p/tomatohornworm.htm
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/p/tomatohornworm.htm
Ok no big nasty green worms, but I did scratch around the leaves I put around the platns as cheep mulch. I found a couple very small white worms with a red head, there only about a quarter inch long max.
Get a picture if you can and post it. I've seen some Japanese beetle larvae in my yard but they have brown-ish heads.
Or is this what you're talking about?
lehr
Well-Known Member
Mix up some dawn dishwashing soap in a spray bottle it will kill those worms and beetles eating your hops.
Pat
Pat
Ok I beleave I have found what is eating my hop babies! I was checking my tomatoes today and found several half chewed up. There about 20 to 30 probably a quarter inch long blachish with light yellow green strips on its back and a redish head. Will post a pick as soon as possably. Any thoughts?
HSB
Well-Known Member
These little braconid wasps are my heroes. They DESTROYED some hornworms in my garden last year.
Not sure that this is a helpful factoid, unless it is possible to purposely introduce them to your backyard. I just got lucky. They take out the hornworm in a couple days and leave nothing but a shriveled up, black, non-tomato plant (or hop plant) eating corpse.
r8rphan
Well-Known Member
Nice picture man!.. The bug world goes mostly unnoticed, but shots like that remind how truly amazing it all is...
